moved that Bill C-31, an act respecting immigration to Canada and the granting of refugee protection to persons who are displaced, persecuted or in danger, be read the second time and referred to a committee.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present Bill C-31, the immigration and refugee protection act, to the House for second reading. This bill is the product of extensive and substantial consultations. It follows on a series of government commitments to modernize Canada's immigration and refugee protection systems to better enable us to meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that the new century holds for our country.
Bill C-31 is a tough bill, but here I want to be quite clear. It is tough on criminal abuse of our immigration and refugee protection systems, but not on the great majority, like those immigrants and refugees who built this country and who will continue to do so in the years ahead.
This bill creates severe new penalties for people smuggling and those caught trafficking in humans. Fines of up to $1 million and sentences of up to life imprisonment are included in this bill.
It will also allow our courts to order the forfeiture of money and other property seized by the traffickers. It will clarify our existing grounds for detention to make exclusive provisions for those whom we have reason to believe have arrived in Canada as part of a criminally organized smuggling or trafficking operation.
Bill C-31 also clarifies the criteria for inadmissibility to Canada. It will provide immigration officers with the tools they need to see that serious criminals, terrorists, threats to national security, violators of human rights, participants in organized crime, and members of terrorist organizations are barred entry to Canada.
Criminal abuse of the refugee system will be countered with front-end security screening of all claimants, fewer appeals for serious criminals, and suspension of claims for those charged with crimes until the courts have rendered a decision.
Bill C-31 will also streamline the assessment of claims. Referrals to the Immigration and Refugee Board will proceed within 72 hours of a claim being made, rather than the current timeframe of one to six months.
By consolidating several current steps and protection criteria into a single decision at the Immigration and Refugee Board, and moreover by combining increased use of single member panels at the board with an internal paper appeal on merit, we will see faster but fair decisions on refugee claims.
In consolidating grounds for protection at the IRB, Bill C-31 will maintain due process and fair hearings for all claimants while providing fewer opportunities for protracted judicial reviews.
Contrary to certain uninformed reports, Bill C-31 does not expand the current grounds for protection. It simply consolidates several current protection criteria and corresponding protection decisions into a single step. Grounds for protection will remain the same as is currently the case, in accordance with Canada's international obligations and our humanitarian traditions.
Bill C-31 also strengthens our ability to manage repeat claims by barring access to the IRB to those who return to Canada within a year of their removal after a failed claim. These people will be entitled to seek protection at any of our missions outside Canada. If after one year they return to Canada seeking protection, they will be given a pre-removal risk assessment to determine whether circumstances relevant to their previous claims have changed, but they will not be granted a new claim at the Immigration and Refugee Board.
With these steps, Bill C-31 will prevent the revolving door syndrome which has become associated with repeat claims.
Bill C-31 will also strengthen the integrity of our immigration system. It will tighten up sponsorship provisions to ensure that those who sponsor new immigrants are both able and willing to meet the financial obligations they undertake.
In particular, Bill C-31 will deny sponsorship to those in default on spousal or child support payments and to those on social assistance.
Bill C-31 will also establish a new inadmissibility class for those who commit fraud or misrepresentation on immigration applications, and it will create a new offence for those caught assisting someone to gain status in Canada through fraud or misrepresentation.
To maintain immigration status in Canada, permanent residents will be required to demonstrate a reasonable attachment to our country. Bill C-31 will require physical presence in Canada for at least two of every five years for new immigrants to maintain their permanent resident status.
These changes are important ones for a very simple reason. It is about respect. In all of my many discussions with individuals and organizations across the country, I can assure the House that this is the point which has been made abundantly clear. Canadians want a system based on respect, both for our laws and for our traditional openness to new immigrants, to newcomers. That is why Bill C-31 is also drafted to improve our ability to attract more skilled workers, speed up family reunification and honour Canada's proud humanitarian tradition of offering safe haven to those truly in need of our protection.
Let me take a moment to outline the key provisions that will apply to each of these areas.
Bill C-31 will modernize our selection system for skilled workers in order to see that Canadian employers have easier access to the best and the brightest from around the world. At present, an occupation-based model is used to select skilled immigrants, with points awarded for training and experience tied to a specific occupation. Under the new system immigrants will be selected for their adaptability, their level of education and training, their language skills and their general level of employability.
In today's rapidly evolving labour market we need people who are best able to adapt to the new occupations as the needs of our labour market shift over time. These are people who will thrive, contribute and prosper, and who will contribute to our prosperity in the emerging knowledge based economy.
