Citizenship and Immigration committee  If we're concerned about bringing people to justice, deportation will sometimes be the most ineffective way of doing that. If there is no effective mechanism for trying the person in the country where he is being deported to, a war criminal can get off scot-free by being deported

Citizenship and Immigration committee  When I started, people weren't even being fingerprinted. More recently people are fingerprinted, and the use of fingerprints has proven to be an effective way of detecting fraud and being able to identify people, so obviously, using biometrics appropriately and in a fashion that

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Is that question addressed to me?

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As Ms. Des Rosiers said, when we're talking about trying to detect people who may pose a danger for whatever reason, prior to their coming into Canada, there are only two ways to do that. One is to impose a visitor visa requirement. We would have an opportunity at that point to

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I deal with a lot of different files. I see the CBSA going after individuals when it makes absolutely no sense to do so, if only because they can. Quite frankly, I'm profoundly disturbed by the huge amount of wasted resources. I could give you an example of one that just pops i

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We need to ensure that there is a quality control at the highest levels at CBSA to ensure that people are going after the appropriate cases and not individuals they shouldn't go after. I see a huge waste of resources. I can assure you that I could sit down with you in a totally

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It depends on why they've come and what they say. If we don't know who they are, but they say that they're at risk of persecution if we send them back to where they came from, then we have an obligation under the United Nations refugee convention to consider if their fear is vali

Citizenship and Immigration committee  All of these are alternatives. When I offer my clients a choice of staying in Toronto West Detention Centre or going out under electronic monitoring, they're all going to agree to go out under electronic monitoring. It's not that expensive. It gives the government an opportunity

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I agree with you. That's one of the points I made. One of the primary grounds of detention is not knowing the identity of the person. The onus is on the individual to establish his identity. If he doesn't, then he can be kept in detention until he does. When the people came off

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'll be brief. We need to create an independent regime to which people can make complaints about the conduct of officials of CBSA. It would have powers to conduct hearings and hold inquiries to determine whether there had been abuses of persons' rights. It is a basic, fundame

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The issue of detention is complex. It really depends on the reason for the detention. There are two fundamental reasons we detain people in immigration. One is that we think they may be dangerous because they have a criminal background or a terrorist background, or we may detai

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you for that question. I think it picks up on the question from the previous speaker. The case she cited was a case involving a gentleman who had already been convicted. It's a different situation from the situation we're discussing here about people who have been accused

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you very much. I'll try to be brief. I'm going to pick up on a few topics that Ms. Des Rosiers touched on. First and foremost, I would like to address the issue of the accountability regime. In the Arar report, Commissioner O'Connor recommended many years ago, in 2005 or 2

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Good afternoon.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'll have to speak in English; my French is not up to it. The answer is no; obviously, I've already stated my view. One, we do want a fast, expeditious process, but it has to allow reasonable timeframes. It has to allow reasonable timeframes to prepare the initial statement fo