This kind of pandering I like

This is very good news:

Prime Minister Paul Martin is trying to shore up his party's traditional support among new Canadians with a pledge to kill a hated $975 immigration landing fee. He was to make the announcement while campaigning in British Columbia, where large blocs of Asian-Canadian voters could sway several key urban races in the Jan. 23 election.
A senior government spokesman said the landing fee will be eliminated to help in family reunification. "It also builds on the government's many policy efforts to ensure that our immigration system is more fair, more responsive to the needs of new Canadians."
The fee, introduced by a Liberal government in 1995, applied to adult immigrants with exceptions for dependent children or orphaned relatives. In 2000, refugees were exempted as well.

And about time. Would the Tories do likewise, I wonder? (UPDATE: Yes, they now say, or at least cut it in half, "and then continue to reduce it over our mandate as the fiscal situation allows.")