House of Commons Hansard #300 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was chair.

Topics

Department of Citizenship and Immigration—Main Estimates, 2018-19Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

Mr. Chair, again, I am not clear on what the minister's policy is on that, but we will move on. I am sure that the career colleges will be disappointed with that response.

We have asked a lot of questions in the House, and this is a concern I hope all parliamentarians share, about the plight of gay Chechen men, many of whom have faced extreme persecution, and still do. Many were placed in concentration camps on the basis of their sexuality. I think everyone in this House would condemn that action.

My understanding is that only 39 men were brought to Canada under the program the government lauded and that the program was shut down at the end of 2017. I would implore the minister, and I would ask him out of respect, to please reinstitute that program.

Department of Citizenship and Immigration—Main Estimates, 2018-19Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:50 p.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

Mr. Chair, the fact of the matter is that our government has been steadfast in promoting the rights of the LGBTQ2 community both domestically and abroad. That extends into our refugee program. We have worked very closely with the UNHCR and private sponsors to prioritize LGBTQ2 refugees. We have extended funding to the Rainbow Refugee Society. Promotion of LGBTQ2 community rights, both in Canada and abroad, is and will remain a priority for our government.

Department of Citizenship and Immigration—Main Estimates, 2018-19Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

Mr. Chair, I did not hear an extension of that program for gay Chechen men, so I will give the minister another opportunity to respond.

However, first, he just said that his government has a commitment to LGBTQI refugees. That is a passion that I share too. I think that they are among the world's most vulnerable people, and they should be prioritized for resettlement to Canada.

My understanding is that the minister has not yet committed to making the Rainbow Refugee RRAP a regular program. The program has been highly successful, and I want to commend the work of many outreach groups in Canada that have worked so hard to make it such a success. My understanding is that the minister has not committed to making it a regular program with regular funding, but he is committing hundreds of millions of dollars to deal with the crisis at Roxham Road. To me, this is a mishmash of priorities. I wonder if the minister will commit to making the Rainbow RRAP program an ongoing, regularly funded program within his ministry.

Department of Citizenship and Immigration—Main Estimates, 2018-19Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

Mr. Chair, a promotion of LGBTQ2 rights, both in Canada and abroad, is a top priority for our government. We have raised issues with respect to the rights of LGBTQ2 individuals all over the world and the private sponsorship of refugees. We have privately sponsored LGBTQ2 refugees to Canada under the Rainbow Refugee assistance program. The department provides up to $50,000 a year in support to this program. We have recently announced and have extended this agreement for the next two years. This shows that we remain committed to this wonderful program that allows LGBTQ2 refugees to be resettled in Canada.

We work very closely with the UNHCR to identify the most vulnerable people, including members of the LGBTQ2 community.

Department of Citizenship and Immigration—Main Estimates, 2018-19Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton

There are about two minutes left.

The hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill.

Department of Citizenship and Immigration—Main Estimates, 2018-19Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Conservative

Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB

Mr. Chair, the figure that the minister just used was $50,000. He just touted $50,000 for LGBTQI refugees. The minister gave $149 million to the government of Quebec to deal with the Roxham Road crisis. He allocated $179 million in this budget to deal with the processing of paperwork of people who are coming from the United States of America, which is a safe country, illegally into Canada to claim asylum, and he just touted $50,000 for LGBTQI refugees.

However, the minister did not do two things. He did not say that he would extend the program that he cancelled in 2017 for gay Chechen men who have been in concentration camps, and he did not say that he would make the Rainbow RRAP program a regular program, which speaks comparatively to the billions of dollars that the government is throwing at the border instead of closing a loophole in the safe third country agreement, and he did not commit to that either. It is a question of priorities.

Canada should have a compassionate, fair immigration system. We should welcome refugees. We should ensure that this is done in a planned, orderly fashion so that we are supporting the world's most vulnerable. I cannot stand here in good conscience and support spending hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions of dollars, to facilitate an issue caused when people who have reached the United States of America are illegally entering this country to claim asylum, causing backlogs in the IRB and backlogs at homeless shelters in Toronto. We are now talking about shifting people and diverting people one way or the other, and it is not planned or orderly and it is not compassionate.

The minister stands up here to talk about $50,000 for a program to save people who legitimately are being tortured for their sexuality. He can stand up and talk about all of these platitudes, but when the rubber hits the road on prioritizing allocation of funding for the world's most vulnerable, the government continues to fail. It is a serious problem, because Canada should be looked at as a world leader in these issues.

I just hope that anybody listening tonight will understand that it is a failure in a broken system to talk about $50,000 or hundreds of millions of dollars to ignore a program that could be solved through smart legislation.

I want to say that I give up, but we are going to keep fighting for the people of Canada.

Department of Citizenship and Immigration—Main Estimates, 2018-19Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton

The time has expired, but I want to give the hon. minister equal time to respond.

The hon. Minister of Immigration.

Department of Citizenship and Immigration—Main Estimates, 2018-19Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

10:55 p.m.

Liberal

Ahmed Hussen Liberal York South—Weston, ON

Mr. Chair, the fact is that we have doubled the number of resettled refugees to Canada. We have quadrupled the number of privately sponsored refugees. The $50,000 refers to one funding stream to one particular organization that facilitates the private sponsorship of LGBTQ2 refugees.

However, the member opposite talks about compassion. I wonder where her compassion was when she sat at the cabinet table when the Harper Conservatives cut refugee health care to the most vulnerable people in the world, pregnant women, victims of torture. LGBTQ2 refugees had to go without refugee health care because of the decisions made by the Harper Conservatives. Where was the member opposite then? She sat at the cabinet table.

Where was she when the Harper Conservatives took in an unlimited number of applications, but had very limited output in the privately sponsored program, 4,500 spots per year? We have quadrupled that number to 17,000 this year. We have created extra spots for vulnerable women and girls. We have ensured that our private refugee program processing time has come down by 25 months. We have ensured the IRB has the necessary resources to ensure refugee claims are heard fairly and quickly so legitimate refugees can move on with their lives and those who are deemed not to need Canada's protection can be promptly removed.

That is our record and I would compare that record against the Harper Conservative record any day.

Department of Citizenship and Immigration—Main Estimates, 2018-19Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

11 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton

It being 11:03 p.m., pursuant to Standing Order 81(4) all votes are deemed reported.

The committee will rise and I will now leave the chair.

Department of Citizenship and Immigration—Main Estimates, 2018-19Business of SupplyGovernment Orders

11 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

The House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 11:04 p.m.)