Citizenship and Immigration Committee on June 5th, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.

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

Madam Chair, let's be efficient this evening. We all know how we are going to vote. Everyone is familiar with the wording of the motions, the amendments and the subamendments. We've done our work and we are intelligent enough to be able to vote quickly without further debate. We don't even need to suspend the meeting for two minutes to discuss anything. All we have to do is vote. I think that we are intelligent and efficient enough to do that.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like us to start working on it right now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Should we go for a vote?

Is it the will of the committee to suspend?

[Some hon. members]

No.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Seeing no further debate, we will go for a vote. We are voting on the amendment proposed by Mr. Kmiec.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Madam Chair, you're going to a recorded vote. Could you just do it by a show of hands? It will go a lot faster.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I have asked already for the clerk to take the vote, so he'll take the vote.

(Amendment negatived: nays 6; yeas 5)

We have the motion as amended on the floor.

Ms. Kwan.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I'm hoping we're ready to vote on my motion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Seeing no further debate, we will vote on the motion proposed by Ms. Kwan as amended.

(Motion as amended agreed to: yeas 11; nays 0)

Go ahead, Ms. Kwan.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I'd now like to move this motion.

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the Committee undertake a study into the targeted exploitation scheme faced by 700 Punjabi international students in which they were unknowingly defrauded by a “ghost” immigration consultant who used inauthentic admission letters for their student visa application; that this study be comprised of two meetings; and that the study consider:

a) how this situation was allowed to happen;

b) why fraudulent documents were not detected until years later when the students began to apply for permanent status;

c) the significant harm experienced by students including financial loss and distress;

d) measures necessary to help the students to have their deportation stayed, inadmissibility on the basis of misrepresentation waived, and provide a pathway to permanent status; and

e) that the committee also examine how to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future.

Madam Chair, I'll be very quick about the intention of this motion. I think it's self-explanatory. I think we need to do all of these elements.

The big difference I want to highlight, though, between this motion and the one the Conservatives moved earlier, which they say is similar, is that it's substantively different. In their motion, they only call for the deportation to be stayed until witnesses present to this committee. That is not good enough. We need the deportation stayed in a substantive way so that the inadmissibility on the basis of misrepresentation can be waived and a permanent pathway option is available to them.

The other piece that is also significantly different is that the Conservative motion does not talk about waiving inadmissibility. If you don't waive inadmissibility, these students have, on their records, a five-year ban, and that is very significant for their futures. They would not be able to access any immigration pathway, even if it were a study permit, a work permit or anything like that. That is an essential component, in my view, to this.

Finally, to the last point—a permanent pathway—this is what the students want, and we need to make sure we address that as well.

There's a substantive difference, and that's why I supported the adjournment of those motions. I would not support the motion in any event, and I would support this one, which is much more holistic in addressing the issues for the students.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We have a motion on the floor moved by Ms. Kwan.

I have a speaking list with Mr. Kmiec and then Mr. Dhaliwal.

Mr. Kmiec.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'm in agreement with this motion. I have another motion after this, though, so I just want to give you notice. It is on notice already.

I thought that, first, we could do a study, and then we could come up with solutions to problems and not the other way around, typically. There was always the option of accepting....

We had four votes before we finally came to international students, which my colleague Mr. Redekopp tried to do at this committee. At any one of those times, Ms. Kwan could have come to us with the wording she wanted to add to our motion. I thought ours was better, but we're always open to making it even better and to having a different wording.

I support this motion, and I will be voting for it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

Go ahead, Mr. Dhaliwal.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Madam Chair, I'm not here to debate whose motion is better.

I want to thank each and every member of this committee for finally supporting the students who are facing this difficulty. I don't think anyone is not in favour of the five-year ban, based on that letter, being taken away and the deportations being stayed, whether they are stayed until whenever.... Even if they were to do their studies and stay afterwards, I think everybody probably meant the same thing. There was no problem on this side of Bill S-245. We were always saying to our Conservative and NDP friends that, of course, once we finish this, we will deal with that issue. I'm glad each and every party is supporting dealing with this, and that the motion proposed by Madam Kwan and amended by me is going through.

Let's get on and see. Even if students come to you, as an individual.... Let's pursue those cases with the ministers of IRCC and public safety to make sure they feel that the support is there and that we're standing with them shoulder to shoulder. We should not play politics with this issue or make this issue a political football, when those students, at the end, keep suffering.

