Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Dec. 2nd, 2020

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Okay. This person has waited for a year and still hasn't gotten it.

Now their job is in jeopardy, Minister. Maybe you think you've made progress, but do you know what? For many people who are desperate, it's not good enough.

I will follow up with the minister and his staff with respect to this case.

On the Quebec skills worker—I've written to the minister about this—whose post-grad work permit has expired recently and couldn't be renewed because IRCC gave him bad advice and told him in writing to apply for the bridging work permit, which as we know does not apply to Quebec....

His job is as a professor, and as of yesterday he has now lost his status in Canada, because his work permit cannot be renewed. His application is nearly complete; he is only waiting for IRCC to extend his medicals, which would likely have been completed, had it not been for COVID.

This is his only option: IRCC is now telling him that he should leave Canada.

My question to the minister is this—he earlier said that no one would lose their status or face deportation—will this person be able to continue to work and have implied status through the work permit and not be deported?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

I reaffirm the principle that I mentioned on the last occasion, which is that we are doing everything we can to minimize the disruption caused by COVID-19 in all of our immigration processes. We've introduced numerous flexibilities, including restoration of status, including work permit flexibility, and yes, by encouraging those who've fallen into an expired status to reach out so that they can remain in Canada.

For those who are waiting, we will reach out as quickly as we possibly can. We're making progress. We will continue to work very diligently on this.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

This is for the Quebec skilled workers program, and IRCC gave the individual bad advice. Now he is stuck. Will the government fix that?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Ms. Kwan, as I've said, I am always open to working with you and other members of Parliament to ensure that we can troubleshoot cases whenever possible. We have a strong track record on that and we will continue to collaborate with you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Sorry for interrupting, Minister.

The time is up. We will now move to our second round of questioning and we will start with Ms. Dancho.

Ms. Dancho, you have five minutes for your round of questioning.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister, a few weeks ago you announced your government's very ambitious plan to admit 401,000 permanent residents into Canada, which I think is the most in Canadian history. The goal was to include 80,000 family class permanent residents as well in that 401,000.

The committee has heard testimony on this, and my understanding is that on November 5, we received notice that 60,000 people were back-logged in the family PR stream, so to speak.

We've heard the testimony of Misha Pelletier and Chantal Dubé, who are Canadians in Canada who have been separated from their husbands abroad for years. They've really had no response or communication from your government on why their husbands have not been approved to come be with them.

My question is as follows. Can you commit to women like Misha and Chantal that they'll be reunited for Christmas?

More than that, can you commit to clearing the family sponsorship backlog for next year, as the first priority for those 401,000 PRs you're hoping to bring in?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Certainly, as I said, we have put a tremendous focus on reuniting families. On the basis of the tremendous effort that my department is continuing to exercise day in and day out, I am confident that we are going to hit the 49,000 spousal sponsorship target by the end of December.

With regard to individual cases, as I've said, Ms. Dancho, we're happy to collaborate with you.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Yes, I recognize that. I was just hoping we could give them some good news since they desperately need it, and frankly deserve it, but we'll move on.

I do feel that a lot of these problems [Technical difficulty--Editor] they haven't received any updates, they don't know the timelines, they're not being told why they're not being approved and this goes across all streams. It doesn't really provide a lot of dignity to these individuals, whether they are Canadian or trying to become a Canadian and get into [Technical difficulty--Editor].

There was a good example of this is in your government's economic update on Monday. It said that this year you have only brought in half of the permanent residents you wanted to. Clearly there are some problems.

If we look at expired permanent residents, for example, the COPRs as they've been calling them, we find people who have been vetted, paid the fees to come into the country, sold their homes, quit their jobs, taken their kids out of school and bought the plane ticket to come to Canada. Then the border closed and your government told them that they all needed to get an authorization letter. The problem is that they haven't been issued these authorization letters and it's been nine months of this.

When I spoke to your officials about it, they wouldn't really acknowledge there was a problem. In fact, they said, “Oh no, they can all come to Canada.”

We received a lot of emails following that. I want to give you some feedback from one mother. Her name is Pranali Mane, who wrote, “ Our immigration dream has turned into a nightmare. I resigned in January, child out of school in May, ready to travel since June, all required docs submitted and acknowledged by IRCC, but kept waiting ever since. Please help us.”

I'm not sure if there is any compassion you've been offering to women like Pranali, but do you feel that she's just not being truthful or that these expired COPRs are just not being truthful about not being able to come in? I'm just really not clear.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

My message to her is to keep the faith.

No one denies, Ms. Dancho, that there has been disruption caused by COVID-19. That is the simple explanation for the impact on our levels.

