Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, and we actually have the link on the home page of the website. There's a link right there, even making reference to lost Canadians and war brides, that takes them right to the application process, which is specifically tailored for resumption of citizenship for people in tha

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Perhaps I could address that a little bit, Mr. Telegdi. You have to understand the relationship between speeding up processing and increased landings. If I could wave my magic wand—since I'm responsible for delivering on some of these numbers—and say that everybody who is waiting

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. It's a pleasure to meet with you today to discuss Canada's refugee system. I would like to thank the committee for the priority it's giving to refugee issues. Your examination of the issues is most appreciated by the department. If I may, I will use the t

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Are you referring to the backlog for the privately sponsored refugees?

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'm afraid I can't comment on the appointments to the Immigration and Refugee Board, but the privately sponsored refugee program is administered by CIC and the refugees are selected by visa officers overseas. So we are able, in modest ways, to reallocate resources to those missio

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That is a question that would have to be put to the Immigration and Refugee Board. We can get that information for you. We'll ask the board.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  If I understand the question, are you talking about the equivalent of a safe third country agreement with the European Union? Something like that...?

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Well, as we look at the various initiatives to improve our system in general, I think there's always a consideration as to whether or not types of safe third country agreements could be expanded. But at the present time, our commitment is to make the agreement with the United Sta

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I guess it's a question that isn't directly related to the refugee program. But I can say that we would certainly want to bring other experts to this table, if you wanted to explore the question in more depth. As part of the visa review policy, where Canada decides whether or no

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, I absolutely agree. We agree that it takes too long. I think we have to find a better match for the number of individuals being referred to the program, the capacity, and our targets to process them. For example, this year to date visa offices have assessed over 7,600 appl

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I didn't bring all those statistics for you, but we could certainly get them for you. I think in terms of under the budget allocation with refugee reform, we added PRA officers to the system to respond to the expectation of increased referrals to PRA because of the work of the Im

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We're aware of that. It will be coming shortly. It's currently being reviewed in the department.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In terms of the management of any of our programs, there's the ongoing review by supervisors of performance. In the PRA process we use a case-management process. We have ongoing training. We do case studies and best practices. So through that process we are continually evaluating

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I don't have that level of detail of information with me this morning. But again, we'd be happy to research that for you and get back to you.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In terms of the general consultations with the provinces on our immigration program writ large, this is raised. I don't believe--I will certainly ask the question--that there has been a discussion such as who's in favour, who is opposed. There are discussions about making the ref