Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I will be splitting my time with the honourable member from Bourassa.
Minister, as you know, we will be listening to many witnesses in the coming days, and we will do our best to listen to as many groups as possible to get an assessment of what they believe is the right course of action for our country as it relates to the changes you propose.
Minister, during second reading I asked whether you were open to further measures to increase the transparency and the accountability of the designated country of origin process. You responded by saying that you are open to reasonable amendments at the committee stage, and enough factors are still missing from the bill that would make designated country of origin provision transparent and accountable.
First, I would like to suggest that the word “safe” appear in the legislation. Much more detail, of course, is required about what criteria you would use to determine whether to designate a country as safe. An amendment should consider whether a country is a signatory to relevant international human rights instruments and its human rights record with respect to the same. The amendment should also consider the availability in the country for seeking state protection and redress.
You have said that the designated country of origin list should not be an exhaustive one. In that case, you must include criteria that focus on how countries will in fact be considered for designation. In this regard, I would suggest that these criteria should include a combination of the volume of claims from that country and the associated acceptance rate at the IRB for that country.
I also think it would be of great assistance to the committee's deliberations on the safe country issue if the minister, you, were to bring the draft regulations to the committee that describe the designation process in more detail.
Essentially, Minister, will you commit to accepting these factors for an amendment and to bring draft regulations to the committee?