Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Feb. 15th, 2018

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

Thank you. That's irrelevant to my question.

I'll proceed onwards. Last time you appeared before committee, I asked if you had asked the Americans to renegotiate the loophole in the Canada–U.S. safe third country agreement that allows people to illegally enter the country and claim asylum. Since your last appearance, have you broached that topic with the American government?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

I contest the notion that the Canada–U.S. safe third country agreement somehow allows people to enter Canada illegally. I don't accept the premise—

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

It actually does allow people to illegally enter the country and claim asylum, so I will ask my question again. Since the last time you came, and since we've seen thousands more people utilize this loophole, have you broached with the American government the renegotiation of the safe third country agreement specifically with regard to this loophole that allows the situation to—

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

There are no formal negotiations on the safe third country agreement.

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

Have you achieved any sort of formal process with the American government in terms of alerting your administration to when the American government intends to lift TPS, temporary protected statuses, for various protected groups?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

We have an ongoing relationship with our counterparts in the Department of Homeland Security. My officials meet regularly with their officials, and we have channels of communication. We do talk about TPS policies—

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

Are there any—

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

I'm trying to answer the question.

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

Are there any other groups that you anticipate seeing TP statuses lifted from?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Sorry?

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

Within the United States.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

I'm not privy to what the United States government will do with respect to TPS.

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

Thank you. That builds to my next question.

In your levels plan, there really isn't a year-over-year increase, even from last year's levels plan, that's material in terms of asylum claims. Given that you don't have any plans to renegotiate the safe third country agreement with the United States government or a formal mechanism by which your government would know if a TP status is going to be revoked, why is it that you have only planned for a static level of asylum seekers in the levels plan?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

In our levels, we do make space for protected persons, who are asylum seekers who have made their case and have been granted conventional refugee status. They have the option of applying for permanent residency status in our country, and in that process—

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

Yes, I realize that, but the levels that you have in here are static.

Since you have put nothing in place to prevent the increase through this particular channel, which has been very pervasive in our country, why have you only planned for a static amount for a several-year plan for that particular group of people?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

It's not a static amount. It increases year after year. They're not significant increases, but there are increases, so—

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

I would argue—

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

I wouldn't say that they're static. What I would say is that we make allocations for protected persons in our levels plan. Part of the reason why that is the number—

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

Just to re-emphasize—

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

I'm trying to answer the question.

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

If it's a static level or a very moderate increase, we haven't seen a moderate increase in people making asylum claims. Are you assuming that these asylum claims will not be found valid by the IRB, or have you failed to put in place any sort of prevention measure to see the increase over time? Your numbers don't jibe with your plan right now.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

I wouldn't say that we haven't taken measures to prevent increases. With the whole outreach process we've been engaging in with diaspora communities in the United States by a number of members of Parliament, our consulates, myself, and social media, we've been doing a lot to make sure that we correct misinformation about our asylum system and our immigration system in the United States.

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

On to another area of our humanitarian levels, do you have any plan to lift the cap for private sponsorship of refugees from groups seeking to sponsor refugees from northern Iraq?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

There is no cap on people attempting to sponsor vulnerable people from northern Iraq. There is no cap.

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

I would argue that point, given the difficulty that many families and many groups of five have had in sponsoring groups such as the Yazidis and other persecuted minorities.

Do you have plans, and are they included in these levels, to see an additional amount of persecuted minorities from northern Iraq?