Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'm in favour of improving our current situation. I think the current situation, for a number of reasons, is not one that should be sustained. When it takes so long for people who have refugee protection needs to find that out, that's a bad situation. When it takes so long for pe

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The question of where you draw the line between efficiency and fairness is indeed very difficult. I think you'll agree that the devil is in the details. So it's the question of what the details tell you about how you deal with the exception. The problem in refugee determination s

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'll be very quick. The most problematic part of the bill, I think, are the assumptions made around timelines, and whether those can really be met, because immigration and refugees are not a static situation. If any of those elements change, then the assumptions change and the t

Citizenship and Immigration committee  What I'm not aware of is whether that eight days is when all the information must be gathered or whether that eight days is for the process of starting to gather the information. I recall how important it was to gather information as early as you could, particularly around identi

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, I think timing is critical. But if, for example, you have—and this is strictly my opinion, because I'm not a departmental witness—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Merci. I'm completely convinced that public servants are neutral when it comes to gathering information. Canada is a signatory to the Geneva Convention. That means we've accepted obligations not to refuse people who meet the definition of the convention. The job of a public serv

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I do not profess to be an expert on the new system. I know a fair bit about systems overall, but I have not spent time looking in detail at this. As I understand the safe country of origin proposal, it would still allow a full hearing, as for any other person. The only difference

Citizenship and Immigration committee  --determining safe countries of origin. I'm familiar with the visa imposition, for example, on the Czech Republic and on Hungary, in my time as DG, and the difficult discussions we had internally--also with the minister at that time--around what were the balances we had to have.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The information being shared with Mexico?

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Again, I don't understand the details of the system, and I don't pretend to, but it's one thing to make a claim in eight days, but the hearing is in forty days. I don't know what happens between the eight and the forty days, in terms of additional information that can be provided

Citizenship and Immigration committee  There are so many elements to any refugee determination system, and so many variations on each element, that the short answer is yes. When you take a look at what all countries do.... For example, safe countries of origin and the limitation on the right of appeal--that's the one

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First of all, let me thank the standing committee for this opportunity to share some thoughts on refugee determination and the bill that is now before you. It is my hope that what I have to say will be of help to you. When discussing immigration and ref