Citizenship and Immigration Committee on April 27th, 2010

[Keder Hyppolite]

Concretely, it has no more passports to issue. People want to renew their passports in Montreal and can't do it. We got that information yesterday, not two months ago.

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

What about birth certificates and death certificates?

[Keder Hyppolite]

I don't know what the situation is with birth certificates, but I know that the archives also collapsed. We have no information about birth certificates being issued. It is difficult to find documents like that in Haiti at present, so that people can come here to Canada. However, some people already had documents at the Embassy of Canada. Those documents are on computer and they can be used. That is the situation as we speak.

I am going to let Serge talk about the health program.

[Serge Bien Aimé]

In terms of death certificates, we have seen the mass graves on television, where thousands of people are being buried without identification. We don't know exactly who died. We have to take the word of family members who say that their father or their brother or their son has disappeared.

At the height of the earthquake, there were no health certificates in Port-au-Prince. Even though things did pick up somewhat, people had to go to Cayes or Cap, in the north and south. Sometimes they didn't have money or the roads were destroyed. That caused a lot of problems. They may now be starting up gradually.

It has been said that they are starting to recover archives records, but that is mainly the case for police certificates. In Haiti, they look not only at the archives extract, but they also ask for a birth certificate validated by the government department or the archdiocese, but the archdiocese collapsed. Everything is gone, that's why it is difficult to get these certificates. It is very slow.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Maurizio Bevilacqua]

Thank you, Mr. St-Cyr. Your time is up; sorry.

Because of the time restriction here, I'm going to ask Ms. Hughes and Ms. Wong if it's okay for both of them to place their questions so that we can get the panellists to respond.

Thank you, Ms. Hughes, and thank you, Ms. Wong.

Ms. Hughes.

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

I will be brief, because you have talked a lot about the reality in Haiti and the resources you have.

Obviously you do not have a lot of financial resources. Do you have access to more resources, to government funds, to help people who are here in Canada? It also seems like there is a problem in the way the funds sent to Haiti are being used. Can you also tell us, particularly with regard to women, about the way those funds should be directed? I have another question about adoptions. Does a Haitian person living in Canada have more difficulty adopting a child from Haiti?

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Maurizio Bevilacqua]

Now we'll hear from Ms. Wong.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond, BC]

I have two questions, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much for coming to let us know more about Haiti and the community needs.

The first question is about the remark by Ms. Cantave about the funding that was cut by CIDA for the NGOs in Haiti. I want to know which organizations have been cut.

The second question is about adoption. I understand that families here would like to adopt Haitian children, but are you aware that the Haitian government has to approve first and then the provincial government here also has to give its approval? So I want to know about that situation in Haiti.

[Micheline Cantave]

So I will answer first. There is ROCAHD. Yes, CIDA has cut spending, the funding that it was giving in Haiti. I manage a women's centre, and I think it is very important, because the entire infrastructure, the entire base, like the NGOs that were there and worked with women, is under the rubble. So it is really very important.

At the moment, I know that ROCAHD, the Regroupement des organismes canado-haïtiens pour le développement, which was doing work on the ground, is not getting funding any more. That may answer both questions, Mrs. Hughes' question and yours. The NGOs on site, at least the recognized ones, should be getting more funding and continue to be funded because at the moment they are complaining that they are not getting any more funding supposedly because of the reconstruction. We know it isn't easy, because there was no advance notice of the earthquake, but those organizations should continue to receive money so they can continue to help people on site, as they were doing before January 12.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond, BC]

Can I know the names? We were told that we've given $220 million--it's on the way--and $150 million has already been given to Haiti, to the non-profit organizations, at least 20 of the international ones. If you could send me those names later, I would appreciate that, because then we can talk to CIDA.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Maurizio Bevilacqua]

Just on a point of order with regard to the administration of this committee, when you're sending the names, they have to be forwarded to the chair. Then we will distribute them to all the members.

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

I was wondering whether Ms. Jacques had any comments to make.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Maurizio Bevilacqua]

Yes.

Madame Jacques.

[Josette Jacques]

Ms. Cantave's answer was perfect. I would have answered the same way as she did. Aid has in fact been cut off. Resources have been reduced, not to say simply suspended. So we are wondering how the organizations can continue to work if they have no resources. So that is basically what I wanted to say, as Ms. Cantave did when she gave her opinion on this subject.

With regard to Ms. Wong's question, we will send you that information, which I have at home. I have the names of the organizations at home. It was in my file. Ms. Cantave will look after sending it to you.

Is that okay, Ms. Cantave? Perfect.

[Keder Hyppolite]

On the question of adoptions, Haitian families can't easily adopt a child. It is becoming increasingly difficult to adopt a child in Haiti. The Haitian government does have to give its approval because when it comes to international adoption, if the country that allows adopted children to leave does not give its approval, the children can't leave. At this point, however, even here, access to adoption is not being facilitated for Haitian families even before they make an application in Haiti. That is the situation.

In terms of DNA, people who can't prove the relationship between themselves and the children whose parents they say they are, are having a lot of difficulty, and it costs between $800 and $1,000 for a DNA test. That is the situation.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Maurizio Bevilacqua]

Thank you.

First of all, thank you, Ms. Hughes and Ms. Wong, for your cooperation, given the time restriction that we have.

I'd also like to thank the witnesses. We rely heavily on the insight of Canadians, and you've certainly provided us with a lot to think about in ways to improve the system.

At this point I've been asked by Mr. Coderre to leave the floor to him--for a point of order, I believe.

[Denis Coderre, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

It's a small point of order, and it's on the matter that you've just mentioned, to send names.

What I would appreciate,

given that we have received some good recommendations today, from the organizations here, is that you send us the papers that can be translated so all members of the committee have the benefit of them. The question of Haiti will be discussed again later, and we will still need to check on what has been done in terms of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. We will not be submitting a report to the House, but having these recommendations will help us do our job better.

So send your papers to the attention of the clerk, who will have them translated, if necessary, and will distribute them to us afterward.

[The Vice-Chair, Liberal, Maurizio Bevilacqua]

Thank you, Mr. Coderre. It's a point well made.

Once again, thank you so much, and have a safe trip home.

The meeting is adjourned.