Almost unnoticed, a seemingly innocuous provision to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in 2002 allows the permanent separation of family members, including parents and children.

So what was this little legislative change that even Government officials didn't pick up on for several months?

Section 117 (9) (d) states that if a permanent resident failed to disclose a family member at the time of his or her own immigration application, that person is excluded FOREVER from the family class.

By virtue of being excluded, that the person is NEVER sponsorable by the family member.

People who accidentally, inadvertently, or intentionally fail to include spouses or children such as common-law spouses, illegitimate children, for whatever reason, are permanently barred from being able to sponsor those people to Canada.

This little legislative gem is also retroactive.

This means it can reach back to any non-disclosure made years earlier when people could never have anticipated such a situation.

Why would the Government bring in such provision? The answer is: To reduce its case load to the Immigration Appeal Division.

A permanent resident or a citizen of Canada is able to sponsor family members. In some instances, people fail to disclose family members, sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally.

In the past, they were able to explain the reasons for failure to disclose these family members at an Immigration Appeal Division hearing and a board member could decide whether that reason was justified or not.

If so, the person could be sponsored, if not the person was excluded. But for the sake of expediency and reducing case load this regulatory provision has allowed for permanent elimination from the family class of non-disclosed family members.

Let's compare this situation to where a criminal intentionally conceals his criminal past or an applicant produces fraudulent evidence in support of an application for permanent residence.

Misrepresentation renders an applicant inadmissible to Canada. Whether it was done intentionally or not, the penalty is a two year ban on that person being able to apply to come to Canada.

Yet forgetting or failing to disclose a family member incurs a permanent lifetime ban - and all for the sake of administrative expediency!

Even some immigration officials agree that this is onerous and harsh.

I urge Minister Volpe to put the weight of the seriousness of any nondisclosure back where it belongs in the Immigration Appeal Division where the circumstances can be properly assessed and genuine family members can be reunited in Canada.

At the minimum, treat these cases in the same way as 'criminal' 'FRAUDULENT' misrepresentation and impose a two-year penalty, not a lifetime ban.

Family reunification is a cornerstone of our Immigration Law. Let's give family relationships the recognition they deserve, not punish people without even a hearing.

Well, so far this announcement is meaningless because it's being stymied by provincial governments across the country failing to enter into agreements with the federal government.

In other words, the federal government can change the law of the land, but the provinces need to make it happen.

At the time of Volpe's announcement, three provinces Manitoba, New Brunswick and Quebec had already established pilot projects to permit off campus employment for foreign students.

But in B.C., foreign students are banned from working here while they study, even though our economy is crying out for skilled workers. This makes BC far less attractive to foreign students than other provinces. Not only are we losing their educational dollars but also the talent that they bring to our province.

Employers want to hire overseas students because they deal on a daily basis with the frustration of a labor shortage particularly in the tourism and hospitality industry, one of the key sectors of the B.C. economy.

I say it's time the B.C. government got off the can and supported this federal government initiative. Students need help to pay for significantly increased education fees - and B.C. needs more intelligent and motivated people in the employment pool.

In my book, Volpe still deserves credit, but without the provinces signing on his efforts are being wasted.

My hope is that by the start of the new school year in September, provincial premiers will realize what a valuable resource they are neglecting - the contribution that foreign students can make here economically and culturally - and will act with haste to enter into federal agreements that allows foreign students a part-time presence in the workforce.

And this was supposed to be a fast-track program!

As originally developed, the concept was to bring foreign entrepreneurs and investors to Canada with the skills and financial resources to create jobs and wealth here. And to do so in an expedited manner.

However, due to abuses by criminal elements and investor losses in projects that never got off the ground, the application process has been revised several times until it is no longer either fast or expeditious.

The result is that many worthy applicants - people who would make a positive contribution here - give up in frustration and take their assets elsewhere rather than grind their way through a long and drawn-out process.

However, the feds don't totally control immigration and a small portion of the jurisdiction is in provincial government hands.

So the B.C. government has come up with its own program to entice qualified business applicants with business expertise and has gotten the go-ahead from Ottawa to implement it.

It's called the BC PNP (Provincial Nominee Program) and I believe it represents an exciting new opportunity to bring in people with the right stuff to our province.

The key benefit is speed of processing. Rather than taking several years to asses an application, the BC PNP program fast-tracks the procedure, while putting the onus on applicants to prove themselves worthy of residency here.

Firstly, business applicants must make a preliminary application based on a business initiative in one of the key sectors of the provincial economy. Successful applicants are then invited to make a formal application which must be accompanied by a detailed business plan and a $3,000 fee.

The province undertakes to make a decision within three months.

If the application is accepted, the next stage is to sign a performance agreement. Once the agreement is in place, participants are eligible for work permits enabling them to start on their project immediately while the immigration application process is finalized.

If they don't perform, out they go.

There are three categories of eligibility, but basically applicants in the projects category in the Greater Vancouver area must be prepared to invest $800,000 on a new venture or expand an existing one. They must have a net worth of $2 million and have a minimum one third equity in the venture. They must create five new jobs and have an active management role.

If they are prepared to go outside the Lower Mainland, the rules are different. They will need to invest $300,000 in the venture, show a net worth of $600,000, have a minimum of 50 percent equity, create two new jobs, and actively manage the business.

I think these are sensible rules. These people's money and skills can be put to work in months rather than years. The result is a greater degree of transparency, predictability, speed and - most importantly - accountability for the government, the applicant, and the business venture.

I say, bring it on.

Minister Joe Volpe is going to allow them to work here while they study. The immediate benefit to Canada will be an increase in skilled workers.

Historically, foreign students who come to study at Canadian educational institutions have been precluded from working in Canada to earn money that would help pay for their education.

Even though they pay higher fees than Canadian students - effectively subsidizing education for our kids - they have been shut out of the labor force.

But if the new minister is as good as his word, international students attending public post-secondary institutions will be allowed to work off campus. Canadian employers will benefit from their skills, energy and initiative. And the nation will have a larger pool of skilled workers from which to draw.

Ironically, it's taken a shortage of skilled workers in Canada to bring common sense to the table. Ask almost anyone in the service sector, particularly tourism, which employs large numbers of seasonal workers, and they'll tell you how tough it is to find reliable, intelligent staff, particularly outside major metropolitan centres.

This new initiative will alleviate that problem - and here's how.

Minister Volpe is also planning to extend the period of time that students can get a work permit after they graduate from Canadian post-secondary institutions.

Currently, they are allowed 12 months here to work in their chosen field after they get out of school. After that time is up, they are sent packing.

Now, foreign students who secure a job outside the greater Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto regions will be able to get a two-year work permit to stay.

Not only will this give them valuable on-the-job experience, it will assist them to gain permanent residence status. Given the worldwide shortage of skilled labor, the greatest long-term benefit will be to Canada and the Canadian economy. And if anyone says there are political motives at work here, I say who cares?

There was more good news recently for foreign students in British Columbia who have obtained a diploma or degree in the province over a period of two years or more.

The B.C. government's new Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) for qualified foreign students makes them eligible to apply for permanent residency providing they can get a permanent job offer in their field.

This enables B.C. to retain the skills of students who have invested in the province by buying an education here. They pay. They stay. We all benefit.

I say hooray for both levels of government. It's about time we saw more of these common sense initiatives introduced into Canada's immigration process.