I appreciate your comments, and it's true the backlog is unacceptable.
I made a friend in my first year who was a refugee claimant, who only just recently, last month, received her hearing. During that time I finished a university degree. I think in matters of expeditiousness it's a trade-off between speediness and living up to Canada's reputation as a humanitarian state.
Before designating a list of safe countries, there are other measures we can take. For example, the IRB is currently only 80% full. We can fill the rest of those appointments. We can listen to refugee claims on a case readiness basis.
And certainly we and our peers are concerned with the elimination of the expert panel. That seemed a nice check and a guarantee that if there is a list of safe countries, it would be done in a fair manner.