That's where I want to leave it, Madam Chair. It's not only the Liberal members on this committee. I can tell you, Madam Chair, that many other members have approached me. They are talking outside this group. We have already met with the IRCC minister's department, as well as CBSA, to make sure we are prudent on this issue and support it as much as we can.

On behalf of the Liberal caucus, I want to show my support for these wonderful students.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Next, I have Mr. Redekopp and then Mr. Ali.

Go ahead, Mr. Redekopp.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

You know, as I said last weekend and this week too, I've spoken with the students, and they were very frustrated that no actions were happening at this committee. I think they'll be very pleased to see things happening now. We have to remember, though, that Lovepreet Singh is a person who is still scheduled to be deported very soon. This does not solve that problem. There are still issues that are very urgent, which the government needs to address here.

At the beginning of the meeting, I said I was going to take a different approach. Instead of moving my motion and having it get voted down again, I was going to try something different. I think that's what has happened here tonight. It doesn't matter to me whether it's my motion that gets approved or what we do. I just want to see some action happen, and I see action happening here tonight. I think the students—who are probably watching this right now—will be very excited to see that. I'm excited to do that.

I will support this motion if it means we can move forward with this.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

Go ahead, Mr. Ali.

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to thank all my colleagues for voting on this motion.

The international students are in a devastating situation. I've seen it in Brampton. Many of my constituents approached me. Our team of Brampton MPs have also had, numerous times, discussions on this issue. I think we need to have empathy for those students. We should not exploit the situation and play politics with those innocent students and their issue. This motion could have been passed way earlier in this committee if we hadn't wasted so much time on certain amendments on Bill S-245.

I want to thank all the members. At the same time, I'd like to request of my colleagues.... Those international students have gone through a lot and they're going through a lot. Let's not play politics with that. They know this side of the aisle's record on immigration and international students. It's amazing, so they know the genuineness.

My request to all of my colleagues is this: Let's not exploit the situation. Let's not politicize the situation. Let's move on to the motion moved by my colleague Ms. Kwan and deal with this issue as soon as possible.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Next I have Ms. Kwan.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I have just a very quick comment.

In terms of the students who are faced with this situation, many of them have actually reached out to me. I've spoken to many of them, and I'm working with them to collect their information to get their consent. I had already been in conversation with the minister about the situation to get their files right in front of the minister and to have, hopefully, a positive outcome for them.

In the case of Mr. Lovepreet Singh, he is, indeed, faced with deportation imminently, so that's an urgent file. In fact, I was on an email with him just now with respect to that.

Absolutely, we need to do that.

The work in this committee.... As I explained to the students, as well, as anxious as they were, this committee has no authority to waive or stay deportations. Only the Minister of Public Safety can do that—or the Federal Court. However, what we can do, of course, is to look into the situation and explore different options as recommendations to the government to see how we can prevent this from happening again.

Most urgently for the students who are faced with this situation right now, we need to actually take a different path. In my view, the best path for moving forward is to bring their cases forward individually to the minister's attention and have them addressed. That's exactly what I'm doing with my staff team.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Mr. Brunelle‑Duceppe, you have the floor.

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

Thank you, Madam Chair.

The Conservatives and the Liberals said that they would be voting in favour of the motion. Given that the NDP moved it, I would imagine that the New Democrats will also vote for it. The Bloc Québécois will also vote in favour of the motion.

Can we move on to the vote, Madam Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Mr. Dhaliwal, do you want to speak? Your hand is raised.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I think Madam Kwan has already clearly said it. For a number of years—the 13 or 14 years I've been an MP—it's like A, B, C. I'm not going to name anyone because every client has a right to confidentiality, so we can't legally give names on this. In fact, we should not even be discussing this: this year, their names, the emails we are getting from them. In fact, all that information is very confidential.

Previously, Madam Chair, there were a lot of cases that came to our office and we took an approach to stay their deportation. That's what Madam Kwan meant. Basically, exactly, I was going to say to other members on this committee and the students as well. They should go to their respective members right away so that they can take their authorization to talk to the CBSA. Once they get in touch with the CBSA and get all the information, then they can get in touch with the Minister of Public Safety and explain why they're not in danger of running away. I'm sure that, under these circumstances, the minister will look at this very favourably and this will get done.

Basically, individual cases should not sit at home and wait for anything. The people who are already facing deportation should go to the respective members for the ridings they live in and tell those members to pursue the stopping of their deportation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you, Mr. Dhaliwal.

Ms. Kayabaga.