Evidence of meeting #8 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 subamendment.
A recording is available from Parliament.
1:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Mrs. Lalonde, are you moving a subamendment to the amendment proposed by Ms. Kwan?
1:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Okay.
We now have a subamendment on the floor, as proposed by Mrs. Lalonde.
Can you please repeat the subamendment?
1:05 p.m.
Liberal
Marie-France Lalonde Liberal Orléans, ON
Of course.
I propose that the amendment be changed to read as follows: “increase staffing resources so that the existing backlog for all immigration streams is not further impacted by this humanitarian crisis.”
1:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you, Mrs. Lalonde.
The subamendment proposed by Mrs. Lalonde is deleting the words “and adjust immigration levels as required while respecting Quebec authority on immigration”.
Mr. Dhaliwal, go ahead.
1:05 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Surrey—Newton, BC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I want to thank Mrs. Lalonde, because that's very thoughtful. If we look at the numbers, we have the highest number of immigrants coming in this year, last year, and the year before. Basically, that has already been taken care of, and I fully support the thoughtful amendment proposed by Mrs. Lalonde.
I would personally suggest that Ms. Kwan also accept this, and then we can move to the vote on that. Let's get this over with.
Thank you.
1:05 p.m.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
From my perspective, I actually think it is absolutely essential that numbers for immigration levels also be considered in this humanitarian crisis. If in fact the government moves to including refugee opportunities for Ukrainians, then we need to actually adjust the numbers for the levels. Otherwise, all that does is put pressure on other countries that need those levels numbers, because there's no magic here. This is a zero-sum game. For these numbers, if you take from one place, the others will fall short.
We saw that in fact, through an ATIP, with respect to the government's approach on incorporating the Afghanistan humanitarian crisis and the TR to PR initiative. The government announced those immigration measures without bringing in additional staffing resources and immigration levels numbers, which meant that numbers for the express entry system for the skilled foreign workers category were going to be paused for some years as a result.
Those are the kinds of repercussions we have when we make announcements without taking into consideration the entire picture. I think it is quite critical that immigration levels numbers be considered and adjusted if necessary. I am taking into consideration Quebec and recognizing Quebec's authority, which is why my amendment incorporated that aspect as well.
With respect to Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe's concern—that if population numbers increased in other provinces, they would drop in Quebec—if their overall population in comparison to that of other provinces was decreased, we could think about other initiatives in collaboration with the Quebec government to see how we could adjust that, including, for example, by boosting up the numbers for immigration measures for francophone immigrants. [Technical difficulty—Editor] we can adjust that by way of immigration measures.
That's why I think my amendment has broad enough language that respects Quebec's authority on immigration. That would require the government to talk to the Quebec government to ensure that those concerns are addressed accordingly.
I would urge committee members to reconsider their thoughts on this. Leaving out immigration levels numbers will cause a problem down the road, and that's something that I think we can all agree we don't want to see.
1:10 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Thank you, Ms. Kwan.
Now we will take a vote on the subamendment proposed by Mrs. Lalonde to the amendment proposed by Ms. Kwan.
(Subamendment agreed to: yeas 10; nays 1 [See Minutes of Proceedings])
1:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
The subamendment passes.
Now we have before the committee the amendment proposed by Ms. Kwan, as amended.
Seeing no further debate, could we please take the vote on the amendment proposed by Ms. Kwan, as amended by the subamendment of Ms. Lalonde?
The amendment that was proposed by Ms. Kwan was this: “increase staffing resources and adjust immigration levels as required while respecting Quebec authority on immigration, so that the existing backlog for all immigration streams is not further impacted by this humanitarian crisis.”
Now, after the subamendment proposed by Mrs. Lalonde, which has passed, the amendment as amended will read, “increase staffing resources so that the existing backlog for all immigration streams is not further impacted by this humanitarian crisis.”
Could we have the vote, please?
(Amendment agreed to: yeas 11; nays 0 [See Minutes of Proceedings])
1:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
The amendment passes.
Now we have before the committee the motion proposed by Mr. Hallan, as amended by the amendments proposed by Mr. Genuis and Ms. Kwan.
