Citizenship and Immigration Committee on March 29th, 2023

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Are you advocating for those Afghans to Minister Fraser and saying that these people should be our priority, so let's help get them out and let's give them advice on how to get to a safe haven so they can be brought here as refugees?

I know that our offices, including my own.... One of my staff said her cell number has gone all through Afghanistan. We're getting calls all the time. We don't have the resources to vet, and we rely heavily on the list that has come from the Department of National Defence. Will you make sure those people are the target audience we're trying to rescue, rather than going after the ones who have already reached a safe refuge?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

We are all in agreement that we need to continue to support vulnerable Afghans in getting to Canada as safely and as quickly as possible. As a government, we are continuing to explore additional avenues to bring more Afghans to safety as quickly and as safely as possible.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

General Prévost said in the last round that over 1,850 people, who were vetted by National Defence, have been provided to IRCC.

Do you know if IRCC is going to provide an invitation for them to come to Canada, including those who were at Graceland?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Let me ask General Prévost if he would like to add anything here.

[MGen Paul Prévost]

Thank you, Minister.

To answer the member, these 1,840 files, which were provided to IRCC, are the files for which IRCC has extended an offer for application. As more space becomes available, we continue to push files that we have vetted within the department, and IRCC continues to look at how we can bring more vulnerable Afghans. The language and cultural adviser file—

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Do you feel confident that the department, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, will extend the invitation to those vulnerable Afghans who are coming through the special immigration measures program?

[MGen Paul Prévost]

I am very confident. As I mentioned before, this morning we pushed another 160 files we had vetted for IRCC. It is in turn pushing—

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Minister Anand, has Minister Fraser given you assurances that those invitations will be issued?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

We're working as a government here. It is our government's policy—

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

I don't like the obfuscation here.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

—to support vulnerable Afghans in getting to Canada as safely as possible. It is a priority for us. We're working very hard to get to the targets that we have set.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

We will now end this panel with Mrs. Lalonde for five minutes.

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

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I have the privilege of actually having the last five minutes, so I will take them to say thank you, Minister, for being here. However, I would also like to recognize and thank the men and women who served during the Afghanistan war.

I also want to recognize all the hard work that was presented to everyone who was involved during the extraction, and I certainly want to say thank you for the work you do every single day to protect our great nation. I want to make sure of that.

I know, Minister, I'm speaking a bit on the right side from my view here, but thank you for everything you are all doing.

We went through many questions. Maybe, Minister, you could share with us the next phase, where we're at and maybe explain to this committee, as we move forward, more about the importance of those recommendations and why we're having this conversation today, but also what's next. What I hear is a great desire to continue to contribute.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Thank you for your question. It is very important that it be answered.

First, I'd like to say that there have been lessons learned for everyone. I want to know how your committee feels about the recommendations.

On recommendation 1, of course, we always want to learn from the past and apply greater knowledge to future crises, recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to every crisis. The Canadian Armed Forces conduct lessons learned exercises after every operation, whether it's Ukraine, Haiti, Afghanistan, etc., and there is no exception here. With the work your committee is doing, it's extremely important for us to also take that into account. I will be encouraging my department and the Canadian Armed Forces to make sure that we are hearing the words in your report.

On recommendation 2, whole of government co-operation is what we do. We are always working together across departments, whether it is hurricane Fiona here in Canada, or whether it is an international operation, including Operation Aegis.

Finally, as I've said a number of times, on bringing Afghans to safety, recommendation 18, we will continue to work and support IRCC in reaching the 40,000 number. This work is difficult. It's ongoing but, again, I look forward to the words of your committee.

It's important for us to listen so we know what we can do now and what we can do in the future.

[Gen Wayne D. Eyre]

Thank you, Minister and Madam Chair.

Maybe I'll just add some context in conclusion.

I think the fall of Afghanistan, indeed our own involvement in Afghanistan and then the subsequent fall seven years after we left, just shows how dangerous the world is becoming. Between what we see the Taliban doing and what we see the Russians doing in Ukraine, we can see that civilization is just a thin veneer that is very easily ripped off.

Your Canadian Armed Forces have been involved around the world in many places, and the world is only getting much more dangerous. We have to be ready, and we have to learn and pull from the lessons, because we'll be using them in the future.

Your Canadian Armed Forces needs to be ready. As our elected parliamentarians, I would ask all of you to go to your constituents and convince them to join our ranks, because this is a great institution. It's filled with great people. They're here to serve you and the people of Canada.

[A voice]

Hear, hear!

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

I really want to give you the floor. I think it's important that we hear from you.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

I might just add, Madam Chair, that when we talk about intergovernmental co-operation, we should remember that military capabilities are only one tool in the overall tool box. We need to continue to build on the experience with our governmental counterparts in different departments, which is exactly what we're doing.

In terms of Canadian Armed Forces lessons learned, these include non-combatant evacuation operations. In March 2023, the Canadian Armed Forces is participating in an exercise called Noah's ark, in Israel, to practice interoperability among allies and partners for the conduct of a NEO in this region.

I'll just say that speaks to the fact that the lessons learned continue for the Canadian Armed Forces. Having said that, as I said, the lessons learned from this committee are also very important.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

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

On behalf of all the members of this committee, I really want to thank you, Minister, for appearing before the committee. Thank you for all the work that you do on behalf of Canadians.

With that, the meeting is adjourned.