Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Feb. 12th, 2009

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Okay.

[Thierry St-Cyr, Bloc, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

One at a time.

Let's do it for

motion 5 only. Then we can do it for the other motions.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

So this is not debatable.

All those in favour of Monsieur St-Cyr's motion, as I understand it, to refer Mr. Karygiannis' motion to the subcommittee?

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

Mr. Chair, when was the last time we referred anything to a subcommittee?

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I don't know. It doesn't matter. He's doing it.

[An hon. member]

It's in order.

[An hon. member]

We're being innovative.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Mr. Karygiannis, we move on to the next motion of yours. Could you tell us which one that is?

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

I would like to bring to the table number four, if I can. This is an agenda that should Mr. St-Cyr decide to refer it--he seems to be the hit man today for the work of the Conservatives--

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Try not to bait the members, Mr. Karygiannis.

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

I move that this committee undertake a study of the criteria used when awarding funding to community organizations that assist new Canadians as they make Canada their new home; and that pursuant to Standing Order 108(1), any findings and recommendations based thereupon be reported to the House.

We have had a flurry of activity, Mr. Chair, on how certain organizations get funding. We have people using adjectives, and the minister is certainly responding by threatening to cut their funding. We've clearly heard from the department this morning that there is a procedure and there are ways of doing this. I would like to put this on the table and certainly look for the support of the members to examine how an organization gets funding. We should examine the criteria used for the funding, and we should also call upon the minister to tell us the criteria he uses--be that a knee-jerk reaction or whatever--in order to cut funding from an organization when its president or vice-president might use some adjectives he doesn't like.

Certainly, that's not the mandate of the minister. That is certainly not the mandate he got from the Prime Minister, and on that, sir, I'd like to find out what mandates the department has and where the minister intervenes. How does he go about intervening in funding, and what criteria do we use in order to cut funding from an organization that's been getting funding for a long time?

I'm seeking support. Should Mr. St-Cyr want to defer that, you might want to go to the organization and say, look, I deferred it because I thought we wouldn't like to study this. This is an item du jour, if you want to call it that. This is something for which we need to find the criteria and that we need to discuss thoroughly.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Ms. Grewal.

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

Mr. Chair, as I have, Mr. Karygiannis has been a member on this committee for a number of years, so I believe he should therefore understand that there is a time-honoured procedure for bringing forward proposals for study topics. The subcommittee on agenda and procedure recommends how the committee should proceed to consider its orders and references and advice on such topics, and to select witnesses and schedule meetings. This is a venue for discussing the future business of this committee.

I don't know how his party works, but I know how mine works. If I think there is an important matter that needs the consideration of this committee, I approach my colleagues on the steering committee and make my case. By doing so, I do not take up the precious time of this committee. We meet for only four hours in a week, and we have a lot of work to get through, and we have a lot of issues to consider, so we owe it to our fellow committee members not to waste their time with unnecessary business.

The motion in question reads:

That this committee undertake a study of the criteria used when awarding funding to community organizations

Who are they? We don't know.

assist new Canadians as they make Canada their new home; and, that pursuant to Standing Order 108(1), any findings and recommendations based thereon be reported to the House.

Maybe there is some merit to this topic, and maybe there is not, but really, Mr. Chair, I believe that rather than considering the funding criteria, maybe it would be more useful to consider how the money is being used and whether new immigrants are receiving the help they need from these organizations and whether the government is getting good value for the money.

Mr. Karygiannis feels this funding offers greater relevance. As with the previous motion from Mr. Karygiannis, I suggest that this motion would be better left to the steering committee.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Is there a motion to refer?

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

Yes, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

All those in favour?

Well, I understand there's no debate. She's made a motion to refer, and there's no debate, right?

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Andrew Chaplin]

No, there's no debate.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

There's no debate. All those in favour of Mrs. Grewal's motion?

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Mr. Karygiannis, you still have the floor for another motion.

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

Mr. Chair, I find it very interesting that we're referring motions that are of importance. I see what Mrs. Grewal is doing--

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Mr. Karygiannis, perhaps you could move your motion before you get into debate on your motion.

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

Yes, I am thinking about it. I would like to go to number one.

I move that, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), this committee hear the respective ministers and officials from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and the Canadian Border Services Agency, and other relevant witnesses, to inquire into ever-increasing processing times related to immigration timelines from posts around the world; and that pursuant to Standing Order 108(1), any findings and recommendations based thereupon be reported to the House before any amendment is made to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Chair, we've seen the minister make remarks as to the length of time, that it's shortened. It is certainly not the case. I've given the minister and this committee ample suggestions and ample paperwork in front of you that this is not the case. I would like that we not only look at the length of time it takes, but that we also examine it and also try to assist the department by recommendations that we move and deal with this backlog we have, that we make suggestions to the department and the minister as to how we can expedite things, and that we find out what is the case as far as timelines are concerned around the world and why it's taking so long to bring people into Canada.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you, Mr. Karygiannis.

Is there debate?

Ms. Chow.

[Olivia Chow, NDP, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Mr. Chair, I'm particularly interested in the family reunification wait times. I have heard it's three years, five years, eight years to bring a mother or a father into the country, so I'm very interested in this study. The minister tells me that the family reunification wait times have been dropping for the first time ever. That's what I heard in the House of Commons when I asked last Thursday, I believe. So I do want to know, whether from Beijing in China or from India, whether it is a fact that wait times have been dropping.

We do need to deal with the temporary foreign workers report. That report, hopefully, will be done maybe in March or April, and we would be looking at something beyond, starting in the spring. This is an issue that I think will have a lot of impact on our constituents. Most often when people come to our office, they say, “Help. My parents were very healthy, but now they are getting a bit sick; they're getting a bit old. They've been waiting for years.”

I understand the backlog didn't start from the Conservative side; it started during the years when the Liberals were in power. At this point, whether it's Liberal or Conservative doesn't matter anymore. The backlog is a big problem, especially wait times for parents. I do hope that, whether this motion is referred or not referred, the subcommittee will see this as a priority, because it is really hard for new immigrants to wait all these years for their parents to come to Canada.