Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Feb. 23rd, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Ms. Kwan.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

To follow up on the legacy file, the reduced workforce actually had significant impact. When the minister says that they have received funding, is the timeline for that funding still going to be 2018 for all these files to be processed, or is that going to expedite it?

On the Syrian refugees file, the minister doesn't have the numbers on the number of workers. I wonder if he has the information on what the average timeline is for a new arrival to see an immigration officer, and second to that, to see a resettlement worker to help them find permanent housing.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Well, they certainly see immigration workers on arrival at the airport in Toronto or Montreal.

The question of the funding of IRB, in terms of going forward, is something we are currently considering in the lead-up to the budget.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

In terms of the resettlement piece, yes, they see them at the airport. But I'm talking about the subsequent meeting, where they actually get the additional information to move into the resettlement phase.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

They arrive in Toronto or Montreal. They stay in a hotel, usually for a few days. Then they are transferred to other cities across the country where they are met by their resettlement agencies, which work to find permanent housing, language training, and other things for those refugees as quickly as possible.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Very quickly.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Okay.

I can tell the minister this. The families I've met have had appointments set up with an immigration officer three weeks after they have arrived. Then the officer doesn't show up; they don't know when they're coming.

In terms of resettlement, in one hotel at least, there were 37 families, and 10 of them remain. They've been here since December in the same hotel. Twelve have been moved, with one hour's notice, to another hotel. With the other folks who have found permanent housing, it was actually done by volunteers who were helping.

I wonder if I can have a further discussion with the minister—perhaps not at this time—to see how we can address some of these issues.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

It is true. I said 52% of refugees who have arrived have found permanent housing. The percentage is below that in Vancouver.

Vancouver does seem to have certain issues that other cities do not have. For Vancouver, the number is 31%. I acknowledge there are issues in Vancouver, and I or my staff would be happy to discuss them with you. If you have specific cases, then bring those to my attention.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Minister.

Mr. Tabbara, I understand you will be splitting your time with Mr. Chen.

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

That's correct.

Minister, first of all, on behalf of myself and all the refugees, asylum seekers, service providers, and dedicated health care professionals in the field I want to thank you for restoring the interim federal health program. Canadians were ashamed of the previous government's petty actions in denying health care to refugees. Our actions have restored the pride we take in our national generosity.

There is a lot more work to do. In particular, I'm referring to the infamous Bill C-24—as you just mentioned—which created a two-class citizenship: one class for those born here, and another class for those who choose Canada as their home and earn their Canadian citizenship.

Minister, how soon can we expect the government to introduce legislation to repeal the provisions of Bill C-24?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

In the coming days, and not very many, is my answer to when we will introduce changes to C-24.

In terms of the interim federal health program, we really had no choice but to repeal it. I'm glad the Conservatives have found a new commitment to the charter, but their own interim federal health program was entirely inconsistent with the charter when the judge said that it constituted cruel and unusual punishment and was, therefore, unconstitutional and contrary to the charter.

We had no choice but to get rid of it for that reason, but we wanted to anyway because we think it's only right that refugees receive health care. It was economically ridiculous for the federal government to save some money only for the provincial governments to have to spend more money. So net, it cost taxpayers money. It was unconstitutional, and it's certainly the right thing to do to provide health care.

Finally, on the subject of the charter, clearly the interim federal health program was unconstitutional. We now have concern that the designated countries of origin—the discrimination between refugees in terms of what kind of appeal they may have—which the Conservatives set up, may also be unconstitutional, and there have been some court cases. As a result of that charter uncertainty, we are actually reconsidering whether to keep the designated countries of origin at all.

In the election we committed to setting up an independent panel to determine which countries should be on that list, but now, in light of court challenges to the constitutionality of designated countries of origin in the first place, we may even remove them, in which case we would not need any outside body to advise on which countries, because we wouldn't have any designated countries of origin.

This is something that is charter related—and we've been talking about charters, so I raise it—on which we have not yet come to a decision. But the whole issue of designated countries of origin clearly does raise charter issues that we are reviewing now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Mr. Chen.

[Shaun Chen, Liberal, Scarborough North, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's my understanding, Minister, that your ministry is coordinating with governments at the provincial and municipal levels to facilitate the settlement of 25,000 Syrian refugees.

Can you explain how those responsibilities are being divided among the various levels of government in collaboration with the federal government?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Yes, I'm delighted to, and to say I'm collaborating with them is an understatement. I've spoken several times to every one of my provincial counterparts, and collectively they oversubscribe to the 25,000, which means there's a lot of enthusiasm at the provincial level. I've spoken to more than 30 mayors, all of whom have expressed enthusiasm. All are participating in one way or another.

There's also a key group in there that is vital, which is the settlement agencies. They are working through the federal government, but with all levels of government, and they in a sense are the driving force for the settlement. As we get into things like health care, schooling, language training.... Language training is partly financed by the federal government, but a lot of those things are more in the provincial area.

The federal government is coordinating on a day-by-day basis through its government operations centre, where we have provincial people embedded. We are coordinating daily with our counterparts from other levels of government, but the settlement agencies, which are not governmental, also play a crucial role.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Mr. Chen, you may proceed.

[Shaun Chen, Liberal, Scarborough North, ON]

Just to tag on as well to my colleague's question around Bill C-24, under the previous government the language requirements were made extremely challenging for new immigrants applying to become Canadian citizens. I know that in my riding of Scarborough North, which has one of the highest populations of new immigrants, it's extremely challenging for families who are sponsoring grandparents or parents to have them successfully transition to Canadian citizenship.

How will you and your ministry address this system to make it more inclusive with respect to the strict language proficiency requirements that are currently in place as a result of the last government?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Okay, that's a really good question.

I said it was coming in days, and not very many days, so I don't want to say exactly what we're doing today because it will not be many days before we do say that.

I would say that I hear you on the language issue but I would also say that there are two sides to this debate. On the one hand, one does want to be inclusive and not to impose unreasonable language tests on people. On the other hand, one also wants to recognize that in order for immigrants to settle well, to integrate, to prosper in Canada, it certainly helps if they can speak English or French.

We have to find a balance between those two elements and we seek to achieve that balance in the bill that we will be presenting in a small number of days.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Minister.

Ms. Rempel, you have five minutes.

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

I thank you, Mr. Chair.

My questions will be directed to Ms. Tapley.

Ms. Tapley, it's my understanding that you serve in the role of assistant deputy minister of the strategic and program policy sector at Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Is that correct?

[Catrina Tapley, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

That's correct.

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

Excellent.

Ms. Tapley, it's my understanding that in their campaign platform the government said they would immediately lift the Mexican visa requirement. Is that correct?

[Catrina Tapley]

That's correct.

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

Ms. Tapley, it is my understanding that, thus far, a formal review of the Mexican visa situation by technical experts in the public service has not yet been conducted.

Is that correct?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Go ahead.

[Catrina Tapley]

That's correct.