Citizenship and Immigration committee  What my colleague was trying to say with regard to the six months was that the timeframe would be able to be extended up to six months. When we began this meeting, we stated that everyone does not respond the same way to situations of stress. There are people who arrive here in

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No. I would say that we, at the Centre des femmes de Verdun, had, for example, the case of a woman who filed a claim for refugee status that did not succeed. Her only route was to apply for a temporary resident permit for humanitarian considerations. I do not believe that this op

Citizenship and Immigration committee  A two-year process is a lengthy one. For most of the people who come to Canada, outside of the refugee status claim process, there are other things that are important. For example, they must find a job or have access to employment assistance agencies or organizations. It is very

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I am of the same opinion as my colleague in this regard.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In fact, the person arriving here needs time to gather her thoughts, to gain a better understanding of the processes she will be faced with and to go about seeking a lawyer with whom she will have certain affinities and who will take the time to understand the dynamics of her nat

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I am not talking about myself, but rather about the Centre des femmes de Verdun. The centre would like there to be fair and independent access and that the officials in charge of welcoming these women and holding the hearings for them be independent individuals under the influenc

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We believe it would be difficult for an official to determine who is telling the truth and who is not. However, we do recognize that there are cases where people are used, by street gangs or criminal gangs, to cheat the Canadian system. We believe that there should be means in p

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Absolutely. Let us suppose that the woman was abused by a figure of authority and she now finds herself in front of an official. She will systematically project onto the person. All of a sudden, the official brings her back to the situation that she fled because, in the circumsta

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Obviously.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It takes a long time. Each person is different. When a person, especially a woman, leaves a very traumatizing situation and comes to Canada, it takes time before she is ready to confide in someone else and let her guard down. The person in front of her does not know her. Establis

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The bill concerns us for several reasons. First, the establishment of a list of safe third countries creates two categories of refugees. Such a list discriminates against women, because it does not take into account their status as women. Furthermore, t

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Recently, the Canadian Council for Refugees, or CCR, made a proposal. It suggested that instead of selecting people based on their country of origin, we consider all claimants. In suspicious cases, the immigration officer in charge of the file could carry out an investigation.