Citizenship and Immigration committee  Many people appeal. Every decision can be appealed. There are applications to the Federal Court to stop the removal. There are all kinds of mechanisms that delay a removal. Right now, for example, in the Immigration and Refugee Board there is a delay of eight to nine months bef

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No, there really aren't, because we cannot make a decision. The relationship has to be assessed first, before we can stop the removal. But our system does not allow us to break down exactly what percentage of those being removed are people who have been accepted.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'm sorry, privacy legislation prevents me from discussing particulars about a case, and without having the details I'm not prepared to comment.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  First of all, it takes a long time to remove someone. Just a regular failed refugee claimant would take 853 days—that's two to three years. Criminals, of course, are removed in less time, within a year. So you have a long period of time for someone to make an application for a sp

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Just because you have a Canadian-born child does not exempt you from being removed. Canadian children, of course, are not removed from Canada, because they have a right to remain in Canada.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Well, without knowing the specific details of that case, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on that.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Without knowing the details of the case, it would be inappropriate for me to discuss that right now with you.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It's very difficult to make a decision on the case without having all the facts.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I understand, but I'm not prepared to comment on that case without having more detail.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  But I--

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's correct.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Normally what happens when we have a spousal in-Canada application is that we would consult with Citizenship and Immigration beforehand.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Our current backlog is about 22,000--

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The total backlog is 22,000, and of those, 6% are what we call high-priority cases. Those are the ones who pose a risk to national security, those involved in organized crime or crimes against humanity, and of course, criminals. That would be under 2,000. It's 6%.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Marriage of convenience is an issue. Because it is on our lower-priority scale for areas that we enforce, it's not an area we've put a lot of resources on, but it is an issue. We get complaints about that all the time.