Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Feb. 16th, 2012

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Good evening. This is the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, meeting number 22. It is Thursday, February 16, 2012. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the orders of the day are a study of “Standing on Guard for Thee: Ensuring that Canada's Immigration System is Secure”. This meeting is televised.

For the first hour, we have three witnesses.

We had the Canada Border Services Agency people here earlier in the week. I understand that Mr. Geoffrey Leckey, who is the director general of intelligence and targeting operations for the Canada Border Services Agency, will not be making a presentation. It has already been done, I guess.

We also have the representatives from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Mr. Tom Venner is executive director of the general security screening branch. I will be asking you shortly, sir, to make a presentation, for up to 10 minutes. We'll try to stick to that.

Finally, we have two representatives from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. We have Ms. Shirley Cuillierrier. Is that close?

[Supt Shirley Cuillierrier, Director, Immigration and Passports, Royal Canadian Mounted Police]

That's close.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

She is the director of immigration and passports. We also have Mr. Todd G. Shean. I suppose I should be calling you officer. You probably have some other title. You are the assistant commissioner of federal and international operations.

I'd like to welcome you all to the committee for this study, which we have basically just started. We thank you for coming and contributing to the committee.

I will ask Mr. Venner to make his presentation. Thank you, sir.

[Tom Venner, Executive Director General, Security Screening Branch, Canadian Security Intelligence Service]

Mr. Chair and honourable members, good afternoon. I am pleased to be here today to explain the role of CSIS in supporting Canada's immigration system.

As part of our mandate, CSIS assists the government in preventing individuals who pose a threat to the security of Canada and Canadians from entering or obtaining status in this country. Maintaining the integrity of our immigration system is a vital part of strengthening Canada's security environment. The service's security screening program serves as a first line of defence against threats such as terrorism and espionage.

Using the security-related provisions in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, or IRPA, we assess whether visitors, refugee claimants, prospective immigrants, or potential permanent residents are, or are reasonably believed to be, foreign agents involved in terrorist organizations or people engaged in other violent activities. Advice on individuals of concern is then provided to our colleagues at the Canada Border Services Agency to help inform their recommendations. Our aim is to ensure that those who are inadmissible to Canada for security reasons are identified as early as possible in the process and are prevented from entering Canada.

To be clear, we do not make or enforce immigration decisions. That is left to our colleagues at CBSA and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. Our job is to identify potential threats and to provide related advice to government.

To give you a scale of our activities in relation to Canada's immigration system, during the last fiscal year alone, CSIS received close to 200,000 citizenship screening requests, approximately 79,000 permanent residence screening requests, over 71,000 visa vetting requests, and over 17,000 refugee screening requests.

Many national security reasons can disqualify individuals from entering Canada. Activities such as terrorism and espionage, for example, are undeniable threats to our national security.

Terrorism—especially Islamist extremist violence—remains the greatest threat to the security of Canada and Canadians. Some individuals with ties to terrorist organizations may attempt to come to Canada, whether it is to export their extremist ideology to Canada, carry out violent attacks within our borders or use this country as a refuge while they plan attacks against other countries.

Canada is also an attractive target for espionage activities—be they of a political or economic nature—and foreign agents continue to seek to enter Canada to conduct covert activities detrimental to the country.

Perhaps less well known, activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are also conducted in Canada. Individuals may seek to come to Canada to acquire knowledge or procure material that can then be used to develop illicit weapons programs in other countries.

Finally, the service also investigates illegal migration networks where there is a suspected nexus to terrorism. Ultimately, the objective of these investigations is to prevent illegal migration ventures from reaching Canadian shores, but when they are successful, CSIS then plays an important role in screening the new arrivals against admissibility criteria.

To summarize, Mr. Chair, there are real threats from abroad to the security of Canada and Canadians, and individuals who represent such threats need to be prevented from gaining entry or status in this country. We at CSIS play an important role in identifying these threats early and in supporting decision-makers at CBSA and CIC in determining admissibility and status.

Together with our partners, we work diligently to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Canada's immigration system in order to ensure that it is not exploited by people acting against the interests of this country.

With that said, Mr. Chair, I will end my remarks. I will be pleased to answer any questions.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

You'll be very popular with my colleagues, sir, because your remarks were short. Thank you.

We now have Assistant Commissioner Shean.

[A/Commr Todd G. Shean, Assistant Commissioner, Federal and International Operations, Royal Canadian Mounted Police]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank the committee for allowing me to appear before you today and for your efforts to enhance and improve the integrity of Canada's immigration system.

My name is Todd Shean. I'm the assistant commissioner of federal and international operations for the RCMP.

I will focus my brief remarks on the RCMP's role in helping to protect the integrity of Canada's immigration system, including supporting Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency in determining the admissibility of foreign nationals who wish to come to Canada under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

As Canada's national police force, the RCMP works closely with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Canada Border Services Agency, as well as domestic and international partners, to secure Canada's borders and to protect the integrity of our immigration system and maintain public safety.