Certainly, with regard to the decisions at the border, I think the vast majority of Canadians agree that we've had to take those decisions to protect our health and safety—

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Yes, okay, we spoke about that earlier.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

—and we are making tremendous progress, including on reaching out to individuals who have expired permanent residence—

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

I appreciate that, Minister, but you didn't really answer my question about them, but we'll move on.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Can I just have one person speak at one time, please?

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

We'll just move on. We only have a minute and a half left.

I just want to leave you with this, Minister.

Again, there are a lot of communication problems happening. There is not a lot of empathy being expressed by you or your department for the struggles going forward. I was trying to get to know what kind of minister you are and I went through your remarks in the House of Commons. I just want to share this one quote that you shared in the House of Commons near the beginning of your political career. You said:

In the mandate letter of every minister, the Prime Minister notes the government's commitment “to set a higher bar for openness and transparency in government.”

You went on to say:

...we live up to these words every single day.

Further, you noted that the Prime Minister had mandated that every minister “shine more light” on government to ensure that it remains focused on the people it serves. Indeed, in his mandate letters, the Prime Minister stated that “Government and its information should be open by default. If we want Canadians to trust their government, we need a government that trusts Canadians.”

Again, I don't think we're seeing a lot of trust from you or your department in these people who are suffering, trying to be reunited with their families. Really, I do feel that the mark of a good leader, Minister, is not if you can stick to your principles in the easy times; it's whether you can stick to them in the bad times.

Over the holidays, I just ask that you reflect on your previous words and principles and consider all of the communication issues and transparency issues that you're facing. I also ask that you bring more empathy to your talking points and your announcements, and acknowledge the suffering that your department has caused people at home and abroad. Finally, I ask that you do everything you possibly can to reunite as many people as possible for Christmas. I'd just ask that you consider that.

I thank you, Minister.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

I appreciate your referring to those words. I do my level best to live up to that, as I know we all do as parliamentarians.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Madam Chair, I believe my time is up.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

Thank you, Minister.

We will now move to Mr. Serré.

Mr. Serré, you have five minutes for your round of questioning.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister Mendicino, thank you for your transparency and leadership. Thank you again for appearing before the committee. This is your fourth appearance in 2020. I think that the fact that you're coming here to talk to committee members, from all parties, about the issues that we're facing and about possible improvements shows your transparency.

Here's my first question.

Can you tell the committee more about the choices that the department made in August to allow visitors to apply for work permits without leaving the country?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

First of all, let me just thank you for your kind words. It is always an honour to be able to appear before this committee and to work with you and everyone.

We are endeavouring to shine a light—to refer back to those words—on every aspect of our efforts to reunite families to ensure that immigration is going to contribute positively to our economic recovery. That includes demonstrating some flexibility with regard to the in-Canada work permits.

We are making progress on that front. We have shown real flexibility when it comes to work permits. We are ensuring that visitors who are currently in Canada and who have a valid job offer will be able to remain in Canada and they will be able to transition from visitor status to work permit status again if they have a job offer. That is one of the ways in which we are innovating to leverage immigration as much as possible.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you.

In September you introduced a public policy allowing PRs to be able to use previously submitted biometrics, extending biometrics that had been received over the last 10 years.

How do you view this system of optimization that is needed to ensure the smallest number of obstacles possible for individuals seeking PR?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

As I said, we do know there have been some disruptions as a result of COVID-19. We put the measures in place to reduce and mitigate some of those disruptions.

When it comes to biometrics, which is an important part of our screening process, we are showing flexibility. If you had previously filed within the last 10 years then you do not need to file those biometrics again. That is one way in which we are minimizing the disruption caused by COVID-19.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you.

I also just want you to update the committee on the changes that have been made to citizenship ceremonies, citizenship testing and the process online. Can you explain to the committee what your department and staff have done to improve efficiency online?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Absolutely. As I've indicated on a couple of occasions, it's always a very special occasion to be able to preside as part of the citizenship ceremony and to be able to look in the eye the aspiring new Canadians who have reached the significant milestone, whether it's in person or whether it's in virtual space, as now. It is a very special moment and probably one of the most unique functions that we get to exercise.

As a result of the innovations that we have introduced both initially at the ceremony stage and now in the testing phase, we're going to be able to see even more progress and become even more effective than what we were prior to COVID-19. It's a great example of how my department has innovated and shown leadership throughout the pandemic.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Minister.

I believe I have 20 seconds.

I just want to thank you and your staff for introducing a new rural immigration pilot project. I know your staff has gone above and beyond to introduce this in rural areas. It is making a difference. It has been difficult to do this during COVID, but the staff have. The municipalities, employers and rural communities are benefiting from it. Thank you very much for doing that.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

It's 11 towns, to be precise, under the rural and northern immigration pilot, and I'm looking forward to seeing more results.