Yes, Mr. Chair. Thank you.
I move that Bill C-12, in clause 41, be amended by replacing line 29 on page 18 with the following:
41 (1) Section 99 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):
(1.1) A person who seeks to enter Canada and who wishes to make a claim for refugee protection must, on entry, provide the officer with a written or recorded oral statement that sets out the basis of the claim.
(2) Subsection 99(3.1) of the Act is repealed.
Colleagues, we have seen individuals make asylum claims after entering Canada under completely different circumstances and then make a bogus claim to remain in Canada. Our immigration system must prioritize actual asylum claimants and identify individuals who are simply overstaying their welcome as temporary residents.
This amendment would require individuals to state their intentions as they enter Canada, ensuring that those with legitimate asylum claims are inherently prioritized and that the asylum system is not further bogged down with bogus claims.
The other thing I would say, colleagues, is that there have been some stories. For example, I believe it was a lawyer in Quebec who was found to have counselled over 200 asylum claim applicants with, basically, cut-and-paste language. This is a way to deter people from making bogus asylum claims, but more importantly, it would deter people from gaming the system.
Colleagues, I would encourage you to support this amendment, because it should reduce the number of people making bogus claims. It would give our officials more tools to use to determine the veracity of asylum claims. Overall, this seems like a no-brainer to me: Upon entering the country, if you're claiming asylum, you should state your reasons for doing so to the officer, so that we have that on the record.
Thank you.