Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Feb. 26th, 2007

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Okay.

Thank you very much, Mr. Wilson.

I want to thank the various witnesses who have come here today to meet with us. Of course we have ample evidence that we do indeed have a problem that needs to be dealt with. When the hearings are completed, we will be making recommendations to government to deal with the problem.

I think, Mr. Donaldson, you have a comment.

[Rod Donaldson]

I will leave you all with a thought for your drive home tonight. You've gone through life, as I have, thinking you were a Canadian. One day I was told I wasn't. For all of you sitting in the room, when you're on your way home tonight, think of how much your life would change and how you would feel emotionally if, through no fault of your own, you found out all of a sudden you weren't a Canadian.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Thank you.

Before we go in camera, I believe Mr. Telegdi has a motion he wishes to put before the committee.

[Andrew Telegdi, Liberal, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

We're studying refugee issues and the Immigration and Refugee Board, and it has just come to my attention that Jean-Guy Fleury, the chair of the Immigration and Refugee Board, has resigned, effective March 15.

My understanding is that the reason he has resigned is that the wait times are going up and the backlogs are growing. I think we, as a committee, should have him before us this Thursday, because then he'll still be an employee of the board. If we don't do it this Thursday, then by the time we come back he will not be an employee of the board any more. So I'd like to have him here.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Are you making a motion to that effect, Mr. Telegdi?

[Andrew Telegdi, Liberal, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

I am.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Okay. You require 48 hours' notice, of course, for a motion. That's notice of motion you're giving us right now.

Okay, is there discussion on this?

[Andrew Telegdi, Liberal, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

You're going to discussion?

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

We're asking for discussion on it.

Yes, Madame Faille.

[Meili Faille, Bloc, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

I understand that 48 hours' notice is required. We have just put in the motion on our agenda.

However, the point just made by Mr. Telegdi, namely that Mr. Fleury will no longer be a government employee as of March 15, creates a problem, since we will be returning on March 19. Consequently, I think we might possibly be able to question him this Thursday.

Moreover, when Minister Solberg testified about the shortage of IRB commissioners, I did stress at the time the importance of having an action plan in place. We were promised a copy of one, but have yet to receive it. I believe the report was supposed to be disclosed to the committee. Therefore, would it be possible to have that information this Thursday as well?

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Let's deal with Mr. Telegdi's motion first. We would require unanimous consent in order to waive the 48 hours' notice and get Mr. Fleury in here.

I will go to Mr. Siksay on this right now.

[Bill Siksay, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Chair, I think it's very important to have Mr. Fleury come to the committee this week, if possible. But I'd like to ask that that be added as an extra meeting on Thursday, because I would like us to continue our work on the report on the conditions of detention at Kingston immigration holding centre.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Witnesses may leave at any time, if they wish. Maybe we'll give witnesses a chance to leave.

Thank you very much.

[Sheila Walshe]

Thank you very much, all of you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Mr. Karygiannis.

[Jim Karygiannis, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am sure this is a very important motion that my colleague Mr. Telegdi is putting on the floor. I think we can go beyond the partisan level here, and members should see that it is very important for us to address it, as we have been working on this report for a long time, and we want to hear from him. Certainly, somebody who does not support it will be very partisan, and it will show the mean streak of the government.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Does Mr. Telegdi have unanimous consent to waive the 48-hour notice for his motion?

[Rahim Jaffer, Conservative, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Chair, could you repeat the wording announced?

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Mr. Telegdi has put a motion on the floor to bring in Mr. Fleury to our next meeting, but that motion would require unanimous consent to waive the 48-hour notice of motion. You can't bring a motion before the committee to have it done right away; it's a notice of motion, so that would require unanimous consent of the committee to waive that requirement of 48 hours.

Does Mr. Telegdi have unanimous consent?

[Andrew Telegdi, Liberal, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

A recorded vote, please.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

A recorded vote.

(Motion negatived) [See Minutes of Proceedings]

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

We will now go in camera.

[Andrew Telegdi, Liberal, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

Mr. Chair, was that a recorded vote? I asked for a recorded vote.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Oh—a recorded vote.

[Andrew Telegdi, Liberal, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

Everybody here voted yes, and everybody over there voted no.