Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, these are troubled times. There are troubling situations in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Mexico and just about everywhere on the planet. Add to that global warming, institutionalized violence and war, and these are troubled times indeed. It is easy to understand why people from around the world are seeking refuge.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for his very fair question. It is true that Canada, like many other countries, is facing a record number of asylum claims. This year is another one for the record books. That does not mean we are not taking things seriously. On the contrary, we are stepping up our efforts to ensure that the people who come here, fleeing war and violence, are well received and properly supported.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, there is a cost related to asylum seekers. There is also a responsibility. We have to house them, care for them, educate them and provide them with French classes. We have to allow them to work, something that Ottawa is incapable of doing. Asylum seekers currently represent 20% of social assistance recipients in Quebec.

Finance committee  My previous comment was unclear, and I apologize for that. These clauses concern amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Some witnesses told the committee that there were some serious deficiencies here. My colleague Alexis Brunelle‑Duceppe, who sits on the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and is the Bloc Québécois' immigration critic, told me that this division was very poorly drafted and that the government had made a bad job of it.

Finance committee  There are a number of provisions, which concern the changes to the immigration and refugee provisions, that we would like to vote against. I'll read off the sections. I think they may have been covered, Mr. Chair, but stop me if you exempted them. I have clauses 391, 397, 400, 401, 403, 404, 405, 408, 411, 422, 427, 433, 434 through to 437, 439 and 440.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada sets the average processing times for applications. However, here is the reality. One of my constituents was begging my office to check the status of his visitor record application, which was submitted on March 4.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I will be pleased to pass it on to my colleague, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, so that he can answer our colleague.

Public Safety committee  Then just two weeks before the parliamentary vote on M-62 for resettlement of 10,000 Uyghur refugees, I received a direct call from the Chinese state police. They put my uncle on the other end of the phone and threatened me. They said a number of my family members were already dead and if I continued I would face the consequence.

Public Safety committee  Judges are given discretion to not release records following a trial if they believe that doing so “would be injurious to international relations or national defence or national security”. Additionally, subsection 82.31(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act gives the minister the ability to intervene if they believe that matters could damage international relations. The reason foreign interference against Sikhs has gone unchecked for the past 40 years is the desire of successive Canadian governments to increase trade relations with India.

Public Safety committee  I applaud the proposed creation of a foreign influence transparency registry, which will enhance the effectiveness of protecting vulnerable diaspora communities, and the proposed appointment of a commissioner of foreign influence transparency; however, I am a little bit concerned about the absence in Bill C-70 of proposing the addition of specific foreign interference offences to the Criminal Code, nor does it propose that refugee espionage, online harassment or digital violence be criminalized. Further, given the limited amendments to the Criminal Code, there are deficient means for the victims of foreign interference to seek redress for the impacts of transnational oppression.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  After over two months, there was no result and no reply. I wonder why someone like him, Ray Wong, got refugee status in Germany but cannot come to Canada. I want to raise that now, with the waiting time with the open work permit, people will have to wait seven years to get PR status if we keep approving only 335 applicants per quarter.

Pandemic Prevention and Preparedness Act  The management of temporary foreign workers during the pandemic was another disaster. Inspections were rushed and the immigration and refugee protection regulations were breached several times. Even after numerous warnings from the Auditor General, the situation did not improve and the department did not honour its commitments.

Finance committee  The vast majority of those who seek asylum in Canada—almost 80% last year—are found to be refugees. We have a world-class refugee determination system to hear cases at the Immigration and Refugee Board. We need to let it do its job, but Bill C-69 is making major changes. First, division 38 is creating a worrisome new step in the refugee claim process that creates an indefinite gap before referral to the Immigration and Refugee Board—the IRB—in which claimants could be asked to provide endless information and documents with no timeline for the claim to be referred for their hearing.

Finance committee  For example, it says, “the Minister must refer”. Many of the amendments that would cause automatic guaranteed outcomes to happen to refugee claimants absolutely would not only jeopardize their rights and their justice but also lead to massive backlogs, counterintuitively, in the process. We're recommending that we put a pause on the refugee and immigration law reforms.

Finance committee  From Fintechs Canada, we have the executive director, Alexander Vronces. We will first hear from the Canadian Council for Refugees. I understand that Jenny Jeanes and Gauri Sreenivasan will be sharing their time, although I believe Gauri is first. You may commence. Thank you.