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

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

Are you going to do that now?

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

As I was just about to say, Ms. Dancho, we work very closely with our international partners. It will come as no surprise to you that even the UNHCR and the IOM, which are some of our primary referral agencies, have also experienced disruptions because of COVID. Notwithstanding that, we are resettling the most urgent cases.

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

All right.

I just want to go back a bit to the family reunification, particularly grandparents and parents, since you did mention that as an option for Hong Kong residents to bring their parents and grandparents here. I want to summarize for the committee what exactly that means.

They need to wait to apply till sometime late in 2021, when the lottery opens again, since it just closed about a month ago. Then they need to win that lottery. Then they need to submit a complete application and hope that they still have access to their travel documents—which I also just talked about—and then they need to wait two years-plus for the application to be processed. So really, your announcement is saying that we hope they can get here by 2023-24. Is that correct?

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

No, it's not correct. In fact, anybody from—

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

So you're saying you're going to expedite parents and grandparents specifically for Hong Kong.

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

No. I was about to try to answer the first part of your question, Ms. Dancho.

It's not correct. In fact, Hong Kong residents were eligible to apply under the parent and grandparent program.

Quite honestly, Ms. Dancho, the record of this government in reuniting families stands in sharp contrast to the last time the Conservatives were in government.

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

Sure, sure. Right.

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

We've made tremendous progress on backlogs. We will continue to make more going forward.

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

That's enough talking points. Thank you.

Chair, is that my time?

[The Chair, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Yes, your time is up. Thank you very much.

Now we'll go on to Ms. Zann for five minutes, please.

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Welcome to committee, Minister.

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

It's nice to see you.

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

It's nice to see you as well.

Nova Scotia has a total of 13 universities and post-secondary institutions, two of which are in my riding of Cumberland—Colchester. There are many Chinese students who come to Nova Scotia to study, particularly at Dalhousie's agricultural campus here in Truro, so I'm glad to see measures announced that will provide ways for young students from Hong Kong to have the option of remaining in Canada and, I would say, preferably here in Nova Scotia.

Quite a few international students also make the choice to use the post-graduate study permit as a pathway to permanent residency, and we know that international students are excellent candidates for settlement in Canada because of their education. Can you please elaborate on what specifically is being done for the students of Hong Kong?

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

Thank you very much, and thank you for being such a tireless advocate for the international student program. It is a great benefit not only to Nova Scotia but right across the country. You've heard me say that it contributes over $21.6 billion each year.

We were able to recently revive the international student pathway, in partnership with Nova Scotia and all of our provincial and territorial colleagues, in a way that ensures there is safe and orderly immigration, and I know that a number of schools have been approved in Nova Scotia. Hopefully, we will see those students continue to contribute not only to our economy but richly to our communities.

With regard to last week's announcement, as I mentioned, the great advantage of this announcement is that it creates flexibility. It encourages those from Hong Kong who have recently graduated to take advantage of an open three-year work permit. Once here, if they fall under one of the two streams that I explained in my remarks, they are able to apply for a permanent residency and then become more quickly integrated. This is important because of the needs of our economy, whether it's in health or, increasingly, in the tech sector. We believe that we have a real advantage here, and that's what this announcement hopes to make progress on.

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

I think that's fantastic.

Here, in Truro, Nova Scotia, when I was growing up there were really only three families who were Chinese. Now we have many young women, young girls, including my niece, who are from China, and they grew up together in the system and had each other to fall back on. They have integrated so well and they are very welcome. More Chinese people are welcome here. We love seeing them. Many of them are working and it's really fantastic. We also celebrate the Chinese new year and have lots of festivities like that, which is good for Nova Scotians who are not used to Chinese customs as well.

Your department did unveil a very ambitious and, I would say, historic levels plan to make room for higher target numbers of newcomers into the country, which we obviously need because we are an aging society. Here in Nova Scotia we are definitely aging and we need immigrants.

In my books, immigration has always been the right choice, and having more people in Canada will strengthen our communities. Can you explain how these measures for residents of Hong Kong actually fit into your levels plan?

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

They will contribute to our meeting the bold levels we have set out in the plan. They come at a moment in time when we want to accelerate our economic recovery and create jobs.

I will take this opportunity to emphasize that immigration does create economic growth. It does create more jobs. That's how, we believe, this initiative we have announced will help us meet our important economic needs when it comes to our health care sector. We talk about how our doctors, nurses and support workers are working around the clock. As we confront a second wave, they need a second shift. This is where immigration can really contribute and how we can align the skill sets that exist abroad with those within our borders.

I've also taken the opportunity, in conjunction with our plan, to point out that we have domestic temporary immigration in Canada. I think most Canadians understand that when immigrants are rolling up their sleeves and are helping to contribute to our response to COVID-19, that really does allow us an opportunity to consider accelerating their pathway to becoming Canadians. That will be good for all of us in the long run.

[The Chair, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Thank you very much, Ms. Zann.

[Lenore Zann, Liberal, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

I had another one, but no worries; that's fine.

Thank you, Minister.

[The Chair, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

That's four minutes and 55 seconds, so you really don't have time for a question. I'm sorry.

Mr. Bergeron, you have two and a half minutes.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Mr. Minister, as a former minister myself, I feel a certain empathy for what you are going through with us and some of our colleagues tonight. I always assume that ministers are motivated by the best of intentions to do what is in the best interests of the public.

So thank you for everything you have put in place so far. I understand that there may still be some elements that need to be developed. I know that you will reflect on them in light of the discussions we've had this evening, and eventually announce new measures to Canadians. I hope that we will also be able to make proposals to you for complementary measures that will effectively enable democracy advocates in Hong Kong to find refuge in Canada.

I want to come back to the appearance of the Canadian Consul General in Hong Kong. He told us that we must always plan ahead and make plans for all kinds of events. When we asked him specifically if he had plans in place to eventually receive a large number of refugees, we understood that this was not the case and that he could not presume a government decision.

I'd like to ask you, since you're with us today. As the saying goes, we'll get the answer straight from the horse's mouth.

For your part, have you put something in place to eventually allow the Canadian Consulate General in Hong Kong to plan for the arrival of a large number of refugee protection claims?

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

Mr. Bergeron, I'd first like to thank you for your support as a former minister. I was touched by your comment.

They are performing exceptionally well under very challenging circumstances. As I have also mentioned in the past, the Canadians who are there enjoy a right of return, and we will facilitate that whenever they wish.

Of course, as I have said, we are very grateful to our consul general in Hong Kong for all the work they are doing on the ground there to ensure that we can facilitate the travel of people from Hong Kong to Canada.

[The Chair, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Thank you, Minister.

We will now go to Ms. Kwan for two minutes and 30 seconds.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much.

If I could just turn to this issue for a second, the government's website states, “Hong Kong residents at risk of persecution who have fled to another country may also be eligible under Canada’s existing resettlement programs, including the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program and the Government-Assisted Refugees Program.”

Does that include the Five Eyes countries? Also, since private sponsorships must have a refugee status determination, how would they be eligible under this stream?

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

Ms. Kwan, thank you for highlighting an alternative route by which one may make a claim.

This work, in particular in this alternative route that you've just identified, is done in conjunction with those countries, as well as with our international partners.

The important point is that, as I have said, notwithstanding the challenges of COVID, we have still been able to resettle the most urgent cases, and that will occur as well in these alternate routes where necessary.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Sorry, the minister didn't answer my questions.

Would the people of Hong Kong be considered as the most urgent cases?