With regard to immigration sponsorship, from 1984 to present: (a) broken down by year, what was the average processing time by visa offices outside of Canada for sponsoring parents; and (b) what is the processing time at each visa office?
House of Commons photoLost her last election, in 2015, with 27% of the vote.
Questions Passed as Orders for Return January 31st, 2011
With regard to immigration sponsorship, from 1984 to present: (a) broken down by year, what was the average processing time by visa offices outside of Canada for sponsoring parents; and (b) what is the processing time at each visa office?
Questions Passed as Orders for Return January 31st, 2011
With regard to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, from 2006 to present: (a) broken down by year, how many employers indicated in Labour Market Opinion application that employees had been laid off in the 12 months prior to the application; (b) broken down by year, how many employers who indicated that employees had been laid off in the 12 months prior to their application did not provide a reason for the layoffs; (c) broken down by year, how many employers in (a) had their application for Temporary Foreign Workers approved; (d) broken down by year, how many employers in (b) had their application for Temporary Foreign Workers approved; (e) are there any financial requirements for employers who wish to participate in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, for example solvency requirements and the ability to pay wages; (f) broken down by year, how many temporary foreign workers have returned to their country of origin with wages owed to them; (g) of those temporary foreign workers in (f), how many still have wages owed to them; (h) what is the total amount of unpaid wages owed to temporary foreign workers; and (i) what is the average amount of unpaid wages owed, per worker with wages owed to them?
Questions Passed as Orders for Return January 31st, 2011
With regard to cases awaiting Ministerial Relief decisions from the Canada Border Services Agency, broken down by country, what is: (a) their number; (b) the average duration of wait; (c) the rationale for the multiple years of delays in making a decision; (d) the number of staff assigned to clear the backlog; (e) the number of cases appealed to the Federal Court as a result of an unreasonable delay; and (f) the cost to the government to defend these delays in Federal Court?
Questions on the Order Paper January 31st, 2011
With respect to the G20 Summit ex gratia payments: (a) how many applicants for compensation have there been; (b) what was the total amount claimed; (c) what was the average amount of each claim; (d) how much has been paid to claimants; and (e) what was the total amount budgeted to pay out these claims?
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act December 13th, 2010
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-604, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (appeal process for temporary resident visa applicants).
Mr. Speaker, as the holiday season approaches, thousands of Canadians are looking forward to their relatives coming from overseas to visit them and share a few joyous days in Canada.
Unfortunately, one in five visitors will have their applications rejected. No clear reasons will be given, as there are no clear criteria and no minimum standards. Canadians and their relatives are extremely frustrated because they have no idea why they are rejected and what they can do to qualify.
Millions of tourism dollars are also lost because 200,000 visitors are refused entry each year.
My visitor visa fairness bill would provide an appeal so there would be transparency and clear standards for all applicants. Such appeal tribunals are already available to all visitors to England and to Australia. It is time we bring fairness to those who want to visit Canada and their Canadian friends and relatives.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)
Business of Supply December 9th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the charter says very clearly in subsections 2(c) and (d) that people of Canada have the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association. Section 8 says, “Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure”. Section 9 says, “Everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned”. Section 10 says, “Everyone has the right, on arrest or detention, to be informed properly of the reasons therefor”, et cetera.
I can actually cite many other sections, sections 11, 12, 14 and 15. All of these rights were violated during the G20 in Toronto, where protesters were supposed to be at the designated demonstration site at Queen's Park.
On Saturday, June 28, there was dispersal and arrest. Then there were massive arrests on the Esplanade on the night of Saturday, June 26, and there were police actions outside the Eastern Avenue detention centre on the morning of Sunday, June 27. In the evening of Sunday, June 27, there were mass arrests and kettling of people on Queen and Spadina, and lastly, the conditions of detention at the Eastern Avenue detention centre were terrible.
My question to the member is, given all the mass violation of people's rights given to them through the charter, does the member support calling for a full public inquiry by the government?
G20 Summit December 8th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, during the G20, innocent local residents were trapped by martial law. At the corner of Spadina and Queen, they were huddled in the pouring rain and humiliated for hours. Hundreds and hundreds of people were arrested and detained in horrifying conditions only to have their charges dropped.
The people of Toronto need to know what happened. How did it go so wrong? Why will the government not call a full public inquiry? Why are Conservatives afraid of the truth?
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act December 7th, 2010
Madam Speaker, paralegals, for example, are already licensed by the provincial government. They will be exempt because there are already regulations that govern them and it is not necessary to licence those people.
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act December 7th, 2010
Madam Speaker, after committee members debated my amendment, they were able to tighten up some of the wording so that the intent now is that if people are giving advice overseas and they stand to gain something financially and are not performing their duties in the public interest, there would be a possibility of punishment.
I have a lot of experience in this area. I have seen cases where people were told that they had to pay $10,000 to employment recruiters overseas but when they arrived in Canada they discovered that the companies they were to work for were having financial difficulties. Sometimes they discovered that there were no jobs or that the jobs were paying half the amount they were promised. They ended up having to pay back the recruiters, which meant that they had to work for a year or so without getting much salary and since they pay enormous amounts of money to the recruiters.
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act December 7th, 2010
Madam Speaker, it is not surprising that the Canadian Bar Association would prefer anyone practising immigration law to be a lawyer. However, our amendment says that paralegals would be able to practice immigration law without being regulated by this body. That is a compromise.
I do not agree completely with the Canadian Bar Association that everyone giving advice on immigration matters needs to be a lawyer. There are very competent consultants who understand the law. They are able to fill in applications and give advice but they are not able to represent their clients in federal court, for example. If we are talking about legal matters in a court of law, then it would still be up to lawyers and not immigration consultants.
As to why this body would not be an independent corporation, I have been persuaded that it will take some time. If we look at the history of the Canadian Bar Association, it took quite a few years for the Canadian Bar Association to be formed. This immigration consultant industry is still relatively new. It would be helpful for the government to ensure that everyone practising is doing so in a way that is acceptable under Canadian law. Ultimately, when the industry matures to the extent that it can, an independent, non-share corporation can be established. The body could form itself. If the body is ready in two years from now, it will be able to regulate all immigration consultants. That day may come but we do not know when.
In the meantime, it is important that we have this regulation and this legislation in front of us.