Thank you very much.
The Association québécoise des avocats et avocates en droit de l'immigration, or AQAADI, was founded in 1991 to bring together immigration and refugee law practitioners of Quebec, and to provide them with better representation with the Quebec bar association and various political and judicial bodies, both in terms of federal and provincial immigration.
We intervene before the Federal Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of Canada and the Superior Court of Quebec. We also participate in various House of Commons committees, like today, and in different Quebec National Assembly committees.
The current situation in Hong Kong is very worrisome. We applaud the Government of Canada's positions to facilitate and accelerate the processing of certain applications for permanent residence. However, we think it is possible to do much more in that area, and we will focus on two points that could be implemented quickly.
When it comes to refugee protection, we are asking that files currently being processed by the Consulate General of Canada in Hong Kong be accelerated and finalized. It is important to enable the quick resettlement of sponsored refugees recognized by Canada and of certain applicants on humanitarian and compassionate grounds who are in Hong Kong. It would be important to finalize those files as quickly as possible, so that those people could be safe again in Canada.
If certain files are not finalized, temporary resident permits, or TRPs, should be issued quickly, so that those refugee protection claimants, often sponsored privately or through what is referred to as refugee sponsorship agreement holders, can get to Canada as safely and as quickly as possible. Canada should also assess the possibility of granting refugee protection directly to individuals in Hong Kong who may need protection quickly so that they can come to Canada as soon as possible.
Second, we believe that Canada should allow the reactivation of the Canadian citizenship of certain Hong Kong residents who may have lost it owing to the non-recognition of dual citizenship by the People's Republic of China. It would be important for certain individuals to be able to once again validate or reactivate the Canadian citizenship they lost because they had to choose between the two citizenships after deciding to continue their life in Hong Kong.
For former Canadian citizens, the minister could issue a policy in light of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to allow their Canadian citizenship to be reactivated, so that they could easily return to the country as Canadian citizens, without having to start the immigration process from the beginning.
These are some ideas among many others, but I think that a bit more could be done in terms of those two aspects—refugee protection and the reactivation of those individuals' citizenship.
Thank you.