Citizenship and Immigration Committee on July 18th, 2016

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

It would be great to see that in writing, if you could. It's obviously critical that permission be given. If the Government of Canada were to support something like this, I would want to make sure that that we have the permission of local authorities.

I'm also interested in the dynamics of the region. You're specifically focusing on Yazidis. Some Yazidis speak Aramaic and Arabic; still others speak Kurmanji. Kurmanji is the most widely spoken Kurdish dialect. There are not too many folks in Canada who speak it. It's very difficult. I know, because I tried to learn it one time. It lasted a couple of days, and I gave up very quickly.

Again, there's Aramaic and Arabic spoken. Will you be taking interpreters with you who speak these languages? How will you be engaging with the local population?

[Dr. Martin Mark]

We are working very closely with the Yazidi community in Canada. We were very proud when exactly 14 days ago we welcomed the first Yazidi refugee we have sponsored.

We have no concerns whatsoever. We do all the necessary logistics according to the profession. In resettlement, we have a good record on how—

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

So interpreters have been secured?

[Dr. Martin Mark]

Definitely.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Definitely?

[Dr. Martin Mark]

Definitely.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

That's in writing too.

[Dr. Martin Mark]

I'm sorry; when I say “definitely”, it means at the time when the project was approved. First we need your approval to process it, because remember, please, there is no legal framework for us to do this yet.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Apparently the previous Conservative government was ready to support this project. Is that correct?

[Dr. Martin Mark]

You have to ask the Conservative—

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

This is what I've read in the press. I'm just asking you.

[Dr. Martin Mark]

Okay.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

As a final question, women have very unique needs, obviously, as far as resettlement goes. How will the project that your organization and One Free World International are apparently spearheading take into account the unique needs of women on the ground?

[Dr. Martin Mark]

It's a significant part of the proposal that on the ground we must have women-focused counselling, trauma counselling, or any abused person-focused counselling. In the same way as we discussed here, upon arrival it's not just a simple program like GAR, the government-assisted refugees program that was dumped on the city of Toronto. We already have things in place to ensure that counselling for women that is related to sexual abuse and any other issues will be addressed.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

I look forward to seeing that in due course. Thank you very much.

Do I have any more time, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Yes, you do: one minute and 50 seconds.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Okay.

Professor, thank you very much for appearing today.

You've been especially critical of how the previous government handled the Syrian refugee crisis in your interviews with Carol Off on As It Happens and in other testimonials you've given.

I don't mean to underline this only; obviously there are so many issues that we need to address in this study. However, with regard to lessons learned from that, I'm looking at a Globe and Mail report called “Prime Minister's Office ordered halt to refugee processing”.

How does something like that happen in a democracy such as Canada, where we've seen such a compassionate response in our history, whether it was for the Vietnamese or the Hungarian refugees? How does it happen that a Prime Minister's Office intervenes to select which refugees can come into this country? The question is about lessons learned.

[Prof. Audrey Macklin]

I don't know that there is a legal answer to that question. It seems to me that it resides in the domain of politics.

It is not obvious to me within a framework of law how a process that is already set up in law could be halted or under what legal authority the Prime Minister's Office might have acted to do that. The Prime Minister's Office did not have operational or, ordinarily, legal authority to manage the resettlement process at all, so from my perspective, I think the answer must reside in the domain of politics. I have not seen any explanation of the sources of legal authority to do what I understand the PMO did, but beyond that I don't know that I could elaborate.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Obviously, Professor, that didn't expedite the process. In fact, it created serious delays that in fact might have.... Well, if the delays weren't there, we might have accepted more people, and their lives might have been saved in the process.

Do you think that preferences matter, ideas matter, in politics? Do you think the former prime minister's apparent desire and preference for “old-stock Canadians” played a factor in any of this?

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

You have 30 seconds, please.

[Prof. Audrey Macklin]

You know, I think others can answer that question as well as I can.

However, let me say this: what matters is integrity and a commitment to the rule of law. That involves, among other things, transparency and acting according to legal authority. We have a legal framework in Canada that permits us to do what Canadians have wanted to do and are doing, which is to engage in the resettlement of refugees in Canada. That this was thwarted appears to have been something that might have happened outside the legal constraints of the system.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

Ms. Rempel, you have seven minutes, please.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Mark, on behalf of all the committee members here, thank you to your organization as well as to all the privately sponsored refugee groups across the country, a majority of which have been responsible for providing private funds and private support to bring refugees to Canada. While there are always photo ops to take, kudos to you and to all the groups that have actually been making this happen on the ground.

My question relates to how the government can best protect vulnerable people in the Middle Eastern region as part of its refugee initiative. It's my understanding that under the previous government, Iraqi refugees were exempted under the mission cap for privately sponsored refugees. How has the cancellation of this exemption affected your organization's ability to bring some of the most vulnerable groups, including persecuted Christians and Yazidis, to Canada?

[Dr. Martin Mark]

Thank you very much.

Under the previous government, we definitely had unlimited spots to help Iraqi and Syrian refugees. Without any notice, suddenly we woke up in the new year having a very strict quota, which is devastating, especially for Canadian community members who live here but have relatives in a refugee-like situation.

We worked overnight on Christmas and New Year's Eve to make sure we met the deadline of December 31 to submit as many cases as we could. When suddenly on March 30 it again opened up for one day, we therefore had 700 cases ready for submission in the office. It means that now that we have the 1,000 spots, we have to balance between how many Africans, Iraqis, Afghans, or Somalis we assist. It's a serious cutback.

When I talk with community members, as on Wednesday, for example, when I will be working in Toronto, I am already scheduled to meet some people to calm them down. We will try to use different methods to bring people here, because the need has increased. The government and the whole system encouraged people to move forward, and suddenly cutting back is not good for the voluntary sector.

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

Was there any rationale given to your organization, one of the biggest responsible for resettling persecuted minorities? Did the government have any consultation with you or provide any rationale as to why they removed the exemption for Iraqi refugees, which, as we heard from UNHCR earlier today, is where the majority of Yazidis and persecuted minorities are coming from?