Citizenship and Immigration Committee on April 26th, 2022

[Dr. Sharalyn Jordan]

We have been very pleased with the way the SOGIE guidelines were developed in terms of the amount of community consultation and their initial implementation, as well as their more recent review. What we would like to see is that guidelines like this be developed for other decision-makers throughout the system, so in particular the officers reviewing PRA applications.

I would really bring us back to some of the points Professor Ghaffar-Siddiqui is making around the training. We cannot rely on cultural competence models. We need to have engaged narrative, dialogue, workshop-style training for all—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry for interrupting, Ms. Jordan. The time is up for Ms. Lalonde.

We will now proceed to Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe for two minutes.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair, I'll be quick.

I thank all the witnesses for being here today.

I have a question for the representatives of Rainbow Refugee Society.

You may not be aware of this, but I'm also vice-chair of Special Committee on Afghanistan. I'd like to do a little aside about Afghanistan. Since the Canadian presence left Afghanistan, every day individuals in the LGBTQ community have been subjected to threats, assault and arbitrary detention. Human Rights Watch and OutRight Action International released a 43‑page report about this on January 26.

I wonder, is Canada doing enough for these individuals? If not, what more can we do? I feel you're in the best position to answer this question.

[Aleks Selim Dughman-Manzur]

I believe that the emergency response that Canada had with the Ukrainian crisis, which was made flexible and allowed a lot of people to enter the country with a lot of flexibility and then get settlement services, should be applied equitably to other crisis situations. In this case it should be applied to the Afghanistan situation and the LGBTQ people, those who are still inside Afghanistan but also those who have made it out, so that we can bring them to safety in Canada either through the PSR program or through an emergency program that allows them to come with flexibility and then deal with their applications and their processing more from the inside of Canada.

We believe that there is more that can be done. We believe that equity in crisis responses is paramount to this work and that we cannot be discriminating against LGBTQ people just by their geographic location.

We believe that the model that has been implemented through the response to the Ukrainian crisis can be amplified and brought to other crises and particularly to LGBTQI people who are in Afghanistan or outside of Afghanistan.

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

So IRCC needs an emergency mechanism when a crisis occurs, whether it's a natural disaster or an armed conflict anywhere on the planet.

Would you agree?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Your time is up, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe. Thank you.

We will now end our round of this panel with Ms. Kwan for two minutes.

Ms. Kwan, you can, please, begin.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I just want to build on that question.

With respect to refugees, one of the critical issues for people in Afghanistan is that they cannot get their biometrics done because it's just simply not feasible. Should the government waive the biometric requirements for Afghans until they are safely here in Canada?

That is for Mr. Dughman-Manzur.

[Aleks Selim Dughman-Manzur]

Thank you.

Yes, I do believe that they should be waived and I believe there are ways to make sure that.... I know that Canada is also concerned with safety and there are other measures that can be put in place to make sure that we are bringing people in safely and we're also protecting Canadian society in that way. I believe that when there is an emergency, if there are barriers and we cannot overcome those barriers, we should put human life first and then deal with the obstacles.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you.

I want to quickly ask this question as well.

The refugee determination requirements, the government requires that for the group of five refugee sponsorships, which makes it not feasible for a lot of people. Should the government waive the refugee determination requirement for all privately sponsored refugees?

I'm going to go to everybody for this question and ask for a quick answer, because I just saw the one-minute card.

[MD Shorifuzzaman]

I feel there are some difficulties if we completely eliminate that criterion, but I think that 5G can be transferred to 2G or 3G. I believe that if two families have relatives outside of Canada and they want to help them to come to Canada under this protection, they should be able to support them.

I think 5G is a very big number and very hard to manage by many families, but if we could make it a group of two families or a group of three persons, then it would be more accessible.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you. With that, the panel comes to an end.

Yes, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.

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

I'd like to introduce the following motion, which was put on notice, and have us discuss it. The motion is as follows:

That the committee report the following to the House: In light of the fact that Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in China face an ongoing genocide, and in light of the fact that those in third countries are at continuing risk of detention and deportation back to China, where they face serious risk of arbitrary detention, torture, and other atrocities, the committee calls on the government to: a) extend existing special immigration measures to Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims, including the expansion of biometrics collection capabilities in third countries and the issuance of Temporary Resident Permits and single journey travel documents to those without a passport;

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Orléans, ON]

Excuse me, I'd like to know if the committee member can raise a point of order to move a motion, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe didn't ask for a point of order. He just raised his hand and I asked him.

It was not a point—

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

May I speak, Madam Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Yes, that's why I gave you the floor. You raised your hand and I gave you the floor.

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

Since this is not the point of order, I will take the floor again. I'm sorry for the confusion.

I'd like us to discuss the following motion, which was put on notice, before we continue the meeting in camera. The motion is as follows:

That the committee report the following to the House: In light of the fact that Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in China face an ongoing genocide, and in light of the fact that those in third countries are at continuing risk of detention and deportation back to China, where they face serious risk of arbitrary detention, torture, and other atrocities, the committee calls on the government to: a) extend existing special immigration measures to Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims, including the expansion of biometrics collection capabilities in third countries and the issuance of Temporary Resident Permits and single journey travel documents to those without a passport; b) allow displaced Uighurs and Turkic Muslims in third countries, who face risk of detention and deportation back to China, to seek refuge in Canada; c) waive the UNHCR refugee determination.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.

I have a list of the people who would like to speak: Ms. Lalonde, Mr. Genuis and then Ms. Kwan.

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Orléans, ON]

I will wait. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Okay.

Mr. Genuis.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I have a couple of things first. We're right into committee business, so I want to maybe thank the witnesses. I don't know if you want to take the opportunity to dismiss them, but thank you to the witnesses in any event.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I'm sorry. We are not in committee business as of yet. We are in a public meeting.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Fair enough. I know we're still public. I guess what I meant is that I think we're done with the witnesses, so I was saying thank you to them.

Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe, when the interpreters were reading the English version, it was slightly different from the text, but I don't think that's because the text is different. I think it's because the interpreters were translating it on the fly.

Can you confirm that the text you read out is the same as that which was distributed?

Can you confirm that what you read was the same as—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Mr. Genuis, can you please direct all questions through the chair.

He is just getting a clarification in regard to the translation.

Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe, can you please confirm that the text that you read is the same as that which was sent out in the notice of motion?

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

I can confirm that I made no changes to what was put on notice.