I suspected as much because there are some Desloges in my family, and they're French.
I have to admit that anything related to immigration or to legislation that governs it is not really my area of expertise.
When we began studying the issue of violence and discrimination toward sexual minorities, the committee received, among others, one particular witness. He told us about the difficulties people in his situation face, and about how they are threatened in their country of origin. I find the current system to be very complex, very bureaucratic.
I think that we are in a way closing the door to a large number of people from African countries who are applying for refugee status in Canada. Owing to the reduced number of public servants abroad and the closing of embassies—other embassies will close soon—people who are seeking help now have fewer opportunities to apply for refugee status.
According to what I've heard, embassy employees are poorly informed or understand little of the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Often, fearful of making a mistake, they may reject an application in order to avoid being reprimanded. This is an issue.
Just off the top of your head, could you tell me whether the Americans have enacted less restrictive legislative measures in order to make it easier for these applicants to enter the country?