One of the ways this is accomplished is through the investigation of immigration offences. This is a shared responsibility between the RCMP and the CBSA. The CBSA is the lead agency responsible for investigating most offences under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, including general offences, misrepresentation, counselling misrepresentation, smuggling, and document fraud.

The RCMP has a responsibility to combat serious and organized crime by developing and implementing strategies to disrupt organized crime threats.

As part of the continuum of investigations into immigration-related offences, the RCMP has primary responsibility for the investigation of offences under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act involving criminal organizations or national security, such as organized human smuggling, trafficking in persons offences, and those investigations requiring the employment of special police techniques.

The RCMP is also responsible for investigation of Citizenship Act offences and Criminal Code offences, such as fraud, forgery, uttering forged documents, trafficking in persons, and conspiracy.

However, the investigation of criminal offences is only one of the ways the RCMP is involved in protecting the integrity of Canada's immigration system. Security screening helps prevent persons who are, or have been, involved in serious criminality, organized crime, war crimes or criminal activities related to terrorist offences, from entering or remaining in Canada. If allowed to enter or remain in Canada, those individuals threaten the integrity of the immigration system and represent a potential threat to public safety.

The RCMP is a service provider to CIC for security screening and immigration applicants across the spectrum of immigration streams. The RCMP Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services provides security screening in support of permanent resident, citizenship, and refugee immigration programs. Applicants are checked to see if they have a criminal record in Canada that renders them inadmissible under the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

There are two kinds of screening activities undertaken by the Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services. One is name-based checks, where applicants' name and date of birth are compared against the Canadian criminal name index to see if they have a criminal record. The second is fingerprint analysis. In support of the name-based checks, the Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services also conducts fingerprint-based criminal record searches. If, after a name-based check is completed, there is a possible match to a criminal record, the individual making the application is required to submit fingerprints. The fingerprints are compared with those associated with the criminal conviction to confirm or verify the identity of the individual making application for permanent residency or citizenship.

In the fiscal year 2010–11, over 24,000 fingerprint submissions were processed in support of permanent residency applications. Of these submissions, approximately 24% hit a fingerprint record. In fiscal year 2010–11, over 19,000 fingerprint submissions were processed in support of Canadian citizenship. Of these, approximately 31% hit a fingerprint record. A hit occurs when the fingerprint or name-based check matches an existing record.

The RCMP also works with security partners to help ensure the integrity of the refugee determination system. The RCMP currently conducts fingerprint analysis for criminal records on all refugee applicants referred to them by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. In 2010, there were hits on 16.6% of refugee fingerprints. For the first 10 months of 2011, the hit rate was 18.9%.

The hits noted above include refugee applicants' fingerprints that match an existing fingerprint file during the initial or front-end screening process, as well as instances where criminal fingerprints, such as latent fingerprints found at the crime site, hit to an existing refugee file subsequent to the applicant being in Canada for a period of time.

Under the Balanced Refugee Reform Act, the RCMP receives resources to conduct a security screening pilot project in partnership with CIC and CBSA. When the Balanced Refugee Reform Act comes into force, the RCMP security intelligence background section will begin screening a percentage of refugee applicants by conducting law enforcement record checks against a number of law enforcement databases to which it has access. The value of conducting law enforcement record checks resides in the fact that this type of screening goes beyond just checking for a criminal record. To better illustrate this, the RCMP security intelligence background section conducted law enforcement record checks for Transport Canada on an existing maritime port employee whose clearance was due for renewal. While the subject had no criminal record, the law enforcement record check revealed that the port employee was an active member of an outlaw motorcycle gang.

Without this more in-depth screening, the applicant would likely have undergone the traditional security checks, commonly referred to as criminal record checks, which are very limited in scope. The subject would have come back as a “no hit” to the requester and conceivably would have received their security clearance.

In partnership with the CBSA and Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the RCMP also conducts visa vetting on select temporary resident visa applications. Visa vetting is an enhanced criminal screening process that provides feedback to CBSA and Citizenship and Immigration Canada concerning business and visitor visa applicants and their sponsors. It was originally set up to deny attempts by eastern European organized crime from coming to the greater Toronto area on visitors' visas.

The RCMP visa vetting program is managed under the immigration and passport branch at national headquarters. The RCMP receives information from CIC and CBSA on select visa applications. Investigators conduct database checks of the individuals making application and they conduct field interviews and investigations with the goal of verifying the information on the visa application.

This activity has been found to be very successful because it serves to prevent the travel to Canada of persons involved in criminality. As it specifically targets individuals associated with organized crime, visa vetting directly supports Government of Canada priorities. Currently, the program team only screens a small percentage of visa applications from three locations: Moscow, Kiev and Mexico.

The RCMP also conducts screening on applicants wishing to come to Canada through special Government of Canada public policy initiatives such as the Afghan special measures project and the Haiti humanitarian project.

In conclusion, the RCMP recognizes the importance of maintaining the integrity of Canada's immigration system. For this reason, I wish to assure the committee that the RCMP will continue to work with its partners to help protect the integrity of Canada's immigration system, both through investigational activities and also providing intelligence information related to immigration applicants so that CIC can make informed determinations on admissibility.

