Again, Minister, I'm speaking on behalf of the IRCC employees who are on some of these records—obviously they don't want to share their names—and people I've talked to, as was mentioned in the same article, about the pressures on racialized employees of IRCC, who are feeling as though even when they go to the bathroom they need to ask. If they take washroom breaks that are too long, they get asked about it, and they're being asked to perform at a higher level.
In the same article, another racialized employee said that there are fewer career advancement opportunities within IRCC for people of colour. He said he noticed over the years a reluctance to promote employees of colour within the department. He said he went through a dozen applications before he got a promotion. There are definitely a lot of problems, and it doesn't seem as though they're coming to an end.
I will move on.
I asked you this question last time with regard to Afghanistan and Ukraine and how people are saying, and rightfully so, that there seems to be a big difference in the processing that's going on and in the priorities. About 10,000 Ukrainians have come here to Canada on a priority basis within a month, but there are still many thousands of Afghans who are stuck there. Recently, through an OPQ, we found out that only about 2,385 Afghans have come here to Canada under the government special refugee program, and that's unacceptable. As you know, the Taliban have ramped up their brutal regime. They're not letting women and young girls go to school anymore. Those Afghans are still frustrated with your government and feel that there's a huge bias against them.
What do you have to say to that?