Evidence of meeting #59 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 letter.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you.
We will now proceed to Mr. Simard.
Mr. Simard, you will have two and a half minutes. Please begin.
5:10 p.m.
Bloc
Mario Simard Bloc Jonquière, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Senator, earlier you said that you are pragmatic and you were trying to get results. That prompts me to ask you the following question, and feel free to answer it.
Do you feel that the government was dragging its feet on the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan?
5:15 p.m.
Senator, Manitoba, not affiliated
Overall, I think governments of democracies failed a great deal of the time in trying to respond to this crisis. I think leaders in civil society picked up a lot that governments dropped and were not able to do at all or perhaps do well.
My short answer is that I wouldn't necessarily use the term “laggard”, but I would say, “unable in many cases to respond adequately to the crisis”. Again, I refer to the excellent report from the Special Committee on Afghanistan. Many of these issues are very well identified—and the changes that are needed.
5:15 p.m.
Bloc
Mario Simard Bloc Jonquière, QC
Thank you.
I don't want to put words in your mouth or heap criticism on the government, but let's just say you were more effective than the government.
If I'm in government and I'm aware of what you're doing—earlier, you talked about trusted groups with whom you had relationships—it seems to me that the first thing I would think to do would be to reach out to you and connect with these trusted groups. That's the first thing I would do because I'd want to be kept in the loop and want to know the process and how these things work. I can't believe that no one in the government reached out to you to find out who these trusted groups were.
Has anyone reached out to you?
5:15 p.m.
Senator, Manitoba, not affiliated
Yes. There were numerous conversations and numerous communications, and in particular with Olga Radchenko, the director of policy at IRCC, and in particular around mid-September, when many of the women, some of whom are still languishing in Albania, had been airlifted by FIFA, and the facilitation letters were part of what made it possible for that airlift to happen of those hundreds of women athletes. The understanding was not that they had visas—
5:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
I'm sorry for interrupting, Senator. The time is up for Mr. Simard.
We will now proceed to Ms. Kwan.
Ms. Kwan, you will have two and a half minutes. Please begin.
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Thank you.
Senator, you mentioned earlier in your testimony that former minister Maryam Monsef's staff and another colleague were aware of these facilitation letters. Can you advise us who this other colleague is?
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Got it. Okay. Thank you. I thought so, but I wanted to be sure.
Now, given the current situation, there are many Afghans who have been left behind, including the ones you've been trying to assist. There are those who need a humanitarian stream, and then there are those who served Canada. In fact, people who served Canada through the military, through NATO and through various other activities to help Canada complete its mission did not even get their applications processed.
The government came in with a limit of 40,000, an arbitrary number that came from I don't know where. Do you think the government should be lifting that arbitrary limit of 40,000?
5:15 p.m.
Senator, Manitoba, not affiliated
Absolutely. This is essentially a promise. The minister's mandate letter says “at least 40,000”. It does not say, “Stop at 40,000.”
You've made some very powerful points on this, and I agree with you completely.
5:15 p.m.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Okay.
Some of these applications came into the system in an email in which the government told people to indicate their intention to try to get to safety through...back in August, in the summer. By the way, I'm still getting emails and family members contacting me who have not even gotten an acknowledgement or a response from the government. What do you think the government should be doing about bringing individuals to safety, particularly those who are in crisis and being persecuted by the Taliban, those who served Canada and their family members?
5:20 p.m.
Senator, Manitoba, not affiliated
First of all, I think the recommendations made by the Special Committee on Afghanistan identify a number of the actual practical steps that need to be implemented, but in addition to that, I have to say that when Mursal Nabizada was murdered on January 15, I actually thought that we were going to see an acceleration. I thought we were going to see at least women parliamentarians trapped in Afghanistan made a priority, and that has not happened. I and others have been working—for example, with the Inter-Parliamentary Union—with specific lists of women parliamentarians. It hasn't happened.
5:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
I'm sorry for interrupting, but time is up for Ms. Kwan.
We will now proceed to Ms. Rempel Garner for five minutes.
Ms. Rempel Garner, you can please begin.
5:20 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
The template letter my constituent received from your office—
5:20 p.m.
Senator, Manitoba, not affiliated
It was from me, actually. I wrote it myself. I mean that I wrote the email.
5:20 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Thank you.
The letter states that the Canadian government validates that the names identified below have been “granted a VISA to enter Canada”.
I've been on this committee for seven years. At the time, I was the vice-chair and I was the critic. This fooled me into thinking that they could get into Canada.
Are you now claiming that you never thought this would actually grant them entry into Canada?
5:20 p.m.
Senator, Manitoba, not affiliated
I'm not responsible for the wording that Global Affairs put into that letter.
Let me be very clear. I am not responsible for the content of that. The letter—
5:20 p.m.
Senator, Manitoba, not affiliated
Let me finish, please.
The letter was provided to facilitate—
5:20 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
In the original facilitation letter, my understanding from Global Affairs Canada is that those were only issued to Canadian citizens. Why would it say that they need a visa to enter Canada if they're Canadian citizens.
Was it altered? Was the word “visa” altered in the second template?
5:20 p.m.
Senator, Manitoba, not affiliated
The only change, as I stated previously, was to remove “Canadian citizens”.
5:20 p.m.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Thank you.
In previous testimony today, you stated that you did not know all of the names that were being entered on those forms. Is that correct?