Canada-China Relations Committee on Nov. 16th, 2020

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

I have another related question.

For those individuals who can't leave Hong Kong because they cannot obtain travel documents, or because of other barriers to their exiting Hong Kong, is your department, through the consulate, prepared to allow those individuals to make their claims from Hong Kong?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

We have an established process, and as I have said, notwithstanding the challenges of COVID, we have still found ways to resettle the most urgent cases. As I've said as well, the consul general, along with their staff, will stand at the ready to provide support where they can.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

I'll just finish with a comment, Mr. Chair.

The minister fails to acknowledge that his announcement last week and the other pathways available don't capture all the situations that Hong Kongers find themselves in. There isn't a great degree of flexibility for those wishing to leave Hong Kong who find themselves in these unique circumstances as a result of the imposition of this draconian national security law.

[The Chair, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Thank you, Mr. Chong. That concludes your time.

Now we have Mr. Oliphant for five minutes.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the minister, as well, for his graciousness.

We know that under the rules of committees, there are two things: the requirement of a witness to answer questions, and, quoting from Mr. Bosc in the manual, it says very clearly that members are also “urged to display the 'appropriate courtesy and fairness'”, which I think has been missing from time to time in this meeting.

That being said, there was an intimation by one of the members of the committee that people who are accused of or guilty of human rights abuses would be allowed to come into Canada. My understanding, first of all, is that it is not the responsibility of the Minister of Immigration to do security checks. That is the responsibility of the public safety department.

However, is there any credible understanding that you will be allowing people into this country who do not pass security checks?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

No, and thank you for the question, Mr. Oliphant.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

I just wanted to make sure that it was clear on the record that this government has no intention of allowing anybody into the country who has broken a law or is a security risk to Canada. Thank you.

I want to get into the last part of the announcement, which has to do with PRRAs. I will confess that, as a member of Parliament, PRRAs are one of those horrible things to understand that I have to deal with quite regularly.

I want to unpack a little bit what this really means. If someone, somehow, has made a claim for asylum and the IRB makes a decision that denies it, normally we do a risk assessment, as a government. That is done to see whether that person can return home. I understand that now you will be able to have more latitude with respect to PRRAs and that they will be able to reapply to stay in Canada longer while their situation is determined.

Could you explain that a bit to us?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

First, I commend you for doing your homework on what is a very esoteric part of immigration law, Mr. Oliphant.

In short form, the protection that we introduced last week will waive the usual one-year period that a failed asylum claimant from Hong Kong would have to wait until filing an application for a pre-removal risk assessment. In practical terms, what this means is that without having to wait that period, if they are a failed asylum claimant, they may have another chance to stay in Canada as a result of the assessment.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Just to live up to my reputation of not always being nice to my own government, I do want to ask you whether the IRB has or will have sufficient resources to actually undertake the work that could be required if Hong Kong citizens are seeking asylum in Canada. Do you have the resources to actually get the IRB to be able to work? I know they've had to retool for COVID, but, tell us, do you have the money?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Well, certainly we have invested, under our government's border enforcement strategy, significant funds to ensure that the Immigration and Refugee Board can meet the capacity. I will say that I believe we have the capacity to meet the demand, and we would like to ensure that there are more resources going forward, in addition to the plan that I filed.

We also look to continue to show world leadership when it comes to resettling refugees. As I said, Mr. Oliphant, the United Nations has recognized our role in this space for two years now, and I know that it's in large part because of the generosity and the compassion shown by Canadians.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Would you appreciate it if this committee actually recommended that you have the resources to ensure the IRB can meet the possible demands of this difficult situation for Hong Kongers seeking asylum in Canada?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

I would certainly not turn down the offer of support. Thank you, Mr. Oliphant.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Thank you very much, Mr. Oliphant.

Thank you, Minister, for appearing today. I understand your officials will be staying with us for the remaining hour. It was good of you to be with us this evening.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Mr. Genuis, go ahead on a point of order.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I wanted to make sure the minister was aware that the committee had requested him for two hours, and I think this committee has other questions, if the minister is able to stay. In any event, I did want to make sure that he was aware of that request and give him the opportunity to stay longer if he wished to.

[The Chair, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Thank you very much.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I am certainly open to returning, if the committee sees fit, at a point in time in the future.

[The Chair, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Thank you, Minister.

With that, in the second hour, we'll go on to Ms. Dancho, with questions for the officials for six minutes.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the officials for being here today. I know you're working diligently to improve the situation for those in Hong Kong as we are able to within the limitations of the announcement last week. I have a few broad data-related questions that I'm hoping you can answer.

How many eligible Hong Kong residents do you expect to apply for these new economic streams?

[Natasha Kim, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair. I can start with that one, and my colleague Dr. Giles may wish to add to it.

At the moment, I mean, we can't necessarily predict with any certainty what the volumes will be, just because of the current pandemic situation in particular, and certainly with travel, global travel, the way it is. I think there's some likelihood that people may be assessing options at this point in time and deciding how to make their plans. At the moment, we can't predict with any certainty, but the—

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

I'm sorry. Pardon me for interrupting. Can I specify? Maybe you'd have a better idea. Do you expect the bulk of them to be from Hong Kong, as in currently in Hong Kong now, or do you anticipate that most of them will be just those who are in Canada already?

[Natasha Kim]

Given the way the new measures have been designed, Mr. Chair, there are actually both avenues for those who are already in Canada, and we do have some information there. There are approximately 7,000 who hold valid study or work permits, who possibly would be in Canada, although we don't know if they may have left during the last few months. Then there are also streams where Hong Kongers from abroad would be able to apply for that open work permit and in that way be able to come in.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

You're not quite sure, though, how many. There are 7,000 currently in Canada who may be eligible, but you're not sure how many from Hong Kong would be coming. Your department wasn't able to do any modelling to ensure we can take that capacity in, so you don't really know how many would be coming from Hong Kong.