Good afternoon, Mr. Chair.
Allow me to continue to illustrate to you the story of the other sister, who was travelling later. She has the misfortune of being arrested by U.S. immigration officials as part of the intensified immigration enforcement measures under President Trump. She has no choice but to make a refugee claim in the U.S. in order to avoid deportation to her country of origin. She still wants to reunite with her sister in Canada. After everything they have been through, they really need to be together to support each other.
Also, lawyers in the U.S. tell her that she has little chance of being accepted as a refugee in light of the decision by former attorney general Jeff Sessions, which takes a much more sensitive, restrictive approach to claims based on gender persecution.
She enters Canada at a port of entry, but she is ineligible to make a refugee claim because she made a claim in the U.S. She is able to apply for a pre-removal risk assessment, but she must make her application in writing. She does not speak English or French, and she has no way of hiring a lawyer to represent her.
She may struggle to get social assistance and must pay a fee for a work permit. If she manages to get her application in despite this, it will be reviewed by a PRRA officer, who is a more junior civil servant than those at the IRB. They don't have the same access to training and are not subject to the chairperson's guidelines. There is no right to a hearing. If the application is refused—surprisingly, given all the challenges—she cannot appeal at the refugee appeal division. Her only recourse is to apply for a judicial review at the Federal Court. In any case, she can be deported from Canada before the court makes a decision. There's a real risk that the sister will end up being deported to her home country, where she may be assaulted or killed by the people she fled.
It is important to recognize that there are many reasons a person may have previously made a claim in the U.S. or another country and still need Canada's protection. A person may come to Canada to join a family member who is already here. A person may have been advised that their claim had little chance of success in the U.S. A person's claim may have been rejected even though they have well-founded fear of persecution. The person may have made a claim in another country as part of a family group—as a spouse or as a child—without having had the chance to speak for themselves.
This matter hits very close to home for me. I doubt very much that I would be appearing to you in my capacity as Canadian Council for Refugees' president if the proposed change had been in effect when I made a refugee claim in Canada.
Refugee determination is not only a matter of life and death, it is also extremely difficult and often involves vulnerable people. In recognition of this, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act has detailed provisions to protect claimants. None of this exists for the PRRA process. Some of the most vulnerable claimants are unaccompanied minors. The law provides for a designated representative to be appointed to protect their interests, but this only applies to claimants referred to the IRB. There can be no designated representative for children who are ineligible and sent through the PRRA process.
While some people will be at risk of deportation to face persecution because of the inadequacy of the PRRA, other people will be condemned to long-term limbo in Canada. This is the situation for claimants from countries to which Canada has suspended removal. Due to a situation of generalized risk, a PRRA is not available to a person who is facing deportation from Canada.
Until the tabling of Bill C-97, Canadians could be proud that their government had generally responded in a principled and rights-based way to recent increases in the number of refugee claimants arriving in Canada. With this proposal, Canada will be shamefully joining too many other countries that respond to increased numbers of refugees not by matching capacity to needs, but by closing doors on people fleeing rights abuses.
Once again, the Canadian Council for Refugees calls on the committee to reject the proposed amendments in their entirety.
Thank you.