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. Superintendent Cuillierrier and I are available to answer any questions you may have.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Thank you, Assistant Commissioner Shean.

We will now proceed with the first seven-minute round.

I might say that I've had some comments that I've been too lenient with you all in allowing you to go well over the time, so I'm going to try being tough. If you don't finish on time, I'm afraid, unless things change, I'll cut you off.

Mr. Menegakis, you have seven minutes.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank our witnesses for being here today. Thank you so much, and thank you for your informed presentations. I'd also like to thank you for the important work you do for our country, not only you personally but your departments, on a day in, day out basis. It's very important.

I have a few questions prepared that I'd like to ask you.

The first couple have to do with names. How culturally sensitive are your departments when it comes to information such as names? I'll tell you what I mean by that. When we translate someone's name from another language into English, especially when they don't use our alphabet, how secure are we that we're doing that correctly? Can you comment on that?

[Geoffrey Leckey, Director General, Intelligence and Targeting Operations, Canada Border Services Agency]

Maybe I'll go first.

It's an excellent question, and the problem of transliteration of foreign names—names originally written in foreign alphabets—is a very serious one and a very difficult one that all organizations such as ours have to grapple with.

I'm sure I can speak for the others when I say that we're all aware of the existence of transliteration software that helps to do what's called a fuzzy match. If a name is transliterated incorrectly—or it may be transliterated correctly but there may be 20 different correct ways of transliterating it, whether it's from Russian or Arabic or another alphabet—then we have software today that can check every possible variant that we can conceive of, or that the software is aware of, in an attempt to identify the correct individual.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you.

Mr. Venner, would you care to comment?

[Tom Venner]

I would only add that my CBSA colleague is correct, certainly, in terms of our attempts to maximize our use of technology and software to assist. We also place a considerable effort on ensuring thorough training of our people to make sure they are best equipped to deal with the challenge of transliteration and are making appropriate use of effective search techniques—stored searches and things like that—to make sure that we're not missing anything we should be getting hits on. But it is a challenge.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Richmond Hill, ON]

Commissioner.

[A/Commr Todd G. Shean]

Thank you.

Similar to my colleagues, we rely upon the training of our membership. As well, we rely upon the assistance of our liaison members, who are located across the world, as we enter upon certain investigations to make determinations to assist us in ensuring we have the proper information and are providing the proper advice.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you.

What about multiple names? It's common in many countries.

My riding is Richmond Hill. It's one of the most diverse ridings in the country, and I quite often have constituents come in who have a number of names in their name. It's very common.

Is it not the case that if we miss one of the names, or put them in the wrong order, that would potentially result in our not picking them up in a database?

[A/Commr Todd G. Shean]

I'll start first.

It's a good question, and you're correct. I can speak for the RCMP as well, and I believe the other services have a lot of members with different cultural backgrounds, so we have access to ensure that we bring those members forward to assist us in that.

Again, we can rely upon our partners, and we can rely upon our liaison officers who are located in those other countries to make certain that we're.... In all aspects of our business, you're absolutely correct, accurate information is important, so we go to great lengths to ensure we're looking at accurate information.

[Tom Venner]

Our systems have been designed to try to deal with that as well in terms of aliases and making sure there are data fields for aliases, as well as the capacity to invert names. So whether the first and last names are inverted, it is still caught by the system or by the researcher.

[Geoffrey Leckey]

I'd like to assure you that our analysts are also culturally aware, and are aware that in some cultures it's perfectly acceptable, for example, to reverse names.

But let me add to what my colleagues have said. The fact is that the name alone is only one element that is checked when we're trying to establish a person's identity. Of course, we have date of birth, address, the complete history on the file, and, in the near future, biometrics to make sure we're dealing with the person who we think we're dealing with.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Richmond Hill, ON]

I guess what I'm trying to get at is this. How confident are you that we're searching the correct name in the correct order with your systems now? Are you satisfied with the tools you have to be able to do that?

[Geoffrey Leckey]

Again, I'll say we're confident we're doing everything that can be done to ensure we're searching the correct name.

[Tom Venner]

Okay.

[A/Commr Todd G. Shean]

I'd have to agree. I think that's one of the indicators, plus you look for other information to narrow that field as well—date of birth and other information you have about the individual.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Richmond Hill, ON]

One of the things we're discussing and studying, of course, is the whole question of biometrics. I'd like to hear your comments as to whether that would help you identify them, particularly with countries with which we have agreements and we have easy access to their information back and forth. What do you think about that?

Do you have a comment on that? Do you think biometrics would help us?

[Geoffrey Leckey]

We believe biometrics will be a great help in establishing definitive identity.

[Tom Venner]

From the services perspective, it will have less of an impact because of our role in providing advice about the person, but we certainly see it as being of great utility to our CIC, CBSA, and RCMP colleagues in making sure that we're checking the right person and that the person we're giving advice on is the person they're interested in.

[A/Commr Todd G. Shean]

I would speak similarly. I think I see the benefit to our partners at CIC and CBSA, but we see the advancement of any new and improved law enforcement tools as beneficial to all types—not simply law enforcement, but to all looking to ensure the security of Canada.