Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 26th, 2013

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Okay. I might come back to pick your brain.

[Prof. Mel Cappe]

I just don't think you want to—this is odd from a former bureaucrat—put in place a new bureaucratic review process if we already have the possibility of reapplying.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Okay. That's interesting, because we've heard from a lot of witnesses that an appeal mechanism would actually be easier than judicial review and the Federal Court system that—

[Prof. Mel Cappe]

That's true, but they also can reapply.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Okay.

Mr. Goldstein, you spoke of tourism, clearly. Do you have numbers, or maybe you can provide them to us, on how many potential tourists per year does Canada lose every year as a result of visa processing times?

[David Goldstein]

That's a very long answer, and we will provide the committee with some detailed information.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Fantastic. If you can send it to the clerk, that would be great.

[David Goldstein]

Can I just comment on the question that you asked of Professor Cappe? I think part of the frustration we hear is that when a visa application is rejected, they don't necessarily understand why.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Yes.

[David Goldstein]

If there's a lack of information or there's a lack of compliance, I think that would, again, bring down rejection rates and second rounds would go very quickly.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Basically, if I understand correctly, it's when the visas are being rejected, actually give concrete reasons rather than just the very vague check boxes we have right now.

[David Goldstein]

I understand that there are security concerns and sometimes you can't release that information. I'm assuming that the members of the committee have looked at the application form.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Yes, I have.

[David Goldstein]

It actually requires less information to get a secret security clearance with the federal government than it does to get a visa application. When you're talking about multiple languages, it can be very difficult. I think a lot of people would just like clarity in the compliance to the process.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Thank you.

In the information you are providing to the clerk, could you also include how much potential revenue is lost as well? I'm assuming you don't have that with you. I'm sure the clerk can follow up with you about what—

[David Goldstein]

Some of that is in the report we tabled with the committee, but we will get some specific numbers and table them with the clerk.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Is that your initial comments or the chart?

[David Goldstein]

No, there was a white paper we submitted to the clerk—

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Oh, that one, sorry—

[David Goldstein]

—but we will also get back to the clerk with some specific numbers.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Fantastic. Thank you.

I'm going to try to throw this in for both of you, if I may. Officials told the committee that CIC extended the maximum validity period for multi-country visas from five to ten years—and I'm out of time.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

Well, you have 30 seconds. It takes 30 seconds to say your name.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Okay, thank you. If we have more time, we will continue our conversation.

Thank you to all three of you.

[The Chair, Conservative, David Tilson]

I've known this person for about a year and I still can't get her name right—

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

So, Dr. Hamdullahpur, don't feel too bad is what he's saying. He tries.