Citizenship and Immigration Committee on July 19th, 2016

[Christine Morrissey]

I would say several things. One is that I'm assuming the numbers he's giving are those who have actually arrived. The processing takes so long that in fact, between those who've arrived and those who are still in the pipeline, there are 70. My stats show a minimum of 70. That's one issue.

The second issue is that we're all volunteers. We have no infrastructure. When this pilot project began, I asked the federal government at the time if we would be able to get some funding to establish an infrastructure. We have no infrastructure, we have no office, we have no telephones, and we have no money for advertising. We have absolutely no infrastructure whatsoever.

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

Ms. Morrissey, I want to ask about the funding. This is a $100,000 program. How much was allocated since 2011?

[Christine Morrissey]

I don't keep those statistics, because the three-month funds vary according to province because they're welfare rates. I know that during the period of time we have not depleted that budget.

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

Okay, thank you very much. It would have been interesting to find that out, but I appreciate that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you, Mr. Fragiskatos.

Ms. Rempel, you have seven minutes.

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

I will be splitting my time with Mr. Saroya.

Very briefly, Ms. Morrissey, I was wondering if you could perhaps clarify or expand upon your comments around the processing, selection, or identification of LGBTI refugees using the UN selection process. We've heard from other groups that there may be difficulties or inadequacies with that particular process, and given that we use the UN list to select government-sponsored refugees, do you just want to complete your thought on that? Should we be relying solely on those lists in terms of identifying LGBTI refugees to come in through that stream?

[Christine Morrissey]

I would say clearly and absolutely not, for two reasons. First of all, the UNHCR has begun to do work in terms of identifying appropriate interviewing processes and interviewing questions. So there has been some work done; however, it's in a booklet on paper and it doesn't necessarily filter down to the person who is actually doing the interview. From that point of view, it's problematic. The second piece that we've heard from other witnesses as well is that the problem is how long it takes to get an interview, especially if you're looking at, for example, somebody who has gone from one hostile country to another having to wait two or three years even to get an interview. Solely using the UNHCR process is totally inadequate. I think the private sponsorship process is much more appropriate for the folks we see, without excluding the UNHCR process.

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

Mr. Walters, do you want to expand upon that thought based upon your experience?

[Chad Walters]

When we're talking about the sponsorship that Chris just referred to, I feel as if we, as members of the LGBT community, have kind of a way of communicating, understanding, or empathizing with experiences of other LGBT members. So it's almost like—I don't know exactly how to express it—we can identify with them in a way.

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

Absolutely.

[Chad Walters]

If, let's say, there was an IRB member or an adjudicator who was of the LGBT community, I think there would be an easier way of knowing whether or not that person is or is not....

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

I understand what you're saying. It's a member of the community, sort of an intangible. I think that's very valuable for us in terms of recommendations coming out of this committee.

Thank you, and I'll pass my time over to Mr. Saroya.

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Thank you all for coming. It's a very difficult subject. I worked with a number of LGBT persons many times in my life and it's always difficult, even to start where you start.

Ms. Morrissey said there was a death penalty because they were lesbians and gays. How do you help them? How do you raise some money and give them the money? How do you help those in other countries, sitting in Canada?

[Christine Morrissey]

Currently we use the process that's in place. It means that people from Iran, Yemen, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia have to take the initiative of actually leaving their countries and going to another country. We're not in a position to be able to do anything financially to help or support them during that process. It's their job and their responsibility to leave their home country and to travel to a host country, where they have to survive during however long the processing takes. We don't have any money. We don't have any funds. The money that is raised goes directly to the applicants once they arrive in Canada as permanent residents.

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

I have a question for Gloria. At Amnesty International you are doing good work, and you have seven million people helping you in 150 different countries. You mentioned that Canada should help IDPs legally escape. What do you mean by that? How do you escape? How do you legally escape from these people? How can the government help these people escape?

[Gloria Nafziger]

Legal pathways for people who are inside their country to leave the country and come to Canada.... The biggest barrier for most people in terms of legal pathways is more flexibility with respect to various visa requirements, different types of immigration-related programs that can provide legal pathways for people to move across borders.

I mentioned a number of different legal pathways that people could take advantage of, which would require more flexibility in terms of the immigration programs that we currently already use. But when we're looking at vulnerable people, people who are at risk, we sometimes need to think about a broader definition of family.

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Are you talking about section 25 of the immigration act? Is this what can help out?

[Gloria Nafziger]

The humanitarian and compassionate applications that individuals are able to have access to is another tool that's already at the government's disposal. To make better use of the application is definitely another route that individuals can take.

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

My last question is about raising $1 million, and $100,000 for your project for your humanitarian situation.

I worked with some of the people from Iran. There are a number of very difficult situations there, and I know, Ms. Morrissey, you are working with them, and I know you are helping those people. Would you talk a little more about it?

[Christine Morrissey]

The $1 million comes from the fact that as private sponsors, they have to raise sufficient money to support them for 12 months.

If you look at cities like Vancouver, I averaged $15,000 for supporting an individual, times 70. We do not allow people to submit applications until they have raised that money because we cannot put the sponsorship agreement holders in jeopardy.

[The Chair, Liberal, Borys Wrzesnewskyj]

Thank you.

Ms. Kwan, you have seven minutes, please.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you to all the witnesses for your presentations today.

I think I heard pretty well everyone touch on the issue around source country, and that as a remedy to addressing some of the challenges we face for vulnerable groups.

I will perhaps focus on that piece at the moment. Chris, are you suggesting that the source country category be reinstated, and that the LGBTI community be specified as a vulnerable group within that so that it could have access to resettlement applications?

[Christine Morrissey]

Yes, that's exactly what I'm suggesting.

Given the challenges, I'm also suggesting that it happen with LGBT folks who are actually connected with a private sponsor.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Okay.

And that identification is not tied to the country of origin, but rather to the laws that exist within that country. For example, for the LGBTI community, if it's deemed to be illegal, you would then identify that as a country of access to the source country classification.

[Christine Morrissey]

Yes. If you're a member of the LGBTI community and you are a citizen of a country that criminalizes you because of your sexual orientation, that satisfies the country of origin challenges. Then what remains is the assessment of the credibility of the applicant.