Evidence of meeting #29 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was quebec.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Campaigner, French Speaking Section, Amnesty International Canada
Our position is that governments absolutely have every discretion to develop their own policies and programs around immigration and immigrant selection as long as those policies and programs respect and are aligned with our international obligations.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Have you applied for, or are you planning to apply for, funding from the court challenges program to make legal arguments to the effect that you've just set out?
Campaigner, French Speaking Section, Amnesty International Canada
As Amnesty International, we don't have plans to do that, no.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
You don't have plans to do that. Okay.
I've heard more and more arguments to this effect, and support for immigration in Canada has plummeted. What I'm hearing from you is that there should be a watering down of the criteria by which some of these programs are maintained, and that this would decrease support for immigration in Canada.
Campaigner, French Speaking Section, Amnesty International Canada
I'm not sure what you mean by “watering down”. We're suggesting that if.... Canada has certainly always tied its immigration policy to the economy, and it has the right to do that, but let's have an immigration system that speaks to all the different needs. If there are needs in low-skilled positions, then why aren't those people eligible to immigrate?
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Ms. Kang, you laid out a lot of arguments against the government's Bill C-12. I'm wondering if you are hearing that there are going to be legal challenges, or are there legal challenges to that effect under way right now?
Partner, Battista Migration Law Group
I'm not entirely sure if there are challenges under way at this moment. I personally would not be surprised if there were. My indication is probably yes.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Ms. Berry Méndez, I believe your organization was actively fundraising for potential legal challenges before the passage of the bill. Is that correct?
Campaigner, French Speaking Section, Amnesty International Canada
For the francophone section, certainly not—
Conservative
Campaigner, French Speaking Section, Amnesty International Canada
I don't believe so.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
I think it's on your website. There's a fundraising letter.
Campaigner, French Speaking Section, Amnesty International Canada
I don't believe so, but if the English-speaking organization is, I'm not sure.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Okay.
Ms. Kang, based on committee testimony and whatnot, I think it would be safe to say that there will be legal challenges at some point on provisions in Bill C-12.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Okay.
I just ask, in specific.... We have this bill that was designed to prevent, in theory, essentially fraudulent asylum claims and prevent the asylum system from being abused. What I'm hearing is that there are likely going to be significant legal challenges.
Do you think with this bill that if we're sitting here five years from now the measures will have been successful, or is it likely we're going to see a judicial ruling that will invalidate all this stuff and we'll be back to the drawing board?
Partner, Battista Migration Law Group
I think it depends on what you see as its being successful. If the goal is to completely decrease immigration, I'm sure that's exactly what the bill will do. Whether or not it is effective in reducing fraud, I don't think it will be.
Partner, Battista Migration Law Group
It's capturing much more than just fraud. I think there is a misconception, especially about the asylum system, that there are a great many fraudulent claims running rampant, when as a practitioner who deals with this day in and day out, that's quite the opposite of what I see and what my colleagues see when I speak with them. I think fraud gets lumped in and gets blown out of proportion. It certainly exists.
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Julie Dzerowicz
Thank you, Ms. Rempel Garner.
Thank you, Ms. Kang.
Next, we have five minutes for Mr. Zuberi.
Liberal
Sameer Zuberi Liberal Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for being here.
I'll start my questions with you, Ms. Tchatat. I will then turn to you, Ms. Berry Méndez.
Ms. Tchatat, you do very important work to integrate newcomers here in Canada and Quebec. In your opening remarks, you talked about the challenges of integration.
Can you tell us a bit more about the tailored services you provide that respect the culture of newcomers and support their integration into Canadian society?
Founder and Executive Director, La Passerelle - Intégration et Développement Économique
Thank you very much for the question. I think it's really important.
We have observed in particular that francophone immigrants who arrive in Ontario and settle in Toronto face a number of challenges.
To begin with, there is culture shock related to understanding Canadian culture. In response, we developed a program focused on cultural competency that helps newcomers understand the added value of Canadian culture. This training is bilateral. Not only do we train these individuals to facilitate their integration process, but we also train host communities so that they can better understand the culture and values that these immigrants bring to our society. This is what we refer to as cultural competency training.
We also created an entrepreneurship development program, because we know very well that francophone immigrants, particularly those from Black and racialized communities, have difficulty in accessing employment. These individuals often arrive with skills, training and ideas. Entrepreneurship therefore becomes an option to support their economic development. We have also designed awareness training to help employers understand the added value of hiring immigrants in terms of business growth and international perspectives.
Finally, in 2023, we launched a platform called “Resolutions: Overcoming racism together”. We invite stakeholders, organizations and politicians to take part in discussions on the key issues related to eradicating the racism experienced by Black and racialized communities. This racism continues to hinder their integration into the labour market.
Programs must be adapted and tailored, because the programs currently in place do not adequately support the integration of immigrants. Francophone Black immigrants face 10 times more difficulty in integrating into society than other immigrants, so we have to adopt tailored solutions.
Liberal
Sameer Zuberi Liberal Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC
Absolutely.
I imagine that most of the burden of this integration falls on the shoulders of newcomers.
Is that your experience?
Founder and Executive Director, La Passerelle - Intégration et Développement Économique
Yes, absolutely.
By failing to integrate these immigrants as quickly as possible, Canada is losing the opportunity to benefit from what they have to offer. These immigrants end up depending on the system, and they suffer a complete loss of their value. Francophone Black and racialized immigrants arrive with degrees. How is it that Canada is unable to integrate these immigrants?
Moreover, the funding provided to organizations is often short-term and insufficient. Adequate funding is needed to enable these organizations working on the ground to effectively integrate these immigrants.