CIMM#95: Briefing on the Temporary Immigration Measures Initiated in Response to the Ongoing Conflicts in Sudan and Gaza

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

How many people crossed the Rafah border as a result of the government program? Can you give just a straight-up number?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

You'd have to clarify the question. Do you mean as a result of the codes, visas or applications that they have received, or because they thought they could get to Egypt and then have the benefit of the program?

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

No.

How many people managed to cross the border as a result of the government's special immigration measure?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

Other than the ad hoc numbers that we have been able to get out individually, the number is 14.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Is the ad hoc number because of the government's program or because they cross on their own?

Citizenship and Immigration Committee on March 20th, 2024
Evidence of meeting #95 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session

5:15 p.m.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

I call this meeting to order.

We are meeting in public.

Welcome to meeting number 95 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.

Today for a briefing on the temporary immigration measures initiated in response to the ongoing conflicts in Sudan and Gaza, we have the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, the Honourable Marc Miller, with departmental officials.

Madam Kwan, do you have something to say?

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I do. Before we begin, Mr. Chair, I know that, because of votes, we've lost almost 45 minutes of the two hours the minister was supposed to appear and then one hour for the officials.

I would like to hear from you how we will be making up that time. Will we be extending the meeting tonight so we can get the full two hours with the minister? If not, then I would—

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

I'm coming to that, Madam Kwan. If you can give me time to end, you will know. Let me finish up, then I'll give you the floor.

Joining him are departmental officials, Deputy Minister Dr. Harpreet Singh Kochhar, Assistant Deputy Minister Jennifer MacIntyre and Director General Karim Virani.

Welcome to the meeting.

Minister, you've been very accessible to this committee. I know that almost every week that we sit you are here, and I want to thank you for making the time to come here to be with the members.

The hard stop for the minister is at 6:30. He does not have time today to go beyond 6:30, and the hard stop with the officials will be 7:30.

There are six other motions for him to come back to the committee, so it's up to the committee to make that decision.

I give the floor to Madam Kwan.

Madam Kwan, the floor is yours.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you very much.

At the appropriate time, Mr. Chair, I intend to move a motion to have the minister come back to make up for the lost time. The other times the minister is scheduled to appear before committee are on other issues. This is on Gaza and the many family members who want accountability, transparency and answers from the government, and I think they deserve that.

This motion specifically calls for the minister to appear before the committee for the full two hours and, because of votes—it's not the minister's fault—we have lost that time, and we need to make up that time. At the appropriate time, Mr. Chair, I will be moving a motion to that effect.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

The motion is in order.

Is it the will of the committee to do that?

Does anyone want to speak to it?

Tom Kmiec Calgary Shepard, AB
Conservative

I thought she was moving it at the appropriate time. I don't think she moved it.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I'm sorry, Mr. Chair; I don't want to take any more time away from the discussion with the minister, so at the appropriate time, I will be moving that motion to bring the minister back to make up for the time that has been lost today.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

You have not moved the motion yet, thank you.

With that, Minister, as usual, welcome the committee.

Before I start, honourable members, if you want the minister to stop, please raise your hand so I don't eat into your time, and, as I have told members personally, you have your full time and I'm equitable with every member.

Minister, please keep an eye out. If I raise my hand, that means please wrap up, and we'll go back to the members. Thank you.

With that, we'll give the minister five minutes to start.

Minister, go ahead, please.

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6:30 p.m.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you.

I will go to Madam Kwan.

You have six minutes. Please go ahead.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

How many people crossed the Rafah border as a result of the government program? Can you give just a straight-up number?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

No.

How many people managed to cross the border as a result of the government's special immigration measure?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

Other than the ad hoc numbers that we have been able to get out individually, the number is 14.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Is the ad hoc number because of the government's program or because they cross on their own?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

There are some people who were able to cross on their own by paying intermediaries. There are some who we have advocated for directly because of their medical conditions that were directly the result of the intervention of the Government of Canada at the highest levels.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

How many people did Canada bring across the border as a result of the Canadian government's actions?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

I assume by that you don't mean the—

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I don't mean the people who did it on their own. I mean the people who actually had the government's assistance.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Madam Kwan, can you let the minister speak?

Honourable Minister.

