Evidence of meeting #45 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 program.
A recording is available from Parliament.
November 29th, 2022 / 4:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you, Minister.
The time is up for Ms. Kayabaga.
We will now proceed to Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.
You have six minutes. Please begin.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Minister, I want to thank you and your officials for your time. You are truly generous. You must be the one who appears the most at committee meetings. I commend you for that and I'm very grateful.
First the flowers, then the tomatoes.
Can you tell me if there have been any changes recently in your department's research office responsible for francophone immigration outside Quebec?
Liberal
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
Before I begin, I want to thank you, because I love flowers.
I have good news. We have just opened a new office in Dieppe, New Brunswick, to look at ways to innovate in the area of francophone immigration. It's very important.
I feel it's crucial that we increase the number of francophone newcomers to Canada—
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Minister, I'm going to interrupt you, because I don't have a lot of time. That was not the subject of my question.
Have there been any changes in the management staff of your department's research office responsible for francophone immigration outside Quebec?
Liberal
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
I believe I understand the question. We opened a new office last month. It's important that we continue to hire more employees in that area, to increase the number of francophone newcomers. It's essential to promote the French language and culture.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
So there is a new director in IRCC's research office for francophone immigration outside Quebec? That's my question.
Liberal
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
No, I don't believe there is, but I will look to my departmental officials.
Christiane Fox Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
We have reallocated resources within our team to enhance our francophone immigration efforts, as it's a priority for the department.
We therefore opened an office in Dieppe, and it remains to be seen how that will translate into the research team's and the application processing team's work. However, we do have staff actively working to maximize francophone immigration outside Quebec.
Bloc
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Of all those who work at the research office, there is not a single unilingual anglophone?
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
I would have to look at the full list of employees, but the team I work with on francophone immigration all speak French very well.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
All right. Thank you very much. We will double check that, because that's not the information I have.
Mr. Minister, we've heard that the McKinsey firm has been awarded contracts from your department in recent years. How many millions of dollars in contracts did it receive, and what was the nature of those contracts?
Liberal
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
I'll defer to our officials on the number of contracts and the value of any contracts.
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
Yes, we do have the information.
We'll get that for you.
Before we do, I'd like to point out that one of the contracts that McKinsey was awarded in the past was to deliver a training program for our black employees wanting to move into a leadership position within the department.
With respect to the total number of contracts, I'll turn to Mr. St‑Pierre.
Hughes St-Pierre Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Deputy Minister, Finance, Security and Administration, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
The department awarded two contracts to McKinsey, the first in August 2018 and the second in 2019, both after competitive bidding. The last contract was executed in 2019 and there have been no further contracts since.
Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Deputy Minister, Finance, Security and Administration, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
It was to advise us on how to transform the department.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Has the McKinsey firm ever advised the department on Canada's immigration thresholds?
Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Deputy Minister, Finance, Security and Administration, Department of Citizenship and Immigration
To my knowledge, no.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Minister, are you familiar with the Century Initiative? McKinsey is behind it. It aims to have Canada reach a population of 100 million by 2100.
Liberal
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
I'm familiar with the Century Initiative. I don't know of any connection to McKinsey.
Bloc
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Okay, I'll tell you about it. It's fantastic. We're told that McKinsey is behind this multi-party initiative, yet the firm continues to receive contracts from your department and the Canadian government. I respectfully submit to you that there may be something to look at there.
On another matter, last week or two weeks ago, I asked the same question several times to representatives of your department, the Canada Border Services Agency and the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, and no one could answer me.
Could you tell me what the asylum process was for people arriving from the United States before the Safe Third Country Agreement came into effect?