Citizenship and Immigration Committee on April 23rd, 2015

[Salma Siddiqui]

I do agree with my colleague here to a certain extent, but I believe we need to go further and empower the front-line workers. How is it going to happen when they're originating from other countries? That is something that politicians need to look at, but I certainly believe that the front-line workers need more powers.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe]

Thank you very much.

Madam Mathyssen, you have the floor for a maximum of five minutes

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I have a quick question for you, Ms. Marsh. You talked about the fact that had you known that what your mother was doing was illegal, you might have taken steps; you might have gone to the authorities. I just wonder, though; if you had known that your mother or other members of your community could have been criminally charged because of what they had done, would you still have followed through? Would that have made a difference in terms of how you responded?

[Lee Marsh]

Well, when I was 12 I watched the police officers pull my father out of the house and put him in a cruiser. He was arrested. When it's wrong, it's wrong. When you know that you have certain rights and certain protections....

I think a lot of people will be very hesitant, but when it comes down to a certain line, you say, “Okay, wait a minute: it's my parents or me.” Knowing that they're breaking the law I think would help a lot of young people make that decision to go to the authorities.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Okay.

You talked about shunning. We know about people being excluded from the community. Would that have caused you to pause and consider, knowing that you would be shunned?

[Lee Marsh]

It's certainly a huge factor. That was the only community I knew. It might make me more hesitant.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you.

Ms. Bhuyan, I was very interested in what you had to say too. To be candid, in my constituency I have a significant number of new Canadians and people seeking to bring partners to Canada, and what we're noticing is that the processing time is increasing and increasing. In one case a young man wants to bring his bride from Lebanon, and he's looking at 36 months. It's incredibly frustrating, because this is very clearly a marriage.

Have you done any research in terms of processing times in different areas of the world? Does it make a difference if you're coming from Scotland or from Bangladesh?

[Rupaleem Bhuyan]

Thank you for the question.

I don't have numbers offhand. I do think it's important to pay attention to the 36 months; I've heard up to three years from some countries. Certainly, inland applications are also taking up to 36 months to two years.

I had a young woman who approached me six months ago. She had come to Canada on a temporary foreign worker visa. She was in a high-skilled category and fell in love and married a Canadian citizen. While she was waiting for her sponsorship application to go through, she no longer had work authorization. During this period she lost her capacity to support herself, and the tension in the relationship was exacerbated because of the financial burden that her spouse perceived her to be, and also the culture within Canada to scrutinize marriages. So in her case having to wait up to two years to achieve work authorization was contributing to a very dangerous relationship. I wouldn't say it was yet physically violent, but certainly there was verbal abuse.

I don't know if there is a pattern, and I think it would be worthwhile to find out. I think already sponsorship application wait times have increased beyond the point of making sense, especially, as you said, when there are families involved and sometimes children involved as well.

I hope that answers your question.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Thank you.

I think the impact on family is quite significant. Instead of focusing on worrying about polygamy or things like that and increasing these processing times, what should we be focusing on in terms of making a better immigration system?

[Rupaleem Bhuyan]

The Canadian system is built on different values of immigration. Family sponsorship is at its core. I think the restrictions on grandparents and parents, on spouses, and on children are eroding the capacity of newer Canadians to have their social network around them. I believe this actually creates more potential for family violence. When families are isolated, when couples are isolated, I think there is the potential for more dangerous situations.

I would like to see the government take a direction that supports the rights of families to reunify. This will be complex with the number of immigrants we have coming into Canada, but I think we need to take a concerted effort at that.

I also wanted to speak briefly about Ms. Marsh's—

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe]

I'm sorry, Madam Bhuyan, the time has expired.

[Rupaleem Bhuyan]

Very good, thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe]

We have two minutes for Mr. Eglinski.

Do you want to ask questions, sir?

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Yes.

I'd like to thank the witnesses and especially you, Lee Marsh, for coming forward with your story.

Lee, your story is very touching to me. I know you faced a very difficult situation there. Front-line people quite often tell us that children who are being forced into marriages or facing forced marriages are very reluctant, because they don't want to be pulled away from their parents. I know you've mentioned that.

I wonder if you could explain to us a little more about how you see Bill S-7 impacting this dynamic. I know you faced it, you were there. Could you just give us a little more insight into what you felt or what you faced as a young person in this situation?

[Lee Marsh]

I think the two biggest things—well, maybe there were more than two—were helplessness and feeling trapped. There was no way out. There was nobody to go to for help.

Knowing that there might have been agencies out there that could have helped me might have lessened the reluctance to speak to anybody about it. But it was such a closed community; unless that information is accessible to young people, it's pretty useless. I don't know....

[Jim Eglinski, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Okay. I'll ask another question.

Just recently the UN has gotten very much involved in programs similar to what this committee is discussing and what our government is trying to push forward. I'm very proud to be part of this committee and proud that our government is taking the lead on this issue.

Ms. Siddiqui, I wonder if you can tell me what you know about other countries and what they have done to enforce this type of law. Perhaps you can give us some comparisons and tell us about what countries we should be looking at or connecting with.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe]

You have 30 seconds to answer so that we can respect our time limits. I'm sorry about that.

[Salma Siddiqui]

There's the U.K., Australia, and I believe the Netherlands. However, the U.K. is the main example. I think we should really look into their experiences and what they are doing.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe]

Thank you very much.

Colleagues, witnesses, thank you very much for your contributions.

The meeting is adjourned.