Mr. Speaker, I am presenting a petition today on the need to implement the refugee appeal division. This petition was given to us on November 23 of this year during a public protest on Parliament Hill. Participants in that protest were crying out to us to liberate Maoua Diomande.
Standing in solidarity with those suffering from this injustice, the members for Kitchener—Waterloo, Calgary West, Burnaby—Douglas and myself, representing Vaudreuil-Soulanges, have made the commitment to highlight the need for implementing the refugee appeal division to ensure the effectiveness of the Canadian refuge determination process.
In the interests of efficiency, a specialized appeal division is a much better use of scarce resources than recourse to the Federal Court, which is not at all specialized in refugee matters.
In the interests of consistency of law, an appeal division deciding on the merits of the case is the only body able to ensure better interpretation of jurisprudence.
In the interests of justice, as in matters of criminal law, the right to appeal to a higher tribunal is essential for the proper administration of justice.