CIMM Committee Report

        This notice and comment process is an important one. It allows individuals and groups an opportunity to comment on the details of proposed regulations that the Minister and departmental officials may have previously described only in general terms or, in some cases, may not have discussed at all. It provides a period of time in which minor mistakes, in what is a very complicated and lengthy document, can be identified and corrected. Moreover, it permits contentious issues to be raised and reconsidered before they become law.

        Throughout its study of Bill C-11, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (the Act), this Committee took a keen interest in the contents of the regulations. The Committee was informed repeatedly that the Bill was framework legislation; that is, it sets out the guiding principles and skeleton of the Program, leaving most of the details to be filled in by regulations made by the Governor in Council.

        In view of the importance of the regulations, the Committee requested an indication of the Department’s general intentions during its study of Bill C-11. This was provided in March 2001. Questions relating to the regulations, asked by both Committee members and witnesses, also came up repeatedly during the hearings on the Bill. Thus, with this background, the Committee decided to conduct a study of the proposed regulations in order to provide Parliament and the Department with its own views at this important final stage.

        In addition to providing an avenue for the Committee to have input into the regulatory process, the Committee’s hearings served another important purpose. Without the involvement of the Standing Committee, the notice and comment period would have had no public aspect. The Committee has been able to provide a forum where knowledgeable people could present their concerns and be questioned by Committee members. This was a valuable learning exercise in itself.

        Despite conducting our study in a relatively limited time period, the Committee heard oral presentations from 45 individuals and groups, as well as officials of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, and received over 50 written briefs. Through the testimony, the Committee had an opportunity to identify the common areas of concern, to assess their significance, and to make the following recommendations as to what changes should be considered by the government. Naturally, our witnesses focused on those areas where they had concerns, and this report will do that as well. This should in no way be construed as a criticism of the immigration and refugee protection program generally. The Committee continues to believe that it is a model for the world.