Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Feb. 20th, 2019

[Bill Blair]

Thank you. I'll try to be brief.

First of all, let me say we recognize that we've seen an increase in people who are seeking asylum both through regular points of entry and irregularly, which has put pressures on municipalities and provinces right across the country. We have been working very hard to make sure that we support those provinces. It is my strong preference to provide that support through provincial governments, and we've had, I would say, various experiences.

It has been somewhat challenging, but we are in ongoing discussions with the Province of Ontario. I'm very pleased that Ontario has recently accepted the establishment of a working group of senior officials so that we can better understand the pressures that the province is experiencing.

We have also been working very directly with the City of Toronto, which has experienced the largest impact of people entering into the country seeking asylum both through regular points of entry and through irregular entry. We have been providing services and support in the city of Toronto and with the City of Toronto. Let me say as well that they have been an excellent partner to us. We have provided $26 million to address the immediate temporary housing shortages for asylum claimants in the city of Toronto.

We're also working very closely with the City of Ottawa and other municipalities, and the important work continues. As I indicated in an earlier response, all three orders of government have historically shared the responsibility to ensure that those who are in our country seeking asylum are given the due process to which, under our law, they are entitled. We have always worked very collaboratively among the municipalities, the provinces and the federal government, and we endeavour to continue to do so.

[Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

Before I ask my next question, I would like to say something, Mr. Chair.

As a person, I think I should always be judged based on my work, not on my gender.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

And you are.

[Salma Zahid]

My next question is for Minister Hussen.

Can you please speak to the government's progress in facilitating the settlement and integration of newcomers to Canada? Specifically, could you update the committee on the program to provide some extra support to visible minority women? I hear a lot from them in my riding.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Settlement and integration is a key priority for our government. That is why, since 2015, we've increased investments in settlement and integration programs by 30%. We believe that giving the right tools to newcomers to succeed faster in Canada is in Canada's best interest.

In terms of the program that you referred to, it was in budget 2018. It was an investment made to enable visible minority newcomer women who were lagging behind newcomer men to be able to access the workforce faster and enable them to be able to find employment and succeed in Canada.

[Salma Zahid]

Recently the government introduced the rural immigration pilot. Could you please speak to the purpose of introducing that pilot project? How will immigration help address the specific needs of rural communities throughout Canada?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Rural Canada contributes almost 30% to our GDP, yet 78% of all newcomers go into the main cities and not to the smaller communities. Therefore, we felt that there was a need to address the request made by many employers, municipal leaders and community leaders in rural Canada and northern Canada for more workers, more talent and more skills to come in through our immigration system. They felt that the best way to do that is to replicate some aspects of the Atlantic immigration program and have a rural focus. We launched the rural and northern immigration pilot program so that rural Canada can benefit from the benefits of immigration.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

That's the end of our time. I just want to confirm that we still have unanimous consent to continue.

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

We may get cut off quickly, and Ms. Kwan has a comment, so I'm going to take it now.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I know that we're going to be interrupted by the bells for votes, and we have yet to have the opportunity to ask questions of the officials. I would like to request that the officials be scheduled for another time so that we would have that opportunity to undertake that work, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

I think there's agreement that we would bring the officials back at some point. They may have to be back on the subject matter of the estimates as opposed to the estimates themselves. We don't know exactly when we have to report on the estimates, but it may be after the reporting date due to our scheduling. We have a number of meetings scheduled, but if they would agree to come back, I think the committee is all agreed with that.

Mr. Paul-Hus.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, CPC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister Hussen and Minister Blair, first, I'm very happy that you've made two statements before the committee.

Minister Blair, you confirmed that it's illegal to cross our border between the official ports of entry.

The 2018-19 supplementary estimates (B) contain a request for $114 million to support the increase in the number of asylum seekers. The opposition's statements have been true for a long time.

Mr. Blair, in your opening remarks, you mentioned security checks, and so did Minister Hussen. We know that just over 2,500 people haven't been subject to any security checks. You were already asked about this during question period. You didn't know then, but you know now. Do you think that it's acceptable?

[Bill Blair]

Actually, when asked that question, I sought and later that day got information, which was provided to the media, about those who were not at the border but were in fact undergoing the process of determining their security background checks. A second security background check takes place in those processes. The CBSA added more resources of approximately $6 million in the summer immediately after that ATIP was responded to, and the entire backlog has been cleared.

[Pierre Paul-Hus]

You're saying that there isn't any backlog and that everyone has been checked at this point. Are you confirming this?

[Bill Blair]

Yes, that's correct. As I said, the entire backlog has been cleared.

[Pierre Paul-Hus]

Good.

Currently, 540 CBSA officers are no longer doing their regular jobs in order to cover the ports of entry. Quebec has many ports of entry, of course. However, there are also ports of entry in all the provinces. Certain border crossings are an issue. The government has also spent $6.6 million to have the RCMP monitor Roxham Road.

Given that Canada has other rural crime and firearms trafficking issues, do you think this is a good way to spend the taxpayers' money?

[Bill Blair]

It is the responsibility of both the RCMP and CBSA to maintain the integrity and security of our borders, and they have deployed their resources quite appropriately to the places where it is required. According to my understanding and my discussions with the leadership of CBSA, they have redeployed resources in order to respond to irregular crossings at our border, and this has had no negative impact on their operational capabilities.

[Pierre Paul-Hus]

You've been saying for a year that the Conservatives made budget cuts, which is why you're having issues. You're telling us today that the 540 officers deployed to deal with the border can continue the work. Is the rest of the CBSA officers' work still being done?

[Bill Blair]

We've added more resources to both CBSA and the RCMP, and they have been effective in redeploying these resources to where they are needed. That's sort of the nature of deploying those resources. There was the impact of significant reductions in their funding. About $390 million, as I understand it, was cut from the CBSA, and a little over $500 million was cut from the RCMP. A total of $1.2 billion was cut for security services generally during the previous government. We've been working hard to restore that capacity.

[Pierre Paul-Hus]

I want to remind the committee members that, on May 10, 2018, Mr. Ossowski, President of the CBSA, stated as follows:

One quick example to explain any drop in the estimates might be that there was project funding provided for several large projects ... Those projects have come to completion ... the overall budget of the agency drops.

It wasn't budget cuts. Investments were made, and things went back to normal.

The parliamentary budget officer said that it will cost over $1.5 billion to resolve the illegal border crossing issue. You know that the thousands of illegal immigrants are creating chaos in the immigration system. The most worrying thing for us is that a public servant in Cornwall said that this has become the norm, that the current approach is normal and that it needs to be a normal process.

Don't you think that the Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement should be amended? Do you think that it's normal for people to arrive this way, as the public servant in Cornwall said?

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Very briefly.

[Bill Blair]

Thanks you.

I'm pleased to advise this committee that I have reached out to the Secretary of Homeland Security in the United States. There are ongoing discussions between the United States and me and my officials on the ways in which we may be able to modernize the safe third country agreement to the mutual benefit of both countries.

[The Chair, Liberal, Rob Oliphant]

Thank you.

Mr. Tabbara.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the ministers and department officials for being here.

We're talking about funds being allocated to the border, and about a $192-million increase in resources. I'm going to read from a CTV story: “The union representing Canada's customs agents and border guards says cuts at the Canada Border Services Agency threaten public safety....” CBSA has been told to cut $143 million, according to this article. It put 1,100 CBSA employees' jobs on the line.

Minister Blair, you just mentioned an even larger number of cuts. If we're slashing funding, what does this do to our resources that we allocate to the professionals securing our borders?