Seeing no further debate, we can vote on the motion.
Would you like to have the clerk read the motion as amended, or is everyone clear on what we are voting on?
1:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Okay. We'll give this difficult task to the clerk of the committee to see if he can put this together.
1:15 p.m.
The Clerk
Okay.
To the members of the committee, my understanding is that this is what the committee is voting on now. The full motion would be this: “That the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration report the following to the House: We (a) condemn the unwarranted and unprovoked attack on Ukraine, which was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, a clear violation of international law; (b) call on the Government of Canada to support Ukrainians and people residing in Ukraine who are impacted by this conflict and ensure that it is prepared to process applications on an urgent basis without compromising needs in other areas; and (c) call on the Government of Canada to implement visa-free travel from Ukraine to Canada, including by the rapid issuance of an electronic travel authorization, increase staffing resources so that the existing backlog for all immigration streams is not further impacted by this humanitarian crisis.”
Do I have that right?
1:15 p.m.
NDP
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Sorry, should there be an “and” before the last clause, on increasing resources?
1:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Yes, we will add that. That will be adjusted.
We will go for a vote on the motion as amended.
(Motion as amended agreed to: yeas 6; nays 5 [See Minutes of Proceedings])
Thank you. The motion as amended passes.
We will prepare a report and, at the first opportunity, either Wednesday or Thursday, I will present that in the House.
Now, because of the time—we are already beyond one o'clock—we cannot go into drafting instructions today. I just want to bring it to the notice of all the members that we will have to take some time out on Thursday to do the drafting instructions, because we have to do that this week in order to give time to the analyst to start drafting the report on the study we have just completed today.
What would be the will of the members?
Go ahead, Mr. Genuis.
1:20 p.m.
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Madam Chair, I wonder if it's possible to extend the meeting on Thursday to accommodate that. My understanding is that we have the minister and officials, and that's a pretty critical point of discussion. We wouldn't want to cut into that.
1:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
I will have to check that. It will be up to the whips to decide, so I will have to check that and then get back to the committee, if that would be appropriate or okay with everyone. I will come back to the members with that. Let me check, and then I can either send out an email or the clerk will send out an email on behalf of the chair. I will get in touch with all of you to clarify that.
I just want to inform all the members that the minister is available, and the clerk got in touch. He is available to combine the supplementary and the main estimates on Thursday.
Is it all right with all the members that we have both the supplementary and the main estimates on Thursday, and the minister will be here?
Go ahead, Mr. Genuis.
1:20 p.m.
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Madam Chair, if it's one hour, I don't.... If the minister could come for two hours to discuss the supplementary and the main estimates, I think that....
1:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
The minister is coming for an hour, and then the officials will be here for the second hour. We checked on the availability.
The other option would be that, when he comes on the 24th, as we are doing the study on the differential outcomes, we could do one hour on that study and one hour on the main estimates, if that's the will of the committee. Otherwise, we can combine both the supplementary and the main estimates on Thursday, have the minister for an hour, and then the officials for the second hour.
1:20 p.m.
Conservative
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
I'll defer to others who have been here longer, but in the committees I've been part of, it was pretty normal for the ministers to come for at least two hours to make sure that, after they make their opening statements, everybody who is a member of the committee has a chance to at least have some opportunity to ask questions.
I think having supplementaries and mains all in one hour seems pretty constraining in terms of our access to the minister.
1:20 p.m.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
I think I speak for all of the opposition when I say that we would like them separated into two hours.
1:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Salma Zahid
Seeing no further hands raised, we will have the supplementaries on Thursday. The minister will be here for one hour, and the officials for the second hour. On March 24, the minister will be coming for the differential outcomes. We can have him for one hour for the differential outcomes, and then the second hour for the mains.
Before we adjourn the meeting, there is one committee business item we have to deal with. There has been a change to the membership of this committee. I would like to welcome the new members, Mr. Genuis and Mr. Benzen.
As Mr. Seeback is no longer a member of this committee, we need to elect a vice-chair.
Mr. Redekopp, go ahead.
