Citizenship and Immigration Committee on Feb. 12th, 2024

[The Clerk]

Ms. Kwan, I think you mentioned—it was at the end of the meeting, so let me know if not—changing “representatives” to “minister and officials” in both places in the motion.

The new text, including the amendment, would be as follows:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study of pension transferability and access to Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) for Hong Kongers now residing in Canada; that the committee allocate one meeting to pursue this study; that the committee invite the minister and officials of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, ministers and officials of Global Affairs Canada, and Finance Canada, representatives of Manulife Financial, SunLife Canada, and financial institutions, immigrants from Hong Kong who have tried to move their funds from the MPF, as well as any other witnesses the committee deems relevant; and that the committee report its observations and recommendations to the House.

Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe, do you want me to read it in French?

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

No, it's fine, thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Mr. Ali has his hand up, so we'll go to Mr. Ali.

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

I'm wondering if it would be possible to circulate this motion with the amendment and subamendment, as just read by the clerk. That would be helpful for me to take my position before for the vote.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

We will do that.

I will suspend the meeting for a few minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

I have the go-ahead from the clerk.

Members got the amendment as subamended. Is there any discussion on that?

Mr. El-Khoury, please go ahead.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I have no problem supporting the amendment. However, I would like to subamend the amendment by adding the following: “and that pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests a comprehensive government response to the report.”

That's it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Madam Kwan, is it okay with you?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Yes, of course. I'd love to get a government response.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Go ahead, Mr. Kmiec.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I haven't raised my hand.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Okay. We have the go-ahead.

Now we are back to the subamendment.

Is there any more discussion before we go to the vote?

Go ahead, Madam Zahid.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Are we voting on the subamendment proposed by Mr. El-Khoury?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

That's right.

First we'll have a debate, and when there are no more hands up, I will call the vote.

If there's unanimous consensus, we can call it by unanimous consent.

(Subamendment agreed to)

We are back to the amendment as subamended. All in favour?

(Amendment as amended agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

Now we are back to the motion as amended. All in favour?

(Motion as amended agreed to [See Minutes of Proceedings])

Go ahead, Madam Kwan.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

We're on a roll so let's try this one on for size. I move:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee invite the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and department officials to appear before the committee for two hours to update the committee on the temporary immigration measures initiated in response to the ongoing conflicts in Sudan and Gaza.

With what's going on in Gaza, I think this meeting is absolutely urgent so we can hear from the minister on the special immigration measures. We know there are a lot of issues and problems with the measures. I won't go into all the details here, but suffice it to say that people who have applied have not heard back. They can't get their code in. They are rejected and they don't really know why; it's not made clear to them. Even for those who have gotten the code, we know that no one has actually made it out of Gaza.

This is of utmost importance, as the situation continues to escalate and lives are literally being lost minute by minute as we speak.

The other one, of course, is the Sudan special immigration measure that was announced just before Christmas—quietly, I would say—by the government. There wasn't a whole lot of attention on this, but the issue there is not any less urgent. To my understanding, that quota is filled, so I think it is really important that we get the ministers and officials to speak to our committee about these matters.

After that, Mr. Chair, I will have another motion, but I will wait for this to be completed first.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

I have a speaking list.

It's Madam Zahid and then Mr. Ali.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Kwan for this important motion. It's very important that we hear from the minister on those temporary immigration measures.

So many people are caught in the war conflict, and I've been hearing stories from many of my constituents in my office. They are fearful for their loved ones, who are trapped in the war. There is a humanitarian crisis there with no humanitarian aid getting into the region.

I want to thank the minister for bringing forward these special measures, but there is a lot of confusion. I think the committee definitely needs to hear from the minister on how this process is going.

As Ms. Kwan said, some people have received the code; some people have not received the code. They have no clear indication of when and how they will be able to get their loved ones out of the war zone, and with added firing in the Rafah region, we really need to look into this ASAP.

I would like to propose an amendment to this motion. After the words “to appear before the committee”, let's add “as soon as possible” because it is very time-sensitive. We need to hear from the minister. I would also like to add, after “hours”, “and have officials appear for an additional hour following the minister's appearance”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you, Madam Zahid.

We have an amendment on the floor, so now we will be talking about the amendment, if we have consensus in the committee. Do we have consensus?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Madam Kwan, if you want to speak about the amendment, it's over to you and then to Mr. Redekopp.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Yes, I will speak to the amendment, which would add the words “as soon as possible” and add that “officials appear for an additional hour, following the minister's appearance, to update the committee”.

I support the amendment proposed by MP Zahid. There's an issue I want to be clear about. With this amendment, the minister will appear for two hours with officials, and then in addition to that the officials will stay for one extra hour. That's what it means.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Madam Zahid, go ahead.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Yes, that's what I'm proposing. Let's have a total of three hours for the meeting, because it's an important issue. We need to hear about different issues, because we are hearing a lot of stories from our constituents. We need to go deeper into this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you.

Mr. Redekopp, go ahead.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

My brilliant question was asked by Madam Kwan and answered, so I'm good.