Evidence of meeting #21 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 39th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was person.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Meili Faille Bloc Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC
Alright. As far as you’re concerned, what skills are required to conduct a pre-removal risk assessment?
Senior General Counsel, Office of the Assistant Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice
I will ask my colleague from CIC to answer this question, as the public servants in question report to her.
Anna-Mae Grigg Director, Litigation Management, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
In terms of the skills and training that the PRRA officers receive, they have a two-week training period during which they're trained on refugee evaluation and refugee, international, and Canadian law. They also have decision-making and weighing and balancing--evidence-assessing--skills. They are experienced officers to begin with, in terms of the immigration program and their ability to assess information, but they have two weeks of specific training with respect to refugee protection.
Bloc
Meili Faille Bloc Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC
Is it possible for you to give us an updated table of Department employees—it is not necessary to name them—indicating their training, the extent of the training they received, as well as the number of years they have been PRRA officers
Director, Litigation Management, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I'm sorry, I'd like to hear the question again.
Bloc
Meili Faille Bloc Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC
Is it possible for you to give the committee a table indicating the number of years of experience of PRRA officers, the training each one of them has received, as well as the number of decisions they rendered? It is not necessary to name them.
Director, Litigation Management, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I can obtain that information for you. I don't have it now.
Bloc
Meili Faille Bloc Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC
Could you please give this information to the committee later on?
Director, Litigation Management, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Yes, absolutely.
Conservative
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for being with us this morning. I appreciate the presentation that was made.
Mr. Chair, while I share some of the broad concerns that Mr. Telegdi raised and Madame Faille raised, I want to ask some specific questions about the facility in Kingston. I have a number of questions. I tend to be a different questioner. I have short questions and like short answers.
Does CBSA or CIC operate any other detention facilities specifically, or is this the only one they're operating?
Susan Kramer Director, Inland Enforcement, Canada Border Services Agency
The Canada Border Services Agency has four immigration holding centres for which they are responsible. We have one in Vancouver that has 24 beds, one in Toronto that has 120 beds, and one in Laval that has around that many as well. They're all created for low-risk clients, because the high-risk clients are detained in provincial facilities.
Of course, there's the centre at Kingston for the security certificate cases. Although the centre in Kingston is operated by CBSA, the service provider is Correctional Service Canada, mainly because these clients are high-risk.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Correctional Service Canada is the service provider. Are the employees who work there employees of Correctional Service?
Director, Inland Enforcement, Canada Border Services Agency
Yes, they're on special assignment. The way they provide the service may be somewhat different, because the cases are different. We're not dealing with convicted detainees, we're dealing with security certificate cases, and as a result there are adjustments and modifications made to how the centre is operated.
We're the detention authority, and they provide the service. It is the same as in other Canada Border Services Agency detention centres, where we hire a private company.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
I might not have the right language for it, but with regard to the Kingston facility, is there a specific rule book for detainees that would be available, as a code of conduct on how the facility operates and that kind of thing--the kinds of rules they have to follow? Is there such a thing?
Director, Inland Enforcement, Canada Border Services Agency
Every person who is detained by the Canada Border Services Agency is given an information pamphlet as well as specific detention facility information. There are also protocols in place that govern the operation of the centres. They are called the president's directives.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Would the protocols deal with the day-to-day functioning of the facility?
Director, Inland Enforcement, Canada Border Services Agency
I can give examples of the kinds of things that they might cover: health care, religious observances, fresh air, gym access, visits, telephone calls, and canteen service.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
The presentation mentions that there is a grievance procedure in place.
Director, Inland Enforcement, Canada Border Services Agency
It's a three-pronged procedure. For example, if it's a health issue, it's referred directly to the Correctional Services health authority. If it's not resolved at the lowest level there, it moves up to the next level, then up to the next. Canada Border Services Agency and Correctional Service Canada are involved in each process.
If it's an operational issue, then we refer it to Correctional Service Canada. If it's a policy issue, Canada Border Services Agency takes the lead on it. There's encouragement made to resolve issues at the lowest possible level, and to resolve them informally.
NDP
Bill Siksay NDP Burnaby—Douglas, BC
Ms. Kramer, could you provide the list of the flow of these kinds of grievances and who the official would be to deal with them?