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

I know you're trying to complete my sentence, but that isn't where I was going. There were, obviously, 839 Canadians and permanent residents who we were able to extract, but as a result of the special program that we put in place, there were none through these lists that we have submitted to COGAT and the Egyptian authorities who were able to be extracted according to that program.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you, Minister.

So, it's none. None have actually come across.

The people who have come across so far have done it on their own.

The minister says it's only 14. It turns out, actually, through my work from my office, that we have 84 people on the list who've crossed on their own, not because of the government's assistance. The media got a number of 110, but the minister only has 14. You have to wonder what is going on with the government when it can't even get that number right.

Now, I want to ask the minister this question: Of the people who have gotten on this list, 986 of them, how many of them were actually issued a TRV by the government?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

Because of our inability to do biometrics and issue visas inside Gaza, they would have had to proceed to Cairo—which they've not—to get the biometrics and then get the corresponding TRV.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

So, it's none. Nobody has a TRV.

Then what about the people who managed to get across the border on their own, without the government's help, as part of this application process? Why haven't they gotten the TRV?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

ADM MacIntyre can answer that question.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Madam MacIntyre, go ahead, please.

Jennifer MacIntyre Assistant Deputy Minister, International Affairs and Crisis Response,
Department of Citizenship and Immigration

The number 14 is the number of TRVs that have been issued to individuals who've crossed the border and who have applications under the public policy. It is true that other individuals are crossing, and when they come to Cairo and make contact with our embassy, we are processing their applications.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

So, 14 people got a TRV because they crossed on their own, but not one person through the government's program has been able to get a TRV. Okay, we have that straight.

The minister said that he submitted 300 names to COGAT. Why only 300? There are 986 codes that have been issued. What happened to the rest of them?

Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

We submitted all of those 287 in terms of making sure that we have a complete family unit. Of the people who applied—of the 986 who are eligible—if there is one or two of them whose identity we cannot confirm, if there is an ineligibility or an inadmissibility, we cannot tear or separate the families. The one family unit has gone to them. That is the number.

As we get more information, we keep on adding those numbers. Every week, we send more numbers and more names to COGAT.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Why are people getting their security blocked—of the names that have been submitted? What is the reason that Israel or Egypt has provided to the government?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

If I were aware of that, I would not be able to provide you that information.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

So far, nobody's received approval, and the minister can't say—or is not aware of—why they're all being blocked. Would that be right?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

We're not talking about all. There has been a list of well over 300 submitted to COGAT. Ideally, they will get approved.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

How many have been approved out of that 300?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

Because people need to exit and need to get to Cairo to do their additional biometrics, there are none, by virtue of the program, who have been issued a TRV. They require consent from both COGAT and the Egyptian authorities.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Out of the 300, how many have received consent?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

Of that list, we have not had any success.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Okay, so it's not one.

Of the 300 names that have been submitted, not one has received consent. Not one has received a TRV through this process.

All right—and the minister wants to blame the NDP for their failure—let's set that aside for a minute.

I just spoke with a family member here who advised that at least 49 people have been killed as they wait for this process to proceed. For the family members who have died waiting for their codes, will they be refunded the cost of their applications?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

Sorry, could you just rephrase that question for a second time?

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

At least 49 people have been killed waiting for their application to be processed, waiting for their code. Because they have now been killed, will they be refunded for the cost of their application?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

I would assume that would be the case, yes.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

All right.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

For the people who have crossed over to Egypt for waiting, how long does the minister expect the processing time to be for those individuals to get their TRVs to get out to Canada to safety?

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
NDP

You have nine seconds to answer, Minister.

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

Again, it's a limited subset but I would expect that once biometrics are completed, rather expeditiously.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

What is the average processing time?

Marc Miller Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC
Liberal

I'll defer to officials, but given the low numbers, it wouldn't be an accurate sample.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you very much, honourable member and Minister.

Minister, thank you for staying overtime, and I appreciate that. I know you were going to leave at 6:30 but you have accommodated members. Thank you.

I am going to suspend the meeting for up to a minute before we start with the officials.

I call the meeting back to order.

Let me see if the officials are ready.

We will start with Mr. Redekopp for six minutes.

Please go ahead.

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7 p.m.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you.

We will go to Madam Kwan.

Go ahead for six minutes, please.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I just want to point out the differential treatment. Both the minister and officials have just said that a cap had to be put in place because the government does not know how many people would utilize this program. However, for the Ukrainian initiative, CUAET, there was no cap. The government didn't know how many people would utilize that program.

