Citizenship and Immigration Committee on May 12th, 2008

[Warren Creates]

Sorry.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Mr. Komarnicki.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

I gather, when you talked about a very clever landmark change in overhauling the immigration program--

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

I have a point of order, please, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Mr. Karygiannis.

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

Can I ask who Mr. Komarnicki is replacing? This is his second round. I didn't hear anybody else saying that they would--

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

He is replacing Ms. Grewal.

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

I've already told the chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

We've had this discussion today already.

Mr. Komarnicki.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

I gather, when you said that this was a very clever landmark change in overhauling the immigration program that concentrates more power in the minister while still making the minister accountable for explaining it, reporting it to Parliament, and therefore to the Canadian public, you hadn't yet read the legislation. Is that what you're saying?

[Warren Creates]

I read the legislation, as you did, on the day it was released. In the fullness of time, I've had the advantage, as has every member of this committee, to contemplate what kind of impact it will have and--

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Okay, so you'd read it, but you hadn't reflected a whole lot on it.

[Warren Creates]

It was an urgent thing. The media called me and wanted a statement from me, as they often do. They wanted a sound bite for that night's television broadcast.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

You also said that the amendments of IRPA do not create unrealistic expectations on the part of skilled workers but also encourage other forms of economic immigrants, merely by accepting their applications, that they're going to get a visa at some point.

Did you make that statement on the same basis? Was it after you had read it, after you had time to reflect on it, or was it at about the same time?

[Warren Creates]

I made that statement at the time, yes, the same day it was released.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

And what did you mean by that, when you said it?

[Warren Creates]

We don't have a principle in our legal system called “reasonable expectation”. It's not something that the courts have ever protected. It's been argued many times in court.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

So what did you mean by that statement?

[Warren Creates]

What I meant was that the system we're trying to develop has to have some element of certainty in it. People go on the website, and they do a self-evaluation. They want to know whether they qualify.

If they file an application and it gets received and they pay the fee, this creates some sense of reasonable expectation. It's not one protected by law.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

That's what you meant by that statement?

[Warren Creates]

Exactly. It's not one protected by law. They cannot be guaranteed a visa just because they expect to have one. They have to go through the procedure of having their application processed.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

You said that the biggest challenge immigration lawyers have is not to be able to give clients a precise indication of how long they will have to wait.

[Warren Creates]

Yes.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

You also said that if the proposed changes could resolve this issue, it would be a big improvement. What did you mean by that?

[Warren Creates]

I meant that I want to see the backlog reduced, which this won't do. What I meant more so was that I don't want to see a new backlog climb. I want to see processing times reduced from five years, or four years, or even three, down to two years. The minister was suggesting one year. I think that's unrealistic. We would all be happy with a two-year process time.