Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.
I'd like to begin by saying that aggressive refugee reforms are certainly needed, and we see this need in our community every day. I can tell you that we certainly get people contacting our office and the local offices of our federal members for assistance with the immigration process, because it is lengthy and it is cumbersome. And some applicants are blatantly abusing the system.
Being a border community, we see people trying to enter our country to work, to live under our democratic laws, and for the most part to become Canadian citizens living in our cities. We also see first-hand the great efforts made by the Canada Border Services Agency to protect and patrol our borders, as many abuse the opportunity to come to Canada and attempt to take advantage of the social systems we have in place here.
Speaking from the perspective of a border community, as the mayor I can tell you that we rely on the free and easy travel of people into and out of our country. We recognize the great importance of allowing people into our country to grow our communities, to attract business and tourism, and to support our population.
We certainly appreciate the sensitivity of this subject. We know the crucial role immigrants play in building our communities.
I see the proposed amendments to Bill C-11 as a step in the right direction. To support those coming in and to tighten up the rules for those who currently aim to take advantage, we need to speed up the process for successful claimants so that people can get on with their lives in Canada. We need to weed out those who have untoward intentions and get them back to their countries swiftly and effectively. This legislative reform is certainly imperative. It's an opportunity to improve the system. The result will be that it will quickly become fairer for those who are negotiating their claims, as they will be taken care of in an expeditious way. And it will be fairer to the rest of Canadians, who pay for the social support systems that refugees without income rely upon.
The bill proposes to reduce the length of time a claim takes from start to finish. This will translate into a huge relief of the burden on our taxpayers. Instead of it taking an average of four and a half years for an unsuccessful claimant to go through our system and be removed from our country, under the revised law a claim would be processed in under a year. This translates, of course, into substantial savings.
The quick removal of failed claimants from the country would help discourage individuals from using the asylum system to try to jump the immigration queue to enter Canada. It would mean that unsuccessful candidates would not be supported by our social systems any longer than necessary. In turn, this would deter bogus claimants.
It's important to look at the savings that would result. It's estimated that each failed asylum case currently costs taxpayers approximately $50,000 in social service and health costs. With a faster timeframe for cases, this cost would be reduced to approximately $29,000. The savings for our taxpayers would certainly be substantial.
It will also ensure that valid claims will be processed in a timely manner so that successful refugees can get on with starting their lives in our country. They can get established, get gainful long-term employment, and start contributing to society in a meaningful way much sooner.
I support the faster process that will see claimants get their first interview within eight days of arriving in our country. Under the amended legislation, the first hearing will be 60 days after the interview. This is certainly a positive move. It is a distinct improvement over the current average of 19 months for claims to be heard by the IRB. Most importantly, the people who need help and protection will get it more quickly.
Currently, the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, and other countries have a “safe country of origin” policy. By engaging in a similar system, we will be saving our taxpayers money and time. We will also be allowing those from unsafe countries an appeal process. Implementing an appeal process will allow new information to be brought forward by claimants from unsafe countries. All eligible asylum claimants, including those from safe countries, of course, will continue to have a hearing by the Refugee Protection Division.
With its commitment to increase the annual refugee target by 2,500 people, the new legislation will allow the government to help more refugees resettle in Canada.
Another benefit is that the government will be able to increase resettlement assistance program funding to $54 million, which will be the first increase we've seen in more than ten years.
Ultimately, I see the bill as addressing a need. It will help the people who are going through the system now. It will help those who need our protection to get it quickly and efficiently. And it will weed out those who are abusing the system and get them back to their countries without the extensive burden on our taxpayers that exists now.
Thank you very much.
