Thank you very much.
I want to thank our witnesses for taking the time to come and talk to us about this important subject. I don't think there is an MP who hasn't heard those heart-rending stories in their offices. I haven't met one yet. For me, I usually say that in my riding my MP's office often feels like the local hospital's emergency room, where we're doing triage most of the time. Really, that's the image.
I come from the riding of Newton—North Delta, which has the largest Sikh population. You might also know that Chandigarh, the outpost in the Punjab, also has an almost 50% rejection rate, so you can imagine the kind of traffic we see.
In hearing your stories around family reunification and families just wanting to see each other for short periods of time, it always hits me as bizarre that my family members who live in England can just get on a plane and be here, while people who have family members who are living in India, China, or the Philippines have to go through such major hurdles.
Right now, people are looking for a way to address this. You've mentioned one of those ways, and that's the appeal service, but I think you've also mentioned the devastation that occurs in families. We're getting rejections for funerals, for visiting dying parents, or siblings, or even friends in some cases, and for weddings, births...you name it. As you know, in our extended families, this is so very important for emotional health, and for physical health as well. I think we're all attuned to that.
There's a question I'm often asked by the intended sponsors, because of course we get the sob stories from all the people who get rejected. There's a continuous line. What they often ask about is what they can do to get their sister, their brother, or whoever over here. It always breaks your heart, because they then make comments like “This doesn't feel like my home.” They say, “When I can't invite my sister to an important event that's happening in my life, Canada, where I've lived for 25 years, no longer feels like my home.” It sometimes actually brings me close to tears when I hear these stories.
This brings me to my very first question. Do you think there is value in having the visa officer look not only at the application of the person who is coming? I'm specifically talking about those with families.
Alice, I was really, really struck.... I think it was you, Victor, who said that sometimes having family here is a detriment or a barrier to getting a visa. You see, I've read those reasons—“too much family”—and I think that is such a bizarre thing to write.
So when we're looking at this, if the visa officer also looks at the sponsor's profile, their financial status, their encounters with the legal system, and their employment history, to establish that person's credibility, the credibility of the person who is sponsoring them, what are your thoughts on that idea? Also, how could we ensure that a person leaves?
I'll leave it to you, Avvy, and then I'll go over to Alice.