Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you. I think the minister and Mr. Wex have covered most of it. We've been in very intensive consultations across the country, including in the Toronto-Waterloo corridor. I was in British Columbia last week at B.C. Tech, at the big fair there. We are designing a package of proposals that we hope to implement in June.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That is incorrect.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That is incorrect, to my knowledge. I cannot speak to statements a minister may have made privately, but there is no knowledge in the department of such a decision.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, it is. But if I may add, Mr. Chair, there are nine areas of focus and some of them are extremely broad and some of them are extremely narrow. The way in which they interplay, when provided to the United Nations as a general guide to Canada's priorities, and given the actual caseload the United Nations has before them, it's difficult to quantify in any direct way.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No, I wouldn't say that. The annual levels planning process, combined with the authorities under section 25.2, provides the ability to identify groups, small, medium, or large, for public policies under section 25.2.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  You said “discriminate against”.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The areas of focus were a positive list, if you will; it identified nine areas of focus or interest, so it was not exclusionary literally. In effect, of course, if you establish some priorities, you de-prioritize other things.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'd like to clarify that this space in the levels plan is used almost entirely for persons already in Canada who are seeking to remain in Canada for humanitarian and compassionate reasons, not for resettlement from abroad.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I don't have that information with me, but the department will meet its objectives under that provision. Again, the vast majority of these are individuals in Canada who would like to remain in Canada and whose personal situation is such that they don't qualify under other programs and who therefore have submitted a humanitarian and compassionate application.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I can't speak to the United Nations interview queue with any professional knowledge. Remember that the UNHCR is dealing with people who have just fled and have an immediate protection need, and they will often interview them within days and refer them to a country within days, which will resettle them immediately because the person is at immediate risk.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's a difficult question to answer. The areas of focus were set out to guide our relationship with UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, as to which sorts of cases amongst the many Syrians in need of resettlement Canada would most like to receive.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's right.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, the exact date, I look to experts, is that 2012? We could confirm that.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'm only hesitant about the term “accelerate” because we don't have any applications in the strict sense of the word. It is a tool that could be used to resettle internally displaced populations, including Yazidis, yes. From a legal point of view it has the authorities required.