Thank you, Chair.
I move that Bill C-12, in clause 41, be amended by replacing line 29 on page 18 with the following:
41(1) Subsections 99(3) and (3.1) of the Act are replaced by the following:
Claim inside Canada
(3) A claim for refugee protection made by a person inside Canada must be made in person to an officer, must be made in a timely manner after the person's arrival in Canada or after the events giving rise to the claim, must not be made by a person who is subject to a removal order, and is governed by this Part.
Burden of proof
Colleagues, this is another very important part of this amendment:
(3.1) The burden is on the claimant to establish that they made their claim in a timely manner.
Colleagues, we're adding conditions that make a lot of sense to tackle issues with backlog and delay in our asylum system. Claimants are required, if they are in Canada, to make their claim in person and within reasonable time limits after arriving or when the claim becomes necessary. If our laws have determined that an individual has met the threshold for deportation and our immigration system has already assessed that individual and determined that they are in contravention of our laws, they should not be able to use the asylum system as a recourse to bog down our system and delay deportation.
More importantly, colleagues, when it comes time to prove that a claimant has made their claim in a timely manner, it should be up to the claimant to prove that it was done this way, not the Government of Canada.
Essentially, we're trying to change the onus. Right now, it's the Government of Canada that has to prove that the claim was made in a timely manner. We believe that onus should lie on the claimant. This is a critical portion of this amendment, which is a hallmark of a fair and judicious process and would ensure that the applicant has met the conditions to uphold the asylum system.
Thank you.