Madam Chair, thank you for inviting me.
I spend my time analyzing immigration policies and laws, so I am very pleased to be here. I am impressed by the quality of the work done by the members of the three parties who are here. The very fact that you are studying the issue of the interprovincial distribution of asylum seekers is a positive sign.
The division of responsibilities has always been a complicated issue. I began working on this issue 33 years ago. I was part of a team of researchers funded by major American foundations. Here is the lesson I learned from that experience, which may be relevant to you: proposals from the academic sector focus on the demands of human rights advocates; they do not take into account political constraints or the limitations of government action. You are in the best position to determine what is realistic—or even necessary—because you know the voters in your ridings.
I continued to work on burden sharing when I was asked by the UNHCR to be a member of the independent commission on the Kosovo refugee crisis in 1999. The lesson I learned was that governments were ready to share the responsibilities, but human rights advocates would not accept involuntary transfers. They insisted on consent, and that led to even bigger problems.
Albanians from Kosovo started choosing the country they preferred in terms of socio-economic conditions, despite the ongoing crisis. They could have gone to neighbouring Albania, where NATO-built camps were waiting, empty, but they actually wanted to go to rich countries like Germany. The 5,000 who came here did so as their second or third choice. There were flights organized by the Canadian government that people simply did not show up for because they had better options.
The CBC/Radio-Canada correspondent on the ground didn’t understand that a bigger regional crisis was averted, thanks in part to neighbouring Greece, which accepted involuntary transfers when the chaotic frontline reception at the Kosovo border was destabilizing the whole region.
Regarding this concept of consent, two months ago, the committee asked the Director General of Asylum Policy at the department a simple question. He replied that the Canadian Charter guarantees that asylum seekers “have the right to live wherever they wish.” However, it's clear that he is mistaken. Read section 6 of the charter, which is unambiguous. The right to move or take up residence in any province is guaranteed only to citizens and permanent residents. As temporary residents, asylum seekers do not have this right.
It's astounding that this kind of misconception is circulating within the department. If you believe consent is required, in my view, there is no point in undertaking this study. Asylum seekers will simply head to major urban centres.
The next question to address is whether to proceed with transfers using a generalized system that applies to all asylum seekers, as in Germany. The alternative would be to have a system that applies only in emergency situations, such as the sea crossings currently affecting Greece or Italy, or the crossings at Roxham Road, which have disproportionately affected Quebec.
The next step would be to determine the distribution formula. For example, Italy has adopted a quota for municipalities with more than 1,000 residents.
Germany calculates according to tax revenues and population size for each of its federal states. I was in Germany 10 days ago. When a migrant claims asylum, a software algorithm automatically assigns a reception centre in a specific land. Berlin, for example, is supposed to get 5% of all asylum seekers this year.
To summarize, Canada could address the issue of provincial distribution of asylum seekers in a more equitable way if, firstly, responsibility sharing becomes mandatory; secondly, the distribution is part of the standard response—in other words, it applies to all asylum seekers—and thirdly, we establish a distribution formula that takes into account the socio-economic situation of the partners in the federation.
If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them during the question period.
Thank you, Madam Chair.