Evidence of meeting #7 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 applications.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
Paul Calandra Conservative Oak Ridges—Markham, ON
Thank you, Chair.
And thank you for appearing yet again.
My question is regarding two things that have never changed or have not changed in a long time: people's desire to come to this country and the fact that computers are not new to Canada. What is taking so long for us to get a global case management system, and has that not had an impact, especially after 9/11?
5:25 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Certainly, I think if anybody had told us it was going to take that long to get the global case management system overseas, we would have been a little disappointed. I think it's accurate to say that we're now focused on it coming and that we'll be able to do it.
As for why it took that long, the scope of that project was very, very big. During that time we also had a new Immigration Act, so things changed there. We also had the creation of the Canada Border Services Agency, so again, things changed there. I certainly don't want to make an excuse that is what caused it, but I think what we want to be focused on is that we now have it and we're going to be able to do so many things, providing us more flexibility in how we deliver—
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
Paul Calandra Conservative Oak Ridges—Markham, ON
That will obviously have an impact with respect to wait times and customer service. It will have an impact on staffing, but as I said, it's not a new problem. Did we not start computerizing? Did we not start looking into different case management systems in the 1990s or the 1980s? I had my first Commodore 64 in 1984. I started putting things on it. I had an Apple Macintosh. Why did we not move to computerizing much sooner?
5:25 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
We have computerized. We have systems in place. It's just that when the system overseas was initially developed, the foreign service officers reported to Foreign Affairs. So again, it's a matter of as we move forward we are integrating things in a better way.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
Paul Calandra Conservative Oak Ridges—Markham, ON
What I'm getting from all this is that it seems what we have is a system that is a much more integrated system. Especially following 9/11, we have a system that is moving toward a computerized program that works better for people who want to come to this country and to make sure that we have a safer process.
We have no lack of individuals who want to come to this country. I would suggest to you that the success of the economic action plan in the midst of a global economic downturn and the fact that so many people are still excited about coming to Canada is a positive that we should be looking at.
The success of the Haiti mission and what your department has done in Haiti, responding to that, is something that should be an example used for all other future incidents or future devastating circumstances.
It strikes me that the department has had a heck of a lot to deal with in a very short period of time. There was a new act and a huge backlog that was left to us by a previous government. It strikes me that you have done an absolutely spectacular job in making sure that the interests of Canadians have always been put first and foremost.
Despite what you've heard and despite everything else, I want to congratulate the department on what I think has been truly remarkable.... Especially in the year and a half that I have been here, I have been nothing but impressed by what the department has done.
I can tell you in my office.... I have the largest riding in Canada, in terms of population, and I have one of the most diverse ridings in the country. My constituency staff has nothing but good things to say about the department. Sure, we'd like things speeded up and sometimes done a bit better, but I can tell you that we could do better responding to our constituents.
I just want to leave one comment because I know we are out of time. I just want to thank the department again for what I think is an extraordinary amount of work done, always putting Canadians first.
I'll leave you with that comment. If you want to comment, by all means do.
5:25 p.m.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Thank you.
5:25 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative David Tilson
I don't think you can top that.
Madame Deschênes, I want to thank you for coming I don't know how many times to brief us on this topic. We do appreciate that, so thank you and Mr. Armstrong for appearing today.
Ladies and gentlemen, as I've said, our next meeting is Thursday, April 15, at 3:30.
This meeting is adjourned.