Evidence of meeting #113 for Public Safety and National Security in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was million.
A video is available from Parliament.
Deputy Minister, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
I'll turn to Anne Kelly.
Interim Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
Absolutely. The way it works is that there has to be an expression of interest on the part of the aboriginal community. Actually, there is one right now that we're considering. It would be a healing lodge for women in Manitoba. There are others as well that are currently under consideration, so the answer is yes.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Thank you.
I understand that a question was asked on the issue of prison farms. I must state for the record that I visited the prison farms both in New Brunswick and here in Ontario a few Parliaments ago, and I was struck by how effective those prison farms and animal husbandry were in helping inmates who have difficulty in connecting with other people learn social skills. A myriad of positives came from it. Unfortunately, the previous Conservative government shut those down.
I'm just wondering what plans there are, if any, to reopen prison farms or similar types of programs to provide offenders in the federal system with opportunities to work with animals and provide productive services and goods not only to the prisons but also to the surrounding communities, as they did in the past.
Interim Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
Thank you.
I'll just repeat what the minister said earlier. We're starting with the prison farms at Collins Bay and Joyceville, and then we're going to see how that works. That's going to inform us in terms of the potential for other farms elsewhere.
NDP
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
In Ontario, at the prison farm in Kingston, I believe, they had a livestock herd that was outstanding. I understand that it was sold off, but some of the local farmers actually purchased some of that stock, hoping it could be used in the future for the re-establishment of a prison farm.
Are there any plans to try to get that prize-winning cattle stock back into the corrections system?
Interim Commissioner, Correctional Service of Canada
I'll be short.
Since it was announced in the budget that money would be received to reopen the farms, we are currently working with the prison farm advisory panel on what the model is going to look like, and, yes, they certainly have cared for those cows for many years now.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
Thank you, Mr. Davies, for those verbally economical questions.
Mr. Motz, go ahead.
Conservative
Glen Motz Conservative Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I had it on the French channel. Did you say 10 minutes?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal John McKay
No, I realize there may be some challenges with translation, but it was five minutes.
It is the same for you: you have five minutes.
Conservative
Glen Motz Conservative Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB
Thank you.
First of all, before I ask the question, I want to make it very clear that my Conservative colleagues and I applaud the incredible effort of the CBSA and the RCMP in dealing with the illegal border crisis. It is not a problem you caused. It is a problem that was caused by the irresponsible tweet of the Prime Minister and then perpetuated further by the current government's not responding to it appropriately.
Your organizations are left to try to clean up the crisis. You indicated that 20,593 illegal border crossers came into Canada in 2017. Of those 20,593 illegal border crossers in 2017, how many have been ordered deported?
President, Canada Border Services Agency
Just to start from the very beginning of the process, as soon as someone comes across, they are given a conditional removal order. They go through all the checks with us at the port of entry, and subsequently an eligibility hearing with us or the IRCC. Finally, a determination is made by the Immigration and Refugee Board.
This process takes some time. After that, there are appeal mechanisms that are available to them. We're starting to see some early cases coming through from the surge from last summer. In any given year, we do between 7,000 and 8,000 removals. Last year, 3,947 of the 7,783 were failed claimants. A subset of that were—
Conservative
President, Canada Border Services Agency
That's failed claimants from any year. It depends on where they are. If they can exhaust different processes, sometimes it can be quite a lengthy process. In terms of irregular claimants last year—and I don't know when they came—it was 227.
I want to impress upon the members that there is a continuum here, and it's very hard to look at one snapshot. I don't have the details, for example, on everyone who arrived in August of last year and where they might be in that continuum.
Anyone who has an enforceable removal order, we will remove, although I will state that the priority for us in terms of removal is security, criminality, and organized crimes. That's where we put our efforts first. Failed refugee claimants, who represent about half of the number I gave you, are our second priority in terms of removal, because generally they are much lower risk.
Conservative
Glen Motz Conservative Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB
Thank you. I appreciate the explanation. I know Canadians have been asking a lot about the process and how long it takes.
Of the 227 you mentioned who have been ordered deported, how many have actually been deported?
Conservative
Glen Motz Conservative Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB
You said that 227 have received deportation orders.
Conservative
Glen Motz Conservative Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB
It's not just that they've received the order.
President, Canada Border Services Agency
No, everyone gets a conditional removal order until their process is resolved to full completion. Those actually removed were 227.
Conservative
President, Canada Border Services Agency
I can't tell you what year they first started their process. I don't have that information.
Conservative
Glen Motz Conservative Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB
For the 20,000 who came in illegally, we have no idea where they are in the queue and what impact that is having.