Bill C-31 will also provide easier access to highly skilled temporary foreign workers so that Canadian businesses can stay competitive and seize every opportunity for expansion. Many skilled workers who come to Canada on a temporary basis are subsequently offered permanent positions. Bill C-31 will allow these workers to apply for landing from within Canada under certain conditions, just as it will allow foreign students who have graduated and worked in Canada and who have an open-ended job offer to apply to stay as well.
Bill C-31 also recognizes that family reunification has always been a cornerstone of Canada's immigration policy. Canadians know that new arrivals establish themselves more quickly in Canada when they have the support of their extended families.
Bill C-31 and its supporting regulations will allow spouses and dependent children to apply for landing from within Canada provided that they are here legally and that they meet appropriate admissibility provisions. The bill will shorten the period during which sponsors and sponsorship provisions apply to spouses from ten years to three. It will eliminate the bar on admission for sponsored spouses and dependent children who may be considered to impose excessive demands on health and social services. The bill will extend the definition of dependent child to include unmarried children under the age of 22. It will also include common law and same sex partners in keeping with the recent legislation passed in the House.
Bill C-31 will also strengthen Canada's selection and resettlement of refugees overseas. Selection will proceed so that protection considerations will take precedence over capacity to settle in Canada. Family units will be kept together wherever possible. Those in urgent need of protection will be attended to and helped as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Our work with refugee settlement groups overseas will be enhanced and expanded and refugees in genuine need of protection will no longer be barred owing to concerns about their potential demand or need for health care.
I have made it clear on many occasions that I want to see Canada's immigration levels increased. With our aging population, our declining birth rates and with skilled shortages in key sectors, we need to step up our efforts to bring the world's best and brightest to Canada and to see that all regions of Canada benefit from the prosperity that immigrants bring. This is precisely the point of Bill C-31.
Closing the back door to those who would abuse our system will allow us to open the front door more widely, both to genuine refugees and to the immigrants Canada will need to grow and prosper in the future. That is the dual mandate of my department and that is the balanced approach to immigration and refugee protection policy that Canadians want and need to guide us well into the new century.
Since the initial passage of the current immigration act in 1976, the world has changed dramatically. More than ever before people are on the move, for trade, tourism, investment and education, to develop their skills, to share their knowledge and to pursue their dreams.
Canada has been an enormous beneficiary of this global movement of people. Immigration is a continuing source of our social, economic and cultural richness. We celebrate diversity.
Administrative changes are under way in my department to provide overdue support to key offices at home and abroad in our efforts to improve client service, reduce backlogs, minimize litigation and confront every and any grievance or allegation of malfeasance quickly and fairly.
New funding for my department announced in the recent federal budget will provide for strengthened overseas interdiction, more immigration officers at our ports of entry, better medical and security screening of applicants, and an improved capacity for the timely removal of inadmissible persons from Canada.
These steps, the new funding, and above all the swift passage of Bill C-31 into law, will allow us to modernize our immigration and refugee protection system and enable Canada to both meet the challenges and take the opportunities that lie ahead. We want to take advantage of those opportunities.
The bill is the result of extensive consultations with Canadians, provincial and territorial ministers and officials, and countless non-governmental organizations. I assure the House that regulations in support of Bill C-31 will be developed in an equally open and consultative manner that will give members of the House, key immigration stakeholders and individual Canadians ample opportunity to express their views.
Issues of immigration and refugee protection are very important to the country. They represent many of the core values that we share. An open and transparent regulatory process will ensure that Canadians support and understand the new rules.
I also assure the House that Bill C-31 recognizes that immigration is an area of jurisdiction which the federal and provincial governments share. The bill commits the government to continue consulting and working with the provinces in these important matters.
The government is committed to the social union framework agreement and recognizes that immigration impacts on areas of provincial jurisdiction such as health care, education and social services. Immigration also brings enormous social, cultural and economic benefits to Canada and to its provinces and territories, benefits that must be weighed against any short term costs. Indeed, this is one of the reasons so many provinces are currently looking to attract more immigrants. I am working very closely with those provinces.
Immigrants and refugees built the country. Under the new provisions of Bill C-31 immigrants and refugees will continue to do so for many years to come. This is an important piece of legislation. I hope it will receive the support of all members of the House, and I am proud to move adoption at second reading of Bill C-31.