Evidence of meeting #3 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was haiti.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Maybe you want to give these witnesses the opportunity to answer it.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Tilson
I'm ruling the question out of order.
If you want to have a vote, you can have a vote. I haven't had one of those in a while.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
Denis Coderre Liberal Bourassa, QC
Ms. Deschênes, 90% of the Haitian diaspora lives in Quebec. This is very much a Quebec matter. With regard to the cases that are currently being accepted by the Government of Quebec, could you confirm or state whether CIC has committed to in fact accept them or do you have your own procedures, given the whole issue of security?
5:25 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
We must conduct medical and security assessments. However, we are working very closely with the Government of Quebec.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
Denis Coderre Liberal Bourassa, QC
Can you assure us that the process will be sped up?
Obviously, concerning the medical issue, we know that the conditions in Haiti are different, and I imagine that also has an impact on DNA tests, among other things. The Haitian government also has its own set of circumstances.
Have you entered into an agreement with the RCMP or CSIS?
5:25 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
We have agreements intended to speed up security matters, even for people who have no documents. As for medical care, we have designated physicians on the ground. In cases where people have no documents, we already have a charter that sets out other means that can be used. If all else fails, we will fall back on DNA testing and proceed as quickly as possible.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Tilson
Thank you, Madame Deschênes and Ms. Harder.
The time has come to say goodbye.
Thank you very much. We've put you through the usual rigorous time. You've been very helpful with your answers. Thank you for your patience.
Before I adjourn, Ms. Mathyssen, I don't know whether Ms. Chow is going to be appearing on Tuesday. If she is, would you tell her the agenda is changing slightly? We will be meeting with a delegation from the Swedish Parliament. It will be a two-hour meeting. We will be discussing migration and integration, which is contrary to what we had agreed on before, but the committee has changed that....
Sorry, I made a mistake. I got confused. It's best practices, as scheduled.
This meeting is adjourned.