It's important to recognize that just because a country is democratic, has an independent judiciary, and has civil society organizations, it does not mean it is not refugee-producing, when it comes to sexual orientation and gender identity claims.
We have seen that people's social class, social networks, religion, region, all affect the viability of state protection as well as their vulnerability to violence. People are targeted because they stand out, because they are poor, along with their gender identity or sexuality.
Those are two reasons why it's very important not to have broad criteria that do not consider the human rights record of countries, particularly the human rights record with regard to vulnerable groups. It is also absolutely critical that if a designated list is maintained, we do not deny the right to appeal. This is in keeping with the UNHCR guidelines. They say it is all right to expedite a process and to identify people for expedited processing, but not to deny due process. Equality before the law is the principle that we uphold in Canada.