Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to Motion M-120 tabled by the hon. member for Calgary Northeast, who wants the Immigration and Refugee Board or IRB to be dismantled.
This motion has already been debated on December 14. The hon. member wants IRB functions to be subsumed under the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.
He put forward several reasons to justify his motion, and I agree with some of them because they are quite valid. He wants to end patronage, partisan appointments and the renewal of commissioners' mandate. He wants to end political patronage, the tradition of rewarding election campaign friends and supporters by appointing them to highly paid, prestigious positions, like that of IRB commissioner.
However, I totally disagree with the hon. member's opinion that the board should be dismantled. Although I recognize that there are indeed some operational problems, I think the IRB is a valuable organization that must be preserved.
The IRB was created in 1989 following a 1985 Supreme Court ruling on the Singh case. The ruling stipulated that refugees and asylum seekers too are protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and entitled to a hearing in accordance with the standards of fundamental justice.
The Supreme Court ruled that the charter of rights and freedoms must be respected in the refugee determination and admission process.
This process must also take place before an impartial organization, an independent tribunal, as is the case with the IRB.
The IRB is the largest independent quasi-judicial tribunal in Canada. It was established by Parliament to rule on refugee claims and immigration appeals.
Since 1993, it is also responsible for the arbitration function as it relates to immigration inquiries and the review of the grounds for detention. The IRB administers a budget of approximately $77 million per year and, as of May 1, had 178 board members, whose wages range from $73,400 to $142,400. These are well-paid jobs, board members earning $90,000 a year on average.
There is a serious problem, which has been raised by the hon. member for Calgary Northeast, with appointment and reappointment of members. The Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration periodically reviews some of these appointments, and we have noticed that many are politically motivated. Sometimes, those selected lack the necessary expertise. Never having worked with immigrant or refugee serving organizations, they do not always have the skills required to carry out their duties.
The board has heard the testimonies of two former board members, who condemned the incompetence of some board members. There is even one board member who was disbarred as a lawyer only to be later appointed to the board by this Liberal government.
The government told us it wanted to improve the board member selection process. An advisory committee, the Gordon Fairweather committee, after the name of its chairman, was established. This is some obscure committee, whose operations we know nothing about. For instance, we do not know on what basis the board members are selected, whether or not interviews are conducted and if appraisals are taken into account. The role played by the IRB in
appointing and reappointing members when their terms of office expire is not known.
The official opposition, and the hon. member for Bourassa in particular, have asked that the chairman of this committee appear before the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration along with an IRB representative to explain to us what procedure is used to select and appoint board members. Unfortunately, our request was denied by the Liberal majority on the committee.
We Bloc members oppose Motion M-120, even though we agree with some of the points raised by the hon. member for Calgary Northeast. We do not think that the solution is to dismantle the IRB, but to bring about major changes to this paralegal body. Transferring the IRB's functions to public servants is not the solution, because the minister and the government display partisanship when appointing the deputy minister or senior officials to whom these public servants are accountable.
In the past, when public servants were responsible for the refugee status determination process, the decision was sometimes made in secret. There was no obligation to hear those who were seeking asylum. This is why the Supreme Court ruled that a paralegal body was required to make decisions on such requests.
Moreover, I cannot agree with a motion from a party that has shown no interest in the cause of refugees. This motion only seeks to force Canada to drastically reduce the number of refugees currently allowed into the country. The Reform Party has shown a great deal of hostility towards immigrants and refugees, while also recently making discriminatory comments towards homosexuals and blacks. It also displays some animosity towards women and minorities. Therefore, we cannot support this motion.
There are problems with the IRB. One of the most important ones is, in our opinion, the fact that it takes much too long to hear claims, particularly in the case of an appeal. The IRB must improve its productivity, and its members must make better and more consistent decisions.
There are many problems in the IRB office in Montreal. Last week, a board member was arrested, and charged with making death threats to an IRB hearing officer. He was charged with intercepting private conversations, having a restricted weapon in his possession, harassing and of making harassing phone calls. These are serious charges. As things stand, the board member has not been suspended, even if his case is already before a court.
Incidents such as these do undermine the credibility of the IRB. This is why I am asking the minister and the chair of the IRB to react and to suspend this board member until a final decision has been reached in this case.
I would like to point out another problem with the IRB. I was told that the IRB wants to privatize its documentation, information and research service. This is an important service that provides board members with the information they need about the asylum seeker and his or her home country. I have even heard that a Liberal member is involved in these efforts to privatize the documentation service of the IRB. I do not think that would be a good idea. I think we should reassure the employees who are afraid of losing their jobs.
The situation worldwide is alarming: the number of refugees is still on the rise. According to the High Commissioner for Refugees, there are 27 million refugees, and 80 p. 100 of them are women and children. Today's newspapers reported a very serious problem in Liberia, an African country thousands of refugees are trying to flee. I would like Canada to provide them with humanitarian assistance and to welcome a number of these refugees here.
Let me say in conclusion that we will vote against this motion.