Evidence of meeting #133 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was migration.
A video is available from Parliament.
5:20 p.m.
Chair, World Refugee Council
I think our team would be very glad to provide you with some models for that.
5:20 p.m.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Is there something that you can send to the committee for our review?
5:20 p.m.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Thank you.
I'm going to turn to our witnesses who are here at this table with regard to Canada's role.
The Conservatives suggested, for example, that Canada should not be part of the global compact. I wonder whether or not you can comment on that and what you think the fallout might be if we were to take that perspective.
5:20 p.m.
Policy and Influence Lead, CARE Canada
Thanks for the question. I think it's a good one.
I think that what it comes down to is that Canada wields some moral authority. I think we said in our remarks that Canada is regarded as an honest broker. Canada and Canadian civil society, along with groups and private sponsors resettling refugees, have been engaging very heavily through this process. I think we've arrived at something that we now need to take forward.
It takes good political will. This is an encapsulation and a codification of political will and good practice. Now we need to see it implemented. We don't want it to become a paper tiger.
The good news there is that Canada has already put in place a lot of systems and mechanisms that lend themselves towards the type of comprehensive refugee response envisioned in the global compact on refugees; hence my point that the world needs more Canada. Were Canada to step back at this point, I think that it would turn a lot of heads. It would be a severe disappointment for a lot of Canadians and for a lot of refugees, as well as for that fundamental trust that this whole effort seeks to build between refugee-hosting states and countries like Canada.
5:20 p.m.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
I don't have very much time, so I'm going to ask very quickly—one minute—on this question.
There are folks who like to spread misinformation. For example, they call asylum seekers “illegals” and therefore denigrate them and create the impression somehow in the hearts and minds of Canadians that they're violating the law, when in fact they're not, under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
In the face of that, what is your advice to us in trying to cope with that situation and to correct the record?
5:20 p.m.
Policy and Influence Lead, CARE Canada
I think that the deliberations that the committee is having here today are important. I think that we need community leaders and parliamentarians to speak up.
Next week we'll see a further resettlement from private sponsors. There are thousands of Canadians who are working hard to contribute their best to the reform of the global refugee system. It's my daily bread and butter as a policy and advocacy guy trying to tell those good stories. I think the global compact on refugees provides a hook for that. We talked about the global forum. This is an opportunity for the international community, countries like Canada whose values are aligned with these types of responses, to celebrate progress in a couple of years. I certainly hope that Canada would be part of that.
Yes, we have myth-busting to do. As a civil society, we're doing our darndest and look forward to talking with any of you who want to work with us on that.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
Marwan Tabbara Liberal Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll be very quick.
Mr. Axworthy, my question will be to you. The World Bank estimates the pool of cash to be $10 billion to $20 billion per year in frozen assets. I know you're working closely with CIGI in my region, in K-W, Kitchener-Waterloo. How would that be implemented? Can you give us a short example of how that would be implemented?
5:25 p.m.
Chair, World Refugee Council
I think there are different models, but the short form would be that we would use our domestic court system, the Federal Court system, to be the adjudicator. The claims could be made against a frozen asset when the donor of that is a crook, is corrupt, is a warlord, has been responsible for massacres or genocides, and we simply make application.
In discussions we've had with financial institutions, they would be happy for that, because they live in fear that some cousin of some dictator or some warlord is going to come along and ask for the money.
I think this is a way of providing innovation. I would hope that the NGO community, in their focus moving forward, would begin looking at some of the innovative ideas—not just what is, but what could be—to provide a different tool box or a different set of levers that we can use to bring about real change that will have a direct impact on refugees themselves.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
Marwan Tabbara Liberal Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON
Thank you, Mr. Axworthy, and thank you for your years of service.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant
I think we're going to bring this panel to an end. We have a brief business meeting we want to accomplish.
Thank you again, especially to Mr. Elie for being up so late. Thank you for that.
We're going to suspend for one minute and then come back for our brief business meeting.
[Proceedings continue in camera]