Evidence of meeting #120 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was students.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Nelson Chukwuma  Chair, Canadian Alliance of Student Associations
Annie-Claude Laflamme  Co-Chair of the International Affairs Committee, Fédération des cégeps
Vanesa Casanovas  International Attraction and Immigration Advisor, Fédération des cégeps
Clerk of the Committee  Mr. Rémi Bourgault

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

Okay, thank you.

Now, Mr. Chiang, you can go ahead.

Paul Chiang Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I just want to clarify with Mr. Kmiec whether he's moving a subamendment to my amendment.

11:55 a.m.

Conservative

Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB

Pick the person you want to sacrifice.

An hon. member

Oh, oh!

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

I'm sorry. We can only have one person speaking at a time.

Mr. Kmiec has the floor. Then I'll come to you, Mr. Chiang.

Mr. Kmiec, do you want to say something?

11:55 a.m.

Conservative

Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB

No.

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

Okay.

Go ahead, Mr. Chiang.

Paul Chiang Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

I'm sorry, Mr. Chair. Could we suspend for a moment?

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

Sure.

Before I suspend, I'll thank the witnesses for being here.

I'm suspending now.

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

I call the meeting back to order.

The floor is with Mr. Chiang.

Paul Chiang Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would love to debate this some more, but why don't we put it to a vote?

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

Okay.

Paul Chiang Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

Are we going to vote on my amendment?

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

Yes.

All in favour of the amendment by Mr. Chiang?

Some hon. members

No.

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

MP Kwan hasn't expressed herself.

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

No.

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

I don't think you have the votes, Mr. Chiang. Do you want a recorded vote or are you okay with that?

Paul Chiang Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

Let's have a recorded vote.

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

We'll have a recorded vote.

(Motion negatived: nays 6; yeas 5)

We are back to the original motion. I have MP Brunelle-Duceppe and MP Kwan on the speaking list.

MP Brunelle-Duceppe, please go ahead.

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

I asked for the floor to propose that we move to the vote quickly, out of respect for the witnesses and because we already know how we're going to vote. The witnesses have left, but I'd still like us to vote right away.

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

MP Kwan, do you have something to add?

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

Yes.

Very quickly, I think this is a reasonable request. At the end of the day, what we want to do at this committee is get the information so the public and we as parliamentarians can know about, and are then able to assess, the delivery of the programs, or the policy for that matter. We're just trying to do our job.

I think officials and departments have a responsibility to meet the requests of this committee. It's not unreasonable to ask for this basic information so let's get on with it.

The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal

Thank you.

Is there any more discussion?

Seeing none, are all in favour?

(Motion agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

Go ahead, MP Kwan.

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Before you suspend, I'd like to move a motion that has already been put on notice:

That, in light of the failure of IRCC's special immigration measure to reunite family members of Canadians and permanent residents in the besieged Gaza Strip and Sudan, and pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study to examine the development and execution of these special immigration measures; 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; and that this study consist of no less than six meetings; that the committee consider testimony from affected families as well as Canadian civil society; that the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship appear for one hour with departmental officials along with the officials to appear for one additional hour; that the Minister of Foreign Affairs appear for one hour with departmental officials along with the officials to appear for one additional hour; and further that pursuant to Standing Order 108(1)(a), the committee order the production of all documents and records related to the policy-making considerations that led to the specific dimensions of the temporary public policies that opened on January 9, 2024, and February 27, 2024, including the 1,000-person cap, the gradual issuance of access codes and delays in receiving codes experienced by many applicants, and the information requested from applicants on additional screening forms; that, while respecting s. 19, s. 23, and s. 69 of the Access to Information Act, these details be provided within 30 days of the adoption of this motion and relevant documents are released in full to the public; 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.