Public Safety Committee on March 8th, 2012

[Claudette Deschênes]

The department is working on the biometric project.

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

So it is a separate project.

[Claudette Deschênes]

As part of the legislative amendments, we wanted to make sure the bill contained a provision stipulating that clients would have to submit to the collection of their biometric information if asked.

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

So it is only if you ask them. You are not going to ask every single student for their fingerprints.

What exactly does biometric information refer to?

[Claudette Deschênes]

A photo and 10 fingerprints. Initially, they will be collected abroad. We will start with certain countries.

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

What is the actual goal of all that?

[Claudette Deschênes]

We have already conducted several proof of concept tests. The goal is to better identify those entering the country. That is hard to do with just a name and a date of birth.

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

It will be done when people enter the country?

[Claudette Deschênes]

It will be done abroad, which may make the person's entry into Canada easier. We want to make sure that the person coming over on the plane is indeed the person who obtained the document abroad.

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

So when the person comes off the plane, their biometric information will be checked, is that it? I don't understand how that information is going to be used.

[Claudette Deschênes]

We will use it to check criminal records and RCMP data. Furthermore, if someone shows the officer at the entry point a photo that does not look like him or her, the person's fingerprints will be checked.

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Thank you.

I don't have any more questions, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Thank you. You have another minute if you choose.

All right. We'll go back to Monsieur Chicoine.

You have seven minutes.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank our two witnesses for joining us today to share their experience with us.

As you know, the purpose of this study is to assess the possible use of electronic monitoring in certain cases, particularly in the case of immigrants on the verge of being deported.

Do you have any thoughts or knowledge regarding electronic monitoring that could give us some insight? Given your experience, could electronic monitoring prove useful in certain cases?

[Claudette Deschênes]

We are here today representing Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The department does not have an opinion on the matter.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

You can't even tell me whether it may be useful or not at all?

Witnesses told us that the only time electronic monitoring had been used in immigration was when the individuals had a security certificate.

Has electronic monitoring been used for immigration purposes before? If not, are we starting from square one, aside from cases involving security certificates?

[Caroline Melis]

It applies only to security certificates. There are five or six other cases that the Canada Border Services Agency discussed, but there are not many cases that were subject to electronic monitoring.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

You can't tell us what those situations were?

[Caroline Melis]

No.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

I always get asylum claims and refugee claims confused.

What is the difference between the two? Are they the same thing?

[Claudette Deschênes]

We consider them the same.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

They are just two ways to....

[Claudette Deschênes]

But, in certain cases, we do treat individuals abroad as those seeking refugee status in Canada under the refugee class. In Canada, I think both terms are used interchangeably.

[Sylvain Chicoine, NDP, Châteauguay—Saint-Constant, QC]

Both terms mean the same thing. Thank you, I was a bit confused about that.

We know there aren't any exit controls at the border to monitor visitors or refugees when they leave the country. Under the new agreement with the U.S., is it strictly in terms of individuals entering and exiting the U.S. that it would be possible to determine whether a refugee from an African country, say.... Will that solve the problem?

[Claudette Deschênes]

We hope so. We are in the midst of assessing whether entry into the U.S. would give us our exit and whether entry into Canada would give the Americans their exit.