Madam Speaker, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act has a provision, commonly known as excessive demand, used when determining if a family should be granted permanent resident status. Essentially, if someone in the family unit has a disability, that individual is automatically singled out for additional assessment. The assessment process only sees the individual's disability and assumes that the person is a burden on society. It is blind to the benefits the individual and his or her family might bring.
Take the case of Professor Montoya and his family. He came to Canada with his wife, daughter, and son in 2012. He and his wife worked, paid their taxes, and contributed to their community. Their son and daughter attended a Canadian school, but the entire family was deemed inadmissible because his son Nico has Down syndrome.
Despite the fact that Nico was not using any special social services, IRCC concluded that Nico may use more than the average value of select social services. Never mind that Professor Montoya was paying double the amount in taxes that IRCC had suggested Nico's so-called excessive demands would cost. That does not include the contributions of his wife or the future contributions of his daughter and son. It completely ignored social contributions as well.
This so-called cost-benefit analysis does not taken into account any benefits. Additionally, the so-called basket of services examined as costs are arbitrary at best. For example, housing costs are not part of the baseline calculation of social costs for average Canadians with a disability. However, under the excessive demand assessment process, they are. By the way, when the baseline costs were calculated in 2004, they were done incorrectly. Different services had costs from different fiscal years, and the figures were not adjusted to inflation to make them comparable.
Finally, this policy is discriminatory. It contradicts our charter, federal and provincial human rights legislation, and our international commitment to respect the rights of people with disabilities. Frankly, this policy reminds me of a sci-fi movie I saw some years ago. The whole premise of the movie was based on a hunt for people with defects, disabilities, and they were to be wiped out. I wonder how different this is from the premise of that movie.
Effectively, we have an immigration policy that aims to bar people with a disability and their families from being permanent residents in Canada. The minister recently said, "From a principled perspective, the current excessive demand policy simply does not align with our country's values on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in Canadian society."
The minister has been reviewing this policy for two years now. The policy continues to discriminate. Families continue to be hurt by it. If the minister is going to be true to his words, he needs to repeal the excessive demand provision. In the words of Professor Montoya, “Section 38(1)(c) is flawed...the Charter isn't being applied as it should be, nor the United Nations convention that Canada ratified”.
Given all of this, will the government commit to repealing paragraph 38(1)(c), the excessive provision demands in IRPA?