Why the differential treatment?

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Deputy Minister, please go ahead.

Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

I'll take the example of Gaza. We are wanting to see, as the minister mentioned, if we are able to get the people out from where they are. As it becomes more clear that we are able to facilitate that movement or as that movement happens, we want to make sure we are increasing that.

At that time, it was mostly defined to do a very quick adjustment in terms of providing a safe place for the Palestinians who were trapped in that war situation.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Well, the government would be able to achieve the same thing without putting a cap in place. By putting a cap in place, the government has delayed the processing of the application process.

When was the last code issued by the department to reach that 986—I believe it was—prior to the expansion announcement?

Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

As the minister pointed out, Mr. Chair, the department has continued to send codes out. My department and my folks have told me that as late as Friday of last week we had sent out codes, too.

I believe—

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I'm sorry, I think you misunderstood my question.

What was the date on which the government reached the 986th code? When was the 986th code issued?

Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Let me clarify.

What I was getting to is that 986 is not the code; 986 is the number of applicants in the system who have received the code and actually applied with an application. Codes are in much higher numbers as well.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Yes.

When the department processed those 986 applications and they get codes, what was the date on which that last application was processed and they received the code?

Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. Chair, can I please clarify something because there's confusion about—

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Sure. I'll stop the watch, Madam Kwan.

Please go ahead.

Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

There's confusion about whether the codes trigger the application.

As I started to explain earlier, there is a process in which, first of all, there is a web form through which they apply. A code is issued. A code triggers a way to actually submit a TRV application. Each applicant needs to have one application.

We issued around 1,600 to 2,000 codes already, for which we got applications that we started to completely process. We are at 986 and we will continue to do that.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Thank you very much.

I can tell you that in my office, I have a list of 2,500 applicants, extended family members, who've submitted their application to come to Canada to safety, of which 2,000 of them have yet to receive a code. Without receiving a code, they cannot move into the next phase of the processing application. I believe that the 1,000 cap has blocked at least those 2,000 people from moving forward with their application.

The minister said that he's not lifting the cap but expanding it, but he will not give a number as to what that expansion is. What is the expanded number now? Will those 2,000 who are still waiting for their application to be processed to get a code be able to get one?

Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

As the minister pointed out, the aspect of expanding our facilitation is mostly based on whether we are able to get people out from there. We have 986 complete applications, but for which we have been unable to secure the people to come out, even though we're working every single day with Israel and Egypt.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

If that's the approach, then the government may as well just give up and go home because, so far, you have brought nobody. Not one person has come out via the government's process. That is a false answer, I'm sorry. It doesn't even make any sense to suggest that we're just going to pause and see how we do, because, so far, you have not been able to get one person out. If that's the case, then go home.

That cannot be the process. The minimum process the government has to do is to facilitate the people here in getting through all of the Canadian bureaucracy so that they can move on to the next phase. But this cap is preventing people from moving forward into that next phase so that they'll be ready to move forward. This is what I'm hearing from the government, and the government is not doing everything it can to move this process as quickly as possible for people. Isn't that the case?

I want to ask the officials this question. We know that other jurisdictions, other countries, have been able to move this forward. They have been able to get visas issued. Canada has not issued one TRV for people. Others have been able to do so. How is it that they have been able to do so? Is Canada talking to those other countries and their officials about what they're doing to facilitate their processes?

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Deputy Minister, you have 12 seconds to answer.

Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. Chair, Canada is the first country with this public policy whereby we have put in place facilitative measures for extended family members. No other country has this program, and any cases, whether they are from Australia or others, are consular cases. None of them have been able to get out as an extended family member or under the eligibility that we have defined, and Canada stays working with Israel and Egypt on that one. That is where the focus is, to get people out and continue to work and even expand this program, as the minister mentioned.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you very much, Madam Kwan and Deputy Minister.

I'll go to Mr. McLean.

Mr. McLean, go ahead for five minutes, please.

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7:25 p.m.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you, Mr. Morrice.

I'll go to Madam Kwan.

You have two and a half minutes. Please go ahead.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I just want to follow up on the notion that other countries have not been able to get people out, when in fact it is absolutely incorrect. Family members here have lists upon lists of individuals who have actually gotten out.

In fact, one family member said that her friend was able to get her extended family members out across the Rafah border to then board a plane. In fact, they are about to board a plane to go to Australia. Therefore, this is absolutely untrue.

It is so disturbing to know that IRCC officials have no idea that this is happening or what other jurisdictions are doing to facilitate this process. I would absolutely ask the officials to go back, do their homework and then report back to our committee about what the other jurisdictions are doing and how it is that Canada is not achieving the same kind of result.

I just heard the officials confirm that people who cannot get through the official special immigration program to get their TRVs and get to safety are now being asked to use unofficial channels and make a separate application outside of this program.

How is it even possible that this is taking place? Is the government effectively saying that its program is ineffective and people should use whatever channel they can access to try to get to safety?

Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. Chair, just for the record, I did not say that they should use any other channel.

What I am actually mentioning is that anyone who is able to get out still needs to put in an application for a temporary resident visa. If they are not covered in public policy and they have been able to come to Rafah, in order to come Canada they will have to apply for a temporary resident visa.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I understand that, but we just heard from a member of Parliament who was told by the IRCC that people who went through unofficial channels should be making a TRV to IRCC and that they should mark it to say that it should be expedited in the processing. That is trying to bypass the existing program. Effectively, that advice is saying that this existing program is ineffective.

The chaos that's going on there is shocking. I just talked to a family member....

I will just finish with this, Mr. Chair.

They applied at the opening and they got five codes for the same family members who already got codes. Other family members got codes for other family units that aren't related to them. This is the level of chaos that's going on, by the way, with IRCC and with this program.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you.

Madam Kwan, your time is up.

Deputy minister, I'll give you the time, if you want to respond. Otherwise, you don't need to because the time is up right now.

Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar
Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Mr. Chair, we will take that back and look at whether there are any concerns with the codes. We will look into that in our operational model.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Is there anything else, officials, that you want to say?

Otherwise, I want to thank you on behalf of the committee and the chair. Thank you for appearing and being with us.

With that, it's 7:30—

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Before you adjourn, Mr. Chair, I would like to move a motion, please.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Sure. Go ahead.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I move:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee invite the Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada, to return to the committee for two hours to discuss the temporary immigration measures initiated in response to the ongoing conflicts in Sudan and Gaza, that this ministerial appearance be prioritized above all other appearances, and further, that officials be invited to return to this committee for one hour.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Witnesses, you can go.

The motion is on the floor and it is 7:30. I said we would be adjourning the meeting at 7:30.

Is it the will of the committee to go ahead or to adjourn?

Arielle Kayabaga London West, ON
Liberal

I want to vote on her motion.

An hon. member

No, we can adjourn.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Do you want to bring a motion to adjourn?

Tom Kmiec Calgary Shepard, AB
Conservative

I'm sorry, Mr. Chair. Don't you need permission to go beyond 7:30?

Do we have the resources to continue?

Arielle Kayabaga London West, ON
Liberal

We do have unlimited resources tonight.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

It is the practice of this committee that when our work gets interrupted, we do get extended time. Are you telling us that we don't have that extended time to debate this motion?

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

I'm telling you that I will continue unless there is a motion on the floor to adjourn the meeting.

Arielle Kayabaga London West, ON
Liberal

There is no motion.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

There is no such motion, Mr. Chair.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

If there is no such motion we will continue, okay?

Mr. Kmiec.

Tom Kmiec Calgary Shepard, AB
Conservative

Chair, I would be fine voting to return the minister because we did lose quite a bit of time today. But the motion says “above all other appearances”. I believe that we have also called the minister for the supplementary estimates (C), and there's our Hong Kong pensions issue that is urgent. We also have him for immigration levels, and Parliament has passed a motion asking the minister to redo his work and will very likely be past the deadline set by the House for redoing the immigration levels targets plan. We've also called him to reappear on the Auditor General's report, and we've also passed another motion for the minister to return specifically because of testimony that was contradicted by media news articles, testimony given before the committee on the organized crime issue facing Mexican nationals.

I'm good with voting for the motion if we could just remove the portion that says "above all other appearances", and then we'll vote for it.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Madam Kwan, do we have your consent to do that?

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

No.

You can put that to a vote if the member is moving that as an amendment.

I will tell you this, though, in speaking to the issue, Mr. Chair. The reality is that people are dying as we speak. I just spoke to a constituent of mine who lost three members of his family, one of whom was a child. I cannot underscore the urgency of this situation. I get it that there are a whole bunch of other things that we need the minister to come before the committee to discuss with us. I want that too on the Hong Kong motion and on all of those other things, absolutely. But none is as urgent as this current situation where every single second of the day matters. We just heard from officials and the minister that not one person has been brought to safety through this program. How is that even possible when other jurisdictions are doing it?

We just heard from officials who say that they have no knowledge of how other jurisdictions have done this.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

No, I'm not finished, Mr. Chair.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Go ahead, carry on.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

No, we have to prioritize this! The last time when I moved this motion and called for the minister and officials to come before the committee as a priority, we had a situation where the minister wasn't able to do that and we delayed. We actually had the issue of international students and fraud come before this. Time is of the essence, Mr. Chair.

We need the minister to come before us. There have been shifts and changes to this program. The minister just before this also blamed the NDP for the motion, for the failure of their program. That's what they said to CBC. It is shocking to me. There's a lot the minister needs to answer for and we need him back at this committee.

Arielle Kayabaga London West, ON
Liberal

I would like to speak.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Are you done, Madam Kwan?

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

Yes.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

I have the speaking list. I have Mr. Ali, then Ms. Kayabaga.

Mr. McLean, did you want to go ahead too?

Greg McLean Calgary Centre, AB
Conservative

I was going to say that there's recording going on of the meeting right now.

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

I'm sorry, what?

Arielle Kayabaga London West, ON
Liberal

It's still a public meeting.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

It's a public meeting.

Mr. Ali, go ahead, please.

Shafqat Ali Brampton Centre, ON
Liberal

Thank you, Chair.

I agree with Ms. Kwan. It's surprising to see that for my Conservative colleagues this is not an urgent situation. People are dying every day. Kids are dying every day. People are at risk, Canadians are at risk. They voted against the ceasefire and here we come—

Greg McLean Calgary Centre, AB
Conservative

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

We're on a point of order right now, Mr. Ali, to entertain it.

Mr. McLean, go ahead.

Greg McLean Calgary Centre, AB
Conservative

Mr. Chair, I don't know where Mr. Ali is getting any of that information, thank you very much. We are here waiting for the minister'sattendance. It's a question of what he attends to, and we know it's urgent.

Thank you very much for his intervention, but I would like his intervention to be based on the facts please

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you.

Mr. Ali, go ahead, please.

Shafqat Ali Brampton Centre, ON
Liberal

The fact is that Conservatives voted against the ceasefire. The fact is that they want to bring Hong Kong or other issues on top of this Gaza issue, whereas Ms. Kwan is asking that the minister come and answer questions on the Gaza issue. That is a fact.

I agree with this motion. I support it.

Thank you.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you.

I have Ms. Kayabaga next, and then Mr. Redekopp.

Arielle Kayabaga London West, ON
Liberal

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I was just going to propose that we eventually get to voting. We've already been here for a while, and we're trying to be efficient. A lot of people who come from far away are ready to go home. As my colleague Jenny said, this is a really important motion that we have to vote on. It is important that we give it the utmost attention. I support her entire motion without removing or adding anything.

I do have to say also that I want to clarify some of the comments the minister made earlier. I've had the opportunity to have a conversation with him on the motion that we all voted for, except for the Conservatives, who want to also continue to delay. He did say that the motion has made it complicated. He's not blaming anybody, because he wouldn't have voted for it if he were in a position to blame—

Jenny Kwan Vancouver East, BC
NDP

That's shameful.

Arielle Kayabaga London West, ON
Liberal

—but it has complicated the diplomatic relationships.

That being said, we all care about this issue, both for the Sudanese communities in our ridings and across the country and outside this country and for the Gazan families who are here and watching online and in our communities. I would really implore my colleagues to support this motion so that we can actually get out of here in a timely manner.

Thank you.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you.

Mr. Redekopp, please go ahead.

Brad Redekopp Saskatoon West, SK
Conservative

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, I agree that we should vote. Before we do, I just want to say that the soonest we can do this would be the week of April 8, probably April 10. The other option we have is to try to sneak in a special meeting as well, because this is an important issue. Of course, there are many important issues. The Hong Kong situation and many other things are on our minds here. That's another option.

Anyway, I'm just throwing that out there. I'm fine to vote on this.

The Chair Sukh Dhaliwal