Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Nov. 25th, 2024

[Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar]

Are you asking for the number of students?

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Yes.

[Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar]

We will actually go back and try to get that information.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

To be clear, I'm referring to a report that you published a couple of years ago. That's the information it had. I would just like it to be updated. If you could provide that within the next two weeks, that would be great.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

You have 15 seconds.

Thank you.

With that, we will now go to Mr. Chiang for six minutes.

Please go ahead.

[Paul Chiang, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here.

Before I start, I want to move my motion:

That pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study of no more than two meetings to examine the temporary public policy to facilitate temporary resident visas for certain extended family affected by the crisis in Gaza; including the challenges that the Government of Canada faces in facilitating the exit of Gazans and that Canada is not the only country that faces these challenges; that the committee invite the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship to appear for one hour with departmental officials and that departmental officials appear for an additional hour; that the committee invite other relevant witnesses in accordance with the usual practices of the committee; that the committee report its findings to the House; and that pursuant to Standing Order 109, the government table a comprehensive response to the report.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you.

The motion is in order.

The debate is on the motion. Does anyone want to speak?

I have Mr. Kmiec and MP Kwan.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Perhaps the parliamentary secretary could elaborate on why now is the right time to be moving this motion.

I believe we have looked at the Gaza humanitarian program. I'm unsure whether the department has actually responded to all the questions that came out of those discussions we had at the table about the Gaza humanitarian program and the Sudan program.

I note that the Sudan program is not in this motion, and I think that Sudan is an equally terrible situation on the ground. Many of us have Canadians of Sudanese heritage from the region who have family members who are finding it quite difficult to obtain a response from IRCC and obtain a visa and are also finding it quite difficult to even leave the region or have certainty they'll be allowed somehow to get here.

The situation in Sudan has become substantially worse with the ongoing civil war, and millions of people have now fled to the surrounding countries. The last time I checked, there were about half a million refugees in Egypt alone.

I'm wondering if the parliamentary secretary knows the answers to those questions on why Sudan wasn't included in this motion and whether IRCC has actually followed up with all the questions that came out of the last two meetings we had on this particular program. We are looking at the spending that the department is doing and the supplementary estimates (B). I note that none of those programs are in there. There are no extra monies being assigned to any of them. Perhaps the parliamentary secretary has an answer to that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

MP Chiang, do you want to respond?

[Paul Chiang, Liberal, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to thank MP Kmiec for his question.

This is an important issue, and we will definitely be looking into it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you.

Mr. Kmiec, you still have the floor. Is there any more discussion before I go to MP Kwan?

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I'm going to move an amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Are you good?

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I'm good, yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you.

MP Kwan, please go ahead.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Chair, I have questions for officials. I won't make any comments at this time. I have something to say about this, but not at this time.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you.

Is there any more debate on this one?

MP Kmiec, please go ahead.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I'm looking at this motion, and I want to make sure that we do the same practice that we have done in the past.

I want to move an amendment, and forgive me, because I wasn't aware that the parliamentary secretary was going to move this motion today. I want to move an amendment that says, after the third line in the English, “for certain extended family affected by the crisis in Gaza;” add “, and Sudan”. Then it continues with a semicolon, and then I want to add another reference on the fourth line in the English version: After it says, “Government of Canada faces in facilitating the exit of Gazans” I would like to add the words “and Sudanese” before “and that Canada is not the only country that faces these challenges”.

I would like Sudan to be included, as has been the practice of this committee in the two previous occasions that we've considered this. There's a large Sudanese community in Calgary, and I want to make sure that their views are reflected here. They've come to see me and they've come to see my colleague Greg McLean, and I want to make sure that their issues are also reflected in this study.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you, MP Kmiec.

Now we will be speaking on the amendment to the motion.

MP Kwan, you've raised your hand.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

We'll deal with the amendment, and I'll have some comment afterward, if we're going to get into this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Is there any more discussion on the amendment? If there's no discussion, is everyone in favour of the amendment proposed by MP Kmiec?

(Amendment agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

Now we are back to the motion as amended.

MP Kwan, you have the floor

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I'd like to move a further amendment, Mr. Chair, to incorporate into this motion after “these challenges”:

That the study include examination of the development and execution of the Government of Canada's special immigration measures to reunite and help bring Canadian Gazan family members to safety, including extended family, and that the committee also consider Canada's use of its diplomatic relations to help facilitate the free movement of persons authorized to travel to Canada; that the committee consider testimony from affected families as well as Canadian civil society;

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you.

Now we are on the amendment proposed by MP Kwan, and I have Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Would it be possible to forward the text of the amendment that Ms. Kwan is moving in both official languages?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

I can suspend for a few minutes to get the wording from MP Kwan.