Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Good morning.
We acknowledge the work the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration is doing on this important matter concerning the moratorium on deporting citizens of Zimbabwe and Haiti living in Canada. It is with great enthusiasm that we respond to the invitation to appear before this committee, and we intend to provide a brief. Mr. Vaval and I will give the presentation.
My name is Jocelyne Simon. I left Haiti in 1979. I worked for the federal government. I am currently retired, but I am very active as a volunteer in my community. I am president of a group called Concertation-action des citoyens et des citoyennes d'origine haïtienne, mainly in Rivière-des-Prairies. This organization has been around for 12 years, and its mission is to work to facilitate the true economic, social, cultural and political integration of members of the Haitian community in Montreal, specifically in the Rivière-des-Prairies area.
Mr. Vaval is the director of Équipe RDP. For the past 20 years, the mission of this organization has been to contribute to the social development of and to improve the quality of life of the population of Montreal and the surrounding area by providing recreation and social intervention programs.
Conducting a study like this shows us that that government is willing to find a fair and equitable solution to the living conditions of thousands of people affected by this moratorium. We hope that the findings of this study will mean that this first step of suspending the moratorium, as announced on December 10, 2015, will take place and will make it possible to regularize the status of those affected.
Who are the foreign nationals affected? Canada is well known and recognized for its openness. It is a country that welcomes many people who have chosen to live here. Canada also opens its doors to people who are required to leave their country or who cannot return there because of violence or instability. Therefore, in 2012, Canada established a moratorium on deporting immigrants to Zimbabwe and, in 2004, to Haiti.
Haitian nationals came in waves. The first wave of individuals arrived after the earthquake. More arrived in 2010, after the earthquake that devastated the country and left more than 300,000 people dead, as our colleague mentioned. They stayed because of the moratorium. They are concentrated mainly in Montreal, Ontario, and British Columbia.
The second wave included people who had to leave Haiti urgently after the earthquake and who were evacuated in a Canadian Armed Forces Hercules aircraft. These individuals arrived with their family, without any belongings. In the meantime, these people adjusted to life in Canada, and many of them gave birth to Canadian children.
Both groups include people of a certain age. We estimate the number of Haitian nationals between 3,500 and 4,000. They have taken the steps needed to participate in life in Canada, even though they face a number of difficulties because of their situation. The Canadian and Quebec governments and the Haitian community are taking care of them.
After the earthquake, there was a major movement in Montreal to put in place multiservice centres, among other things, and to take care of the Haitian population in Montreal in areas where there was a high concentration of members from that community. Special programs were put in place to provide support.
Lifting the moratorium gave hope to some people, while others were concerned, given the many compliance rules that are not always simple.
Today, with the moratorium lifted, these foreign nationals still have a lot of fears. Living under the moratorium has its shares of troubles, but not knowing the outcome of the steps with the lifting of the moratorium gives rise to other concerns.
Given the moratorium, people are facing tremendous difficulties, at every level, particularly children and seniors. Those difficulties include obtaining a work permit, getting access to health care services, education and so on. The following scenarios illustrate their hard reality.
I will now turn things over to Mr. Vaval.