Thank you.
I think everyone agrees that we need to speed up the process and have the tools that will allow us to fend off the waves of illegitimate claimants. However, we cannot seem to agree on what is fair and even on what is effective.
Personally, I do not believe that having a list of designated countries is an effective way to deal with the problem. Rather than having their cases processed by an expert appeal division, as part of a tribunal whose very function serves that purpose, claimants will have to appeal to the Federal Court, as is now the case. That isn't such a far-fetched consideration, since you have provided the addition of four judges at the Federal Court, pursuant to section 41 of your bill. As you were in the process of preparing your bill, you knew that it would lead to an increase in the number of challenges before the Federal Court.
Would it not be better to implement a non-discriminatory process, simply to speed up the current process and ensure that people have full access to the Refugee Appeal Division rather than having to file an appeal at the Federal Court? That process is much more onerous, long and costly than having an appeal division.