Evidence of meeting #17 for Public Safety and National Security in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was removal.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Jean-Yves Duclos
That would be very sad.
Thank you, Marcus. That would be sad, because we're now going to turn instead to MP Gill for five minutes.
Conservative
Sukhman Gill Conservative Abbotsford—South Langley, BC
Thank you very much.
I want to say thank you to the witnesses, first of all, for coming here.
Chair, I do want to make it clear that I would like to give the last minute of my round to MP Kirkland.
The Liberal government says that Canada's immigration system and border system is working as intended. If so, how do they explain the roughly 32,000 foreign nationals who cannot currently be located? Also, of the 62,000 people in question, the Minister of Public Safety could confirm the whereabouts of only 30,000. Is that correct?
President, Canada Border Services Agency
On your question about people who can't currently be located, it's really important to understand that it's not static. It's not the same number of people who cannot be located over a period of time. The 400 people we are removing every week, on average, will include people from the inventory where there was a warrant, and the individual has been found and has been removed.
Conservative
Sukhman Gill Conservative Abbotsford—South Langley, BC
Are you confirming that every week there are 400 people being removed?
Conservative
Sukhman Gill Conservative Abbotsford—South Langley, BC
What is the estimate? You're saying there are 400 currently, every week—approximately 400 people.
President, Canada Border Services Agency
There are approximately, on average, 400 people a week.
Conservative
Sukhman Gill Conservative Abbotsford—South Langley, BC
Do we know the addresses of any of these people currently, the 32,000?
President, Canada Border Services Agency
Do you mean the people we have an immigration warrant against?
President, Canada Border Services Agency
Well, some of them are serving jail sentences, so we absolutely know their addresses.
Conservative
Sukhman Gill Conservative Abbotsford—South Langley, BC
What about the people we cannot find and who cannot be located?
President, Canada Border Services Agency
It's mixing all of those up. For people on immigration warrants, there are approximately 33,000. Some of those are serving jail sentences. We put an immigration warrant so that when they're released, it's a signal to institutions and law enforcement to call CBSA. Other people have absconded. When we go to issue the removal order with them, they are hiding.
We're also finding them, and we are removing them, so they aren't the same individuals week in and week out. When we talk about these inventories, there will be many different people from those we spoke about when I testified on removals a couple of months ago. People in our active removals cases are leaving, and we are finding people.
Conservative
Sukhman Gill Conservative Abbotsford—South Langley, BC
How long will it take to identify and remove all 32,000 people we still have not found and don't know their whereabouts?
President, Canada Border Services Agency
Well, if we could hold them constant, we could do the math. As we've said, though, there are more people coming into the inventory every week. We remove people. The IRB will make decisions not to grant asylum, and those people will then come into our removals inventory.
Vice-President, Intelligence and Enforcement, Canada Border Services Agency
If I may add a piece of data, over the last two fiscal years, we issued 7,041 warrants. However, we closed 9,578 warrants. This fiscal year to date, we've issued 4,706 warrants and closed 3,231. It's very dynamic. To the president's point, that 32,000 isn't static. People are coming, and people are going. It's reflective of the overall numbers we're dealing with.
Conservative
Sukhman Gill Conservative Abbotsford—South Langley, BC
Okay.
The government says that public safety is its top priority. If that's true, how many of these foreign nationals under the act removal order have been apprehended in the past 12 months? Please provide a specific number.
Vice-President, Intelligence and Enforcement, Canada Border Services Agency
We've removed 845 individuals for serious inadmissibility over the last 12 months.
Conservative
Sukhman Gill Conservative Abbotsford—South Langley, BC
All right. Thank you very much.
I would like to give the rest of my time to MP Kirkland.
Conservative
Rhonda Kirkland Conservative Oshawa, ON
Thank you, Chair.
At this time, I would like to move to resume debate on the motion I made November 25 regarding the undertaking of a study. Do you need me to read that motion again into the record, or are you good to go? It's been moved.
The reason I want to do that, and I promise I won't—
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Jean-Yves Duclos
I'm sorry to interrupt, but if you do wish to table such a motion, we need to proceed to a vote immediately and see whether it's the will of the committee to do that.
I will ask the clerk to see whether there is agreement to do that.
Conservative
Frank Caputo Conservative Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC
What is the precise question on which we are voting, please?
The Clerk of the Committee Andrew Wilson
The motion would be to resume debate on Ms. Kirkland's motion.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Jean-Yves Duclos
We'll resume.
Mr. Clerk, if you can repeat the motion, as you were invited to do, we'll turn to a vote.