Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Feb. 17th, 2021

[Dr. Charles Burton]

I would say that we see this over and over again with Chinese regime-associated companies that offer very competitive bids to win contracts for things like Nuctech's installation of security equipment in our 170 embassies around the world, or the very reasonable and competitive prices of Huawei equipment for telecommunications. And now we see that someone in the procurement department in Canada got a really good deal on the subcontracting of visa processing.

On all of these things, the reason those companies are able to benefit from Chinese government subsidies is that the regime expects other benefits in terms of their overall regime goals. There is no question about that. We've already got it clear that Huawei could facilitate espionage and kill switches in telecommunications. We know that Nuctech would be a disaster to be running our embassy control at the exit, and VFS is clearly transferring information.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Mr. Burton. Time is up.

We will now end our round of questioning with Ms. Kwan.

Ms. Kwan, you have six minutes for your round of questioning.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much to all the witnessers for their presentations.

I'd like to first turn to Mr. Hui.

You mentioned that the Hong Kong legislature is now contemplating legislation that will bar anyone from boarding a plane or a boat for any reason. The legislation does not stipulate as to why a person would be barred. Is that correct?

[Ted Hui Chi-fung]

Yes, that is correct. The legislation doesn't provide for any reasons that need to be given by the regime when it has to exercise its right to impose any restrictions on any individuals. The Hong Kong Bar Association and many lawyers have openly expressed that it's very concerning, very troubling, and it might go against our constitution, which says Hong Kong people have a right to go in and out of Hong Kong.

Now it's completely destroyed, and our fundamental rights are totally undermined.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Time is of the essence to actually bring in special immigration measures to help people get to safety. Aside from the existing measures that are in place, even as people are waiting for their application to be processed, they actually need a minister's permit or a temporary residence visa to come to Canada.

Would you recommend that the government bring in a measure such as what they did when Canada dealt with people in China at the time of Tiananmen Square?

[Ted Hui Chi-fung]

Definitely, and I urge the Canadian government to take a speedy approach and to provide for all different kinds of visas based on humanitarian grounds so that those who are in need of fleeing really have the route to leave Hong Kong and safely arrive in Canada, so they can apply for a humanitarian protection visa or asylum later.

Time is really of the essence. That law is going to be passed in months, so it is very imminent.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

The suggestion from our previous panel was to utilize our consulate offices in Hong Kong to actually provide for people to make applications to apply for travel restriction exemptions, as an example, and then also exit visas and passports and so on.

Maybe I can turn to Mr. Burton on this.

Do you think this is something the Canadian government should embark on, to look at measures such as that to allow the opportunity for people to get into a safer office to access documentation?

[Dr. Charles Burton]

Yes, I think so.

Having served as a Canadian diplomat in Beijing in the past, I know this has been done in rare cases of urgency. The situation in Hong Kong is a case of urgency that requires these kinds of special measures on the part of our consular officials.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

In fact, in the minister's mandate letter back in 2017, he was directed by the Prime Minister to “[i]ntroduce a dedicated refugee stream to provide safe haven for human rights advocates, journalists and humanitarian workers at risk”. This is, in fact, a measure that could be put in place right now for the people of Hong Kong.

[Dr. Charles Burton]

And what more Canadian thing could we be doing, in terms of our Canadian values, than providing refuge for people who are committed to democracy and human rights, and are suffering because of their democratic beliefs?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

In the Tiananmen Square period, there was a directive, actually, from the government of the day to deem that “all persons who have in some way individually embarrassed their government and in so doing have exposed themselves to severe sanctions should they return”.... This was to Chinese authorities in reference to Tiananmen Square.

Should our Minister of Immigration be issuing that directive to IRCC officials?

[Dr. Charles Burton]

Certainly, the idea that we send people back to Hong Kong where they could be subject to arrest and possible transmission to China is something we don't want to do.

It was a policy that worked well in 1989, and our policy of minister's permits brought a lot of Chinese activists to Canada.

Having been educated in China, I personally brought some of my friends to our country through minister's permits, and thank God that was possible.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

In terms of actual measures for people, at this moment, with VFS Global being contracted to do this work but subcontracted to a company that's owned by the Beijing police, what message do you want to convey to the Canadian government right now? What action does it need to take immediately?

[Dr. Charles Burton]

We need to stop that contract as soon as possible. The idea that subcontracting out cheaper is a good idea for immigration is a false economy. We need to have this based on Canadians, protecting the data through Canadian servers and Canadian diplomatic facilities, as opposed to allowing the Beijing police to gather this data for God knows what sort of use.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

What would you say to the Canadian government, whose standard response will likely be that all the safety measures are in place?

[Dr. Charles Burton]

Laughable.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

For those who are in Hong Kong at the moment, private sponsorship, in terms of privately sponsored refugee options, has been put forward by some Canadians. Is that a consideration?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Ms. Kwan, I'm sorry, but your time is up.

With that, our second panel comes to an end.

On behalf of all members, I would like to thank all of our witnesses for appearing before the committee today and providing testimony.

The meeting is adjourned.