39th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION
EDITED HANSARD • NUMBER 094
CONTENTS
Friday, December 8, 2006

Immigration

Ms. Meili Faille (Vaudreuil-Soulanges, BQ):
Mr. Speaker, according to the Canadian section of Amnesty International, the UN Committee Against Torture handed down favourable decisions concerning allegations of torture made by individuals who were refused the right to seek asylum in Canada.
In the Falcon Rios case, the Committee Against Torture asked Canada to implement a refugee appeal division. It reiterated the request in its latest decision.
Will the government commit to helping these people out in light of the humanitarian considerations articulated by a respected body of the United Nations?
We have a lot to learn from the Maher Arar affair.

[English]

Mr. Ed Komarnicki (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, there is no question that Canada has one of the finest refugee programs in the word. Indeed, the United Nations High Commissioner has said so and has indicated that other countries model on this program.
We have various appeal routes that can be taken to the Federal Court by leave to appeal and actually appeal. We also have a humanitarian and compassionate ground application process that can be taken by applicants at any time. It is certainly a system that we are proud of.

[Translation]

Ms. Meili Faille (Vaudreuil-Soulanges, BQ):
Mr. Speaker, given that serious errors can occur, does the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration intend to follow up on the UN Committee Against Torture's request to implement an appeal mechanism to review and examine the basis for decisions to grant or refuse refugee status?
[English]

Mr. Ed Komarnicki (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, we are always looking at ways to make the system better than it is, but we can say that the system has various aspects in it for the present situation to be looked at on its merits, not only in the Federal Court of Appeal but also through humanitarian and compassionate ground applications, pre-removal risk assessment applications. When we look at the system, we have to look at all of it in conjunction before a decision is made to implement just one aspect of it, which would add more delay to the process and extra time to get it determined.