QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
Processing of Asylum Claims
October 8, 2024
Apart from some unfortunate remarks by the Premier of Quebec concerning the forced displacement of asylum seekers, I have questions about our processing times.
Mr. Legault mentioned that the files of asylum seekers take four months to process in France — a state that is also under the rule of law — compared to three years in Canada.
First of all, are these figures accurate? Secondly, and more importantly, why do Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the federal government not shorten these very long wait times so that the fate of these asylum seekers can be decided sooner?
Senator, we are dealing with unprecedented numbers. France does, indeed, have a different system and operates by the rule of law. However, I do not think any country would want to contend with the challenges France is currently facing.
I don’t think we’ll have the same answers or the same approaches to the challenges that we are facing in Canada. Of course, the federal government has a responsibility to act by reducing wait times. I have spoken to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, which is an independent institution, but I can’t influence its decision-making. That is very important for a country like Canada that is governed by the rule of law. Please know that we were able to secure funding in the last budget to ensure that the board can pick up the pace. We are taking other measures. I even proposed reforms to the asylum system in the House of Commons during the last budget process, but the Conservative Party, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois blocked them. Senators should be asking these parties why they are contributing to the delays being faced by asylum seekers.
Again with regard to asylum seekers, to date, Canada has welcomed only 300 asylum seekers from Gaza when you promised to bring in 5,000. Afghan women are facing just as many delays and obstacles. I know that there was a positive story recently, but in general, the wait times are very long.
Why are people in Gaza and Afghanistan facing such potentially fatal delays, when the government is fast-tracking applications for Ukrainians?
With all due respect, Senator Miville-Dechêne, these are three very different conflicts. What happened in Ukraine was a collaborative effort involving several countries, because Ukraine was letting its people go. In the case of Gaza, getting people out is very hard, and bribes must be paid to get people through security to Egypt. In Gaza, we don’t have any way to fingerprint people or do biometrics. There are lots of issues with security and triage. I wouldn’t call it a failure, but the program has lots of challenges.
What’s happening in Afghanistan is very different from what’s happening in Gaza, but we have brought in 53,000 Afghans so far, and I think that’s something we can be proud of.
