Evidence of meeting #90 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Marta Morgan  Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Greg Kipling  Director General, Policy, Planning and Corporate Affairs Branch, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Paul MacKinnon  Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Harpreet Kochhar  Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Dawn Edlund  Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Daniel Mills  Assistant Deputy Minister, Chief Financial Officer, Finance, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Michael MacDonald  Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

8:50 a.m.

Paul MacKinnon Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Program Policy, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Maybe our colleagues from operations want to speak to that, but we have had an increase in citizenship applications.

8:50 a.m.

Dr. Harpreet Kochhar Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Thank you, Chair.

We have seen a significant increase since Bill C-6 came into force. The numbers have doubled or tripled over the weeks, but now it is coming to a plateau. We put in place enough—

8:50 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant

Thank you. I'm afraid I have to cut you off there.

Go ahead, Ms. Rempel.

8:50 a.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

It's my understanding that the government has recently gone to tender for a vendor that will write Canada's citizenship test, and it's also my understanding that the government has decided to revise Canada's citizenship guide. Ostensibly there will be expenditures related to this decision, and my questions relate to the content of both instruments. They have relevancy related to the expenditures included therein.

Will the minister reverse his decision to remove female genital mutilation from Canada's citizenship guide?

8:50 a.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

I haven't done that, and the assertion that.... First of all, the citizenship guide hasn't been written. We're still in the consultation stage to put together—

8:50 a.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

The draft—

8:50 a.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

Can I finish my answer, please?

8:50 a.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

I don't have enough time.

The draft guide—

8:50 a.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

I'm trying to finish my answer.

Mr. Chair, can I finish? I've been asked a question. I'd like to finish my answer—

8:50 a.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order. I was asking a yes-or-no question. I appreciate—

8:50 a.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

I've been asked a question and I'd like to finish my answer, please, if that's possible.

8:50 a.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order on decorum. You must appreciate I have a very limited amount of time to question the minister. I'm looking for a yes-or-no answer, not a talk-the-clock answer. I will be brief, and for—

8:50 a.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

The honourable member is suggesting that I've removed something from a product that hasn't been completed, so I'd like to set the record straight about that—

8:50 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Rob Oliphant

It is a convention of this committee that it is the member's time, so I'm afraid I have to let her ask the question.

8:50 a.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Is it yes or no, Minister? The document that was released, or leaked, earlier this year, Canada's citizenship guide, was that not—

8:50 a.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

The citizenship guide has not been written.

8:50 a.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

Will female genital mutilation—

8:50 a.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

It has not been written.

8:50 a.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

Will female genital mutilation be listed as—

8:50 a.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

The citizenship guide has not been written yet.

8:50 a.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

Will female genital mutilation be listed as an intolerable practice in Canada in the—

8:50 a.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

The citizenship guide has not been written yet. We're consulting stakeholders. Thank you.

8:50 a.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

Minister, this is a yes-or-no question.

8:50 a.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

It's not.

8:50 a.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

Female genital mutilation affects over 200 million women worldwide. We're talking about a woman's clitoris being cut off to remove her sexual agency.

This is a practice that happens because it's shrouded in silence. The reason it's in Canada's citizenship guide right now is to arm women with an understanding of their rights. Will you commit today to ensuring that this practice is listed as an intolerable practice and a crime, as it currently is?