Citizenship and Immigration Committee on May 14th, 2008

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

Point of order, Mr. Chair. Would Mr. Komarnicki let the witness—

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Order, please. Let the chair do his job. I was just about to interrupt and tell Mr. Komarnicki to let the witness elaborate a little bit.

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

Never mind elaborating, I'd like an answer to my question.

[An hon. member]

Well, let her answer it.

[Elizabeth Lim]

I'd like to answer your question.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Order, please. I'll stop the clock if members persist.

Mr. Komarnicki, what was your question to Ms. Lim?

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

Can the application be made, and can it be considered on the merits if the minister chooses to?

[Elizabeth Lim]

Yes, it can.

However, when you change the “shall” examine, in section 25, to “may” examine, you are essentially giving the officer the power to not even look at it. So if someone says they have merit to their application, the officer says, “You know what, I don't even need to listen to the merits of your application”. That is the difference between an applicant submitting the application to the minister and the minister “may” grant on the merits of the case, and the minister not looking at the application.

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

Mr. Ben-Ami, the legislation, as I read it, indicates that the instruction must be published in the Canada Gazette. Is that your understanding?

[Joseph Ben-Ami]

Yes, sir.

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

And the instruction--that's what I'm speaking about now, not this legislation--must be reported in the report to Parliament on an annual basis. Do you understand that as well?

[Joseph Ben-Ami]

That is my understanding, yes.

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

The minister indicated that before an instruction issues there would be extensive consultation with the provinces, territories, the stakeholders. Would you expect that normally to flow from what you see in the legislation?

[Joseph Ben-Ami]

I would expect that. I know that's what the minister has said. And I would expect that from any minister, regardless of political party, on any policy issue.

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

If you wanted to have a system that is flexible and responsive to the economic needs of the country, would you think the instruction would be a more flexible way of proceeding than by way of regulation or legislation?

[Joseph Ben-Ami]

Generally, yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Okay. Thirty seconds.

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

How much?

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Twenty.

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

I'll pass my time to the Bloc to finish off if they feel they were shorted in some way on this whole exercise. They can have my 20 seconds.

[An hon. member]

Give it to Jim.

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

No, not to Jim. I don't need anyone to give anything to Jim.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Order, please. The time is up.

It's a moot point, whatever point it is that you're making.

Mr. Telegdi.

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

I just want to thank Mr. Ben-Ami, being the top operator for Stockwell Day--

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Order, please.

I want to say thank you to the witnesses. That's the chair's job to thank the witnesses and to say we will be preparing a report.

We thank you for your input. And I apologize for the conduct of the committee today.

The meeting is suspended.