Today, a Senate committee reviewing Bill C-12, recommended removal of controversial immigration-related elements of the Bill that would undermine rights to due process, substantive equality and privacy of migrants and refugees in Canada.
Parts 5-8 of Bill C-12, the “Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act”, would deny refugee claimants access to a hearing and full appeal of their claim, allow for mass suspension or cancellation of immigration applications, and authorize broad-ranging information sharing with few safeguards.
The Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology (SOCI) completed its fast-tracked study of the Bill today and recommended removal of Parts 5-8, citing extensive testimony of the severe harm these provisions will cause if allowed to become law.
Part 8 of the Bill is unconstitutional, inconsistent with Canada’s international human rights obligations, and antithetical to the fairness and compassion that must continue to lie at the heart of Canada’s refugee protection system.
As CCLA noted in its legislative brief before the House of Commons’ study of Bill C-12, Part 8 of the legislative proposal would greatly heighten the risk that refugee protection claimants will be mistakenly returned to face torture or persecution in their country of origin, violating Canada’s international human rights obligations and the Charter.
It would render claimants ineligible if more than one year has elapsed since they first entered Canada, denying these claimants the right to a hearing and full appeal of their claim before Canada’s independent tribunal, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB).
Ineligible claimants would instead be at risk of deportation subject to a perfunctory process before a public official in the government’s refugee department and a limited review by the Federal Courts.
This approach is likely to generate significant errors while straining judicial and legal aid resources.
The basic assumption underpinning this regime is fundamentally flawed—the fact that someone might have entered Canada legitimately more than a year ago has no bearing on the legitimacy of their refugee claim today.
CCLA’s testimony before the Senate SOCI committee emphasized how Part 7 of Bill C-12 would grant the government wide discretion to suspend or pre-empt migrant applications and to cancel or impose conditions on existing immigration documents. People impacted by these changes will not even be notified, let alone given an opportunity to explain the implications to their lives before the government issues these determinations.
Part 5 of Bill C-12 authorizes large scale sharing of immigration information despite the sensitive nature of this data and the high potential that its sharing will result in discrimination or persecution of people in Canada.
SOCI’s recommendations to delete these parts of Bill C-12 are therefore an important step in avoiding severe consequences for Canada’s immigration system.
Normally, a legislative committee such as SOCI would be able to amend a bill directly as part of their study of it. However, the government has chose to move Bill C-12 through the senate with lightning speed, and this choice included tasking one committee (SOCI) with studying the immigration elements of the proposal while another committee (the Senate Standing Committee on National Security, Defence and Veteran Affairs (SECD)) is tasked with actually amending the bill.
As a result, we will not know the ultimate fate of these provisions until next week, when SECD completes its study. The Bill may also face additional changes once it returns to the Senate following SECD’s completion of its study, as the government continues to apply heavy pressure to Senators in its attempt to pass its problematic agenda.
However, SOCI’s recommendations present a strong statement on the harms that this legislative proposal will cause if it passes unamended.
CCLA urges senators to act on these recommendations as Bill C-12 continues to make its way through the legislative process.
Read CCLA’s opening testimony before the Senate SOCI committee.
Read the Senate SOCI Committee’s report on Bill C-12.
Read CCLA’s brief on Bill C-12 submitted to the House of Commons SECU Committee in English or in French
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