Ahmed Hussen

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, October 5th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore for his question.

About a year ago, members of this House unanimously voted to bring survivors of Daesh, including Yazidi women and girls, to safety. Today, I am proud to update the House. Almost 800 Yazidi women and girls and other survivors of Daesh have already arrived and have begun the process of rebuilding their lives with the assistance of private sponsors and community groups all across Canada.

I continue to be amazed by the generosity and compassion extended to this highly vulnerable group by all Canadians.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, September 26th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, Canada will always be a welcoming country for those seeking protection from persecution, war, and terror. That is what the Prime Minister's tweet said.

We recognize that the situation presented certain challenges and our agencies, including the IRCC, the RCMP, and CBSA, were able to move nimbly and quickly enough to address the situation.

When that party was in government it did not respond to the largest humanitarian crisis at the time. It was mean enough to cut refugee health care. We will never take lessons on refugees from that party.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, September 26th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the safe third country agreement works fantastically well for Canada. We use it to co-operate with the United States on the orderly management of asylum claims.

We recognize that the situation presented challenges but we demonstrated time and again that we were ready and nimble enough to manage the situation responsibly.

The member opposite must know that asylum claims fluctuate on a yearly basis and sometimes even on a monthly basis.

The fact of the matter is that our agencies were nimble enough. We were able to put full capacity within IRCC to process claims and move the—

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, September 26th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the safe third country agreement is not about denying asylum. It is an agreement between the United States and Canada on the orderly processing of asylum claimants. We are proud of our robust system. Canada is a welcoming country and we value orderly migration while also ensuring the safety and security of Canadians.

The member opposite must know that the IRB is a quasi-independent judicial body that looks at all asylum claims and determines the merits of each and every case. If an individual has a need for protection, that individual gets to stay in Canada. If not, that individual is removed.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, September 20th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I am very happy that the member opposite has asked me that question because it gives me a chance to highlight some of the actions we have taken to deal with this unusual situation.

We have mobilized the government operations centre to mobilize and coordinate actions across government. We have been able to work seamlessly with the provinces of Quebec and Ontario under the federal task force. We have processed and increased the capacity of the IRCC office in Montreal, in order to be able to improve the process of asylum seekers and their claims from months to days. We have fast-tracked the processing of work permits in order to minimize their reliance on social assistance and provincial social programs.

Throughout this process it is evident that we have planning. It shows early mobilization and seamless—

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, June 20th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank the hon. member from Scarborough—Rouge Park for his work as an advocate for refugees.

On World Refugee Day, I am proud of our government’s commitment to welcome those fleeing war, terror, and persecution.

As a government, we responded to the largest refugee crisis in half a century by admitting 40,000 Syrian refugees. We restored refugee health care that was callously cut by the previous government. We tripled the number of privately sponsored refugees.

As a former refugee, and on behalf of the Government of Canada, I applaud the generosity of Canadians who day in and day out assist refugees.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, June 20th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud of our government's results and leadership in welcoming refugees, which was recognized in Canada and around the world.

This year we will have allocations of 40,000 people for protected persons and refugees. That includes 25,000 resettled refugees from abroad, which is double what that party and that member committed to, and 16,000 privately sponsored refugees, which is almost quadruple what that party and that member committed to.

We will take no lessons on refugee resettlement from that member and that party.

[Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, June 20th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians and the international community recognize this government's record and leadership on welcoming refugees, and I am proud of our record and our leadership.

We are investing more than $700 million this year on refugee resettlement and integration services; $62.9 million in budget 2017 for legal aid for refugees to better make their case in front the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. The Immigration and Refugee Board has put measures in place to increase productivity. We have ordered a third-party review to find more efficiencies in the Immigration and Refugee Board. We will continue to play—

[Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, June 20th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, on this World Refugee Day, I am proud of our government's commitment to welcoming people fleeing war, terror, and persecution.

As the government, we have played a leadership role that has been acknowledged all over the world. We are putting resources behind our principles. This year alone, we are investing more than $700 million in the resettlement of refugees and integration. We are providing $62.9 million in budget 2017 for legal aid for refugees.

We will always defend refugees and provide them with enough supports to rebuild their lives and become great Canadians.

[Questions on the Order Paper, June 16th, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), no decision to charge for this information was made. The requester was advised to contact the statistical unit in the department responsible for providing data on a cost-recovery basis. This is standard operating procedure when an access to information request has been received for which no records exist. In an attempt to assist the requester, the access to Information and privacy division suggested the requester turn to the cost-recovery unit. IRCC only charges the $5 request fee for access to information requests. The authority to charge for data related to immigration that has not been published by the department is contained in subsection 314(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. The amounts that can be charged are also contained therein.

With regard to (b), no decision to charge for this information was made, as this is part of IRCC’s established practice to meet requesters’ information needs.

With regard to (c), as noted in (a), charging for reports produced under cost recovery is done under the authority of subsection 314(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations and the fees set under paragraphs 314(1)(a) and 314(1)(b) of these regulations.

With regard to (d) and (e), as noted in (a), charging for customized reports is done under the authority of subsection 314(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. IRCC is implementing a rigorous open government plan by posting greater numbers of data tables with an increased frequency on the Government of Canada’s open data portal. IRCC data tables on the open data portal are among the most-accessed data sources.