Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Dec. 15th, 2010

[Claudette Deschênes]

Our priority from the beginning was on family class. In Quebec and outside of Quebec, our focus was on family class.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

That's time.

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

There's still time for another round.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

No.

I have Mr. Dewar down here.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

I don't have a preamble, nor a long question.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Mr. Dewar, before I give you the floor, could I ask you to tell Ms. Chow when the new meeting times are?

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Thank you. I get to bear the great news. I will do that. Thank you, Chair.

I want to ask a question around settlement and what happens when people arrive. One of the issues, of course—and perhaps it's a lot more in places like Montreal, but I'm certainly hearing about it in Ottawa—is about the support people get when they come here. One of the things that has worked very successfully is the nominee program, which I've witnessed and heard about in places like Manitoba. It's that connection to getting people to the next level in getting jobs and support for them.

Has there been something—you might have covered this already, and I apologize if you have—that is directed to the Haitians who have arrived to make sure they are going to be supported? I know there is the general program—I know all about that. I used to serve on a board here in Ottawa for immigrant settlement programs.

Is there something very specific for the Haitian community—the new arrivals—that is similar to the nominee program, following them through in terms of access to all of the services they need and beyond the usual one-year focus? Is there anything like that or that is being contemplated, similar to the nominee program, which is very connected, if you will?

[Claudette Deschênes]

I guess I would say that the program and the special measures were about reuniting families, people who had a support network in Canada. At this point, I don't think we're thinking of any other special program.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

You have two minutes.

[Claudette Deschênes]

I should have had a longer answer.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Yes. I could ask another one. No, I'm just kidding.

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Yes or no, if there had been an extra 100 or 200 applications, if the federal government had expanded the family class the way Quebec did, would that have caused a serious problem in processing?

[Claudette Deschênes]

Well, I think we processed what we had.

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

That wasn't the question.

[Claudette Deschênes]

I'm not sure that as a public servant I can answer that question.

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

If Quebec had not expanded the family class, was there any intent federally to expand the family class? Ninety-five percent of Haitian Canadians had that opportunity, but it was because a provincial government decided to do that. Was there any intention federally to do that?

[Claudette Deschênes]

I think we believed that the program met the needs of reuniting family members.

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

It says here in your opening statement that for two months you didn't have an office in Port-au-Prince, yet further on in the same statement you said that under these special measures, Haitian applications received prior to March 31 would have to be processed by June. If you were basically closed for two months, during the worst crisis period in Port-au-Prince, people could not apply in Port-au-Prince and virtually could not get out to Dominica to do their applications. So how many applications did you receive before March 31 in Port-au-Prince?

[Claudette Deschênes]

I'll clarify that the applications were coming into the office, first in Mississauga for the sponsorship, and then to the Ottawa office. In terms of numbers....

[Rénald Gilbert]

I don't have the number, but the embassy was not closed. We were operational. We did serve the public there, essentially, every day and every night at the beginning.

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

So how many--

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I'm afraid that's it.

[Rénald Gilbert]

But we were not totally functional.

[Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

So just the number--how many were processed there or received?