Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Dec. 15th, 2010

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Good afternoon. This is the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on Wednesday, December 15, 2010.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), this is a follow-up to the briefing by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration on its role in the Government of Canada's response to the earthquake in Haiti.

I know, Madame Deschênes, that you have a paper. Members have seen it, and it's been suggested to me that we forgo that and go right into questions.

Is there any disagreement with that? No disagreement.

[Claudette Deschênes, Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

I was so looking forward to reading it.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I know. I just do as I'm told here, Madame.

Mr. Trudeau.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

If my colleague wants to take the first round, I'll let him.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Monsieur Bélanger, for seven minutes.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, Mr. Gilbert and Ms. Deschênes. I would like to have another look at the figures we received regarding special programs implemented following the January 12 earthquake. For instance, I have been told that, before the earthquake, there were 1,700 applications awaiting processing in the family class and that, since then, they have all been processed.

[Rénald Gilbert, Director General, International Region, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

That's not true. There are still 12 people awaiting processing, 4 of them for security reasons, and the others for medical reasons.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Could you give us some details on those 1,700 applications? Were they all approved?

[Rénald Gilbert]

No. Some of them were refused. We will provide you with the details.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

I have the same question regarding the other categories. We were provided with general figures, but we were not told how many applications were approved, how many were refused, why they were refused, and what happens once they are refused. That is what I would like to know.

[Claudette Deschênes]

I don't know if we will be able to give you all the details regarding the reasons for refusals, but we can give you... You may recall that, to make sure that the applications were processed as quickly as possible, we had set a deadline for new applications. We wanted to try to process them within 12 weeks because we knew that the situation was urgent. One of the problems we experienced is that, often, the applicants failed to provide us with all the required information.

We tried to be flexible in how we ask for information. Therefore, we were more flexible than we had been in the past. We communicated fairly regularly with clients or with sponsors in Canada, and if, after that effort, people failed to respond, we would close their file.

We chose to close the files, but we would reopen them if the family was able to find the documents or answer our questions. We wanted to be able to show that we had made all the necessary efforts. Following all that, a certain number of applications were refused. I will check with Mr. Gilbert to see if he has found any data in the meantime.

[Rénald Gilbert]

I don't have data on the 1,700 applications, but I do have data on all the applications that have been processed since the earthquake, with regard to this client class. We have examined 4,525 cases, of which 2,229 were approved, 1,404 were refused, and 892 were closed, as Ms. Deschênes has mentioned. Many of them...

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

They have been closed until further information is provided.

[Rénald Gilbert]

Yes. In many cases, we have reopened the file once the person got in touch with us again.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Do the 4,525 cases involve applications submitted after January 12, or are you talking about all the cases?

[Rénald Gilbert]

It's a bit of both. We are talking about cases for which a decision has been made. These are applications that were submitted both before and after the earthquake.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

In all the categories?

[Rénald Gilbert]

Only in the family class category.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

So, the figure of 1,700 is actually 4,500 minus 1,700, isn't that right?

[Rénald Gilbert]

That's right. If you wish—

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

So, there have been 2,800 new cases.

[Rénald Gilbert]

Yes.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

What about the other categories? Could you provide us with details on them as well?

[Claudette Deschênes]

We just need to make sure that we find the pertinent data.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

For instance, there have been 650 applications for permanent residence.