CIMM Committee Meeting

The Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration met at 3:35 p.m. this day, in Room 308, West Block, the Chair, Hon. Andrew Telegdi, presiding.

By unanimous consent, Sue Barnes moved, — That the motion of Hedy Fry be stood, after debate the question being put on the motion, it was agreed to.

Bill Siksay moved, — That the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration ask Canada Post to issue a series of commemorative postage stamps marking significant refugee movements to Canada, that their series begin by making the 50th Anniversary of the arrival of Hungarian refugee movements including but not limited to those refugees from Uganda, Vietnam, Indo China and the former Yugoslavia to be considered.

Debate arose thereon.

Lui Temelkovski moved, — That the motion be amended by striking the words “former Yugoslavia” and adding Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Slovenia, Yugoslavia and Macedonia

After debate, the question being put on the amendment, it was agreed to.

The witnesses made statements and answered questions.

By unanimous consent, the Committee reverted to the stood motion of Sue Barnes.

Considering that testimony before this committee suggests that Bill C-283, an Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Regulations made under that Act to provide for the sponsorship of foreign nationals who apply for temporary resident visas as members of the visitor class, will not have the desired effect of facilitating visits to Canada for several reasons:

• the proposed restrictions on sponsored visitors remaining in Canada would be inconsistent with legal obligations under IRPA, including assessing a person's risk prior to removal and allowing a person to remain in Canada where it is justified by humanitarian and compassionate considerations;

• the existence of a bond is unlikely to be an effective compliance mechanism;

• the process of approving a bond will prevent timely decision making;

• the approval of a bond is unlikely to change the visa officer decision or significantly improve approval rates;

• that overall client satisfaction will not be improved;

• a visitor sponsorship program could be vulnerable to abuse by organized crime, including human trafficking and people smuggling;

and considering that the department has, since the committee began consideration of this Bill, issued instructions to visa officers to ensure that applications involving visits for compelling family reasons are given all due consideration and that where such applications are refused, officers are to assess whether a Temporary Resident Permit is appropriate.

Therefore, be it resolved that this Committee, pursuant to Standing Order 97.1, recommends that the House of Commons do not proceed further with Bill C-283, an Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Regulations made under that Act to provide for the sponsorship of foreign nationals who apply for temporary resident visas as members of the visitor class.

Debate arose thereon.

On motion of Bill Siksay, it was agreed, — That the motion be amended by adding after the word “smuggling”; the following:

families with low income may be unable to access this type of remedy;

That the motion be further amended by adding after the word “appropriate” the following:

“and considering that the committee commends the member sponsoring Bill C-283 for raising an important issue in a helpful fashion, it commits to continue to seek ways to monitor this situation and address the problems related to the refusal of temporary resident visas”.

Ordered — That the Chair present Bill C-283 to the House.

On motion of Bill Siksay, it was agreed, — That, the Committee calls on the government to immediately consider new, streamlined, and automatic measures for the urgent expedition of humanitarian and compassionate re-consideration of refusals of temporary resident visas when the potential visitor was invited by a Canadian, or permanent resident, or person with other status in Canada, to visit for the purpose of attending a family wedding, a family funeral, the birth of a relative’s child, or attending to a relative who is seriously or terminally ill and:

(a) that consideration in these specific instances tend to the permissive as opposed to the restrictive while giving appropriate attention to security and health issues;

(b) that in such cases, the definition of family be broadly interpreted, recognizing the many configurations of Canadian families;

(c) that the review be conducted by a senior departmental official other than the officer who made the original decision;

Ordered, — That the adopted motions of Bill Siksay, be reports of the Committee and that the Chair present the reports to the House.

At 5:20 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.