Yes. Thank you, Chair.
I move that Bill C-12, in clause 52, be amended by replacing line 36 on page 23 with the following:
(c) subject to subsections (2.01) and (2.1), less than 12 months
and by adding after line 37 on page 23 the following:
(3.1) Section 112 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (2):
(2.01) A person whose application for protection is rejected or determined to be withdrawn or abandoned by the Minister may make a subsequent application only if they present new evidence that
(a) arose after the rejection or determination or was not reasonably available, or that the applicant could not reasonably have been expected in the circumstances to have presented, at the time of the rejection or determination; and
(b) in the Minister's opinion, indicates that conditions in the country to which the person would be removed have changed since they made their previous application.
Colleagues, after our asylum system rejects a claim, there should be a reasonable expectation that the claim could be re-evaluated for applicants whose conditions have changed or if they face new circumstances that make them ineligible. What the system cannot allow is for rejected claimants to make indefinite new applications, delay their departure and remain in Canada when they have been determined to be ineligible. We have to fix issues that create backlogs, bog down our courts and allow individuals who have been rejected to stay in Canada as claimants.
Also, this would reduce the burden on benefits that are provided to people with rejected claims, and it would also restore trust in the Canadian immigration system and the asylum system.
Finally, it would just make it more fair. People shouldn't be allowed to game the system in perpetuity in order to stay in Canada, when they have no legal reason to be here. People who are trying to come to the country as economic migrants should be trying to come to the country as economic migrants and not using the asylum system as a back door into the country.
Again, this would help us reduce the propensity for people to make bogus asylum claims, because there would be precedent and law saying that if you have a rejected claim, we are not going to allow you to make indefinite new applications.
Thank you.