Opposition MPs on Tuesday decried the federal government's delay in filling 58 vacancies at the Immigration and Refugee Board, which the board's chair has said is responsible for a soaring backlog of refugee claims.

During Tuesday's question period, Liberal immigration critic Maurizio Bevilacqua said the government's lag in hiring for the positions has resulted in the tripling of refugee claims yet to be processed.

"The minister claims that she wants to have an efficient immigration and refugee system. Then why has she failed to fill 58 IRB vacancies?" Bevilacqua asked.

Immigration Minister Diane Finley responded by saying the Tories are committed to helping genuine refugees, citing the government's announcement that it will double the number of Iraqi refugees accepted into Canada from Iraq.

Finley also cited the government's recent appointment or reappointment of 100 people to IRB positions, while saying the previous Liberal government had allowed people who had failed the qualifying test to sit on the board.  

"The difference between us and the Liberals, Mr. Speaker, is that we make sure those individuals are qualified to do the job," Finley said. "With us, they actually have to pass the test to get in." 

Processing times 'clearly too long': IRB chair

In a recent report to Parliament, IRB chair Brian Goodman warned that "the considerable shortfall in the decision-maker complement in both the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) and the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) will result in growing inventories for these divisions, which together will form the highest inventory in the IRB's history."

The board's report said that the number of pending refugee claims has doubled to more than 42,000 since Prime Minister Stephen Harper came to office in 2006, with the IRB projecting the number could balloon to more than 62,000 this year.

Goodman said the vacancies could potentially cause the average processing times for refugee protection claims to reach 16.5 months, while the average time for immigration appeals could rise to 11 months.

"This is clearly too long," he said.  

The key to reducing the backlog of claims, Goodman added, is to return "as quickly as possible to a full complement of decision-makers."

Tories hoping to scrap IRB: NDP critic

NDP immigration critic Olivia Chow said she suspects the government plans to let the refugee determination system get so hopelessly backlogged that it will have an excuse to scrap the board. She said it's hard to find any other explanation for what's happened.

"There are lots of qualified people. They could easily bring the IRB to full complement," she said. "We've been saying that for two years now. I don't know what they're waiting for."

The debate comes as the government faces questions about its proposed sweeping changes to Canada's immigration policy, which opposition critics and immigrant groups have charged would give the minister too much power in determining who gets into the country.

The proposed amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act are embedded in a budget implementation bill tabled in mid-March.

The NDP and Bloc Quebecois voted against bill C-50, but the Liberals have ensured whatever opposition their members present to the budget in the House of Commons does not defeat Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority government.

Finley has argued the changes are necessary to deal with a backlog that has grown to some 900,000 applicants for immigration, with some facing wait times of up to six years for their application to be processed.

She has also said the measures comply with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and would help attract highly sought-after skilled workers.

With files from the Canadian Press