Citizenship and Immigration Committee on May 3rd, 2016

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

This amendment again addresses the issues around statelessness that have been presented to the committee with respect to individuals who are not deemed to have a state they can claim and therefore are in a state of limbo, if you will.

This amendment seeks to rectify that. It states:

Despite any other provision of this Act, the Minister may, in his or her discretion, grant citizenship to any person to alleviate cases of statelessness or of special and unusual hardship or to reward services of an exceptional value to Canada.

To a degree, this is a more narrow approach to addressing the issue of statelessness than my previous amendment, but nonetheless it's one provision I'm hoping the committee members will support to rectify this problem.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Ms. Kwan.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I move the amendment in my name, NDP-5, reference number 8196267, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Is there any debate?

Mr. Tabbara.

[Marwan Tabbara, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Witnesses such as Legal Aid Ontario and the Canadian Centre on Statelessness raised some very important issues and points regarding statelessness. I would have to say that statelessness is a factor in the consideration of humanitarian and compassionate grounds for the granting of permanent resident status. Adding this clarity sends an important signal of Canada's tradition on responding to issues in a humanitarian way.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Mr. Tabbara.

Ms. Rempel.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Perhaps we could get clarification from the officials, because the way I read this amendment, if this provision came into effect, it would mean that the minister could grant citizenship to a stateless person even if they don't meet the normal requirements for citizenship. It would give the minister significant new powers in granting citizenship beyond the scope of the current act.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Are you, Ms. Dikranian, providing clarification, or would it be Ms. Hubers?

[Teny Dikranian, Director, Legislation and Program Policy, Citizenship Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Chair, yes, that is correct.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Ms. Rempel.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

I believe this significantly oversteps what this bill was intended to do. I think this gives a significant new power to the ministry to override our citizenship process. It actually decouples the principle that we should be letting public servants follow the process that we put in place in a very arm's-length and neutral fashion.

I'm sure the government will want to pass this, but I'm very concerned, and I think a lot of Canadians will be concerned, that should this come into force, it would actually politicize our immigration system to a significant extent.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Ms. Rempel.

(Amendment agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

The next amendment is NDP-6, reference number 8214636.

Ms. Kwan.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

This amendment seeks to enshrine in legislation the requirement for the citizenship process to adequately accommodate individuals with disabilities.

We've heard from a number of organizations on this issue, including the Canadian Council for Refugees, the ARCH Disability Law Centre, and the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants. The goal here is to clarify the requirement of duty to accommodate those with disabilities as they navigate the citizenship system.

Currently, vague wording of required proof and discretion around accommodation can lead to individuals who would otherwise be able to become Canadian citizens being denied due to a lack of accommodation of their disability. Throughout Canada, in most aspects of society, there is a duty to accommodate up to the point that it causes undue hardship on the accommodating entity, and this should be extended to the citizenship process, Mr. Chair.

To quote the Canadian Council for Refugees:

The current Act, Regulations and practice are quite limiting with respect to applicants with disabilities. The language and knowledge requirements for citizenship prioritize those eligibility criteria over and above other meaningful indicia of civic participation and result in a discriminatory effect. They impose an extra burden on applicants who cannot demonstrate those two criteria because of a disability.

Accommodations for applicants with disabilities are addressed through waivers by the Minister on compassionate grounds, provided for at section 5(3) of the Citizenship Act. Given that exemptions are by law a matter of discretion, rather than of right, there are no clear rules. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada...provides some guidance for deaf or visually impaired applicants to be exempted from these requirements, but the process and additional cost is burdensome. Apart from hearing loss, the instructions do not give precise information about what evidence of a disability should be submitted.

I think these are important considerations. They are sound reasons. We don't want to create barriers for people with disabilities to access citizenship. This is along the lines of what Ms. May was trying to address.

My amendment states clearly:

For the purposes of this section, if an applicant for citizenship is a disabled person, the Minister shall take the measures that are necessary to accommodate the needs of that person.

To that end, Mr. Chair, I move this motion, NDP-6, reference number 8214636.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Ms. Kwan. The motion is admissible.

Is there debate?

Ms. Zahid.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

To some extent I agree with Ms. Kwan, so my suggestion is this.

I know Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada currently takes into consideration the accommodation needs of the citizenship applicants who have disabilities, and this will be reflected in the legislation with this amendment. Creating a legal obligation on the minister to this effect would strengthen the rights of people who have those disabilities; however, I believe that we can change the wording of this amendment a little in order to strike a better balance between recognizing the rights to accommodation of people with disabilities and the minister's discretion.

Therefore, I propose the following subamendment:

(3.1) For the purposes of this section, if an applicant for citizenship is a disabled person, the Minister shall take into consideration the measures that are reasonable to accommodate the needs of that person.

This amendment proposes to create a legal obligation for the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to consider accommodating the needs of citizens who have any disabilities. As it stands, however, this amendment does not strike the appropriate balance between recognizing the rights to accommodation of people with disabilities and the minister's discretion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Ms. Zahid, could I ask you to please repeat the wording of your subamendment so that we can get it down accurately?

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

It is as follows:

For the purposes of this section, if an applicant for citizenship is a disabled person, the Minister shall take into consideration the measures that are reasonable to accommodate the needs of that person.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

Ms. Rempel, you have comments on the subamendment.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

I ask my colleague who is moving the motion and the department officials to comment on what that would mean in practice. Would it mean provision of different services?

I want to get a sense of the meaning they intended in saying “measures that are necessary to accommodate”.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Right now the citizenship application form includes some questions asking applicants whether they have any special needs.

Maybe I can ask the department official to clarify that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Ms. Zahid.

Ms. Hubers.

[Mary-Ann Hubers]

Yes, Mr. Chair, I can certainly speak to what the department currently does in terms of accommodation.

We ask applicants on the application form to identify if they have a need and we accommodate that need by providing wheelchair access, sign language interpretation that we pay for, personal assistance, and those kinds of things.

I would also point out that we are subject to the Canadian human rights legislation, so we take that into account in making sure we accommodate clients who have needs.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you for that clarification.

Ms. Rempel.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

I'm not clear on what additional measures this would create. Given what the department official said, perhaps Ms. Zahid, through you, Mr. Chair, could elaborate on what additional measures would be created by supporting this particular measure.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Ms. Kwan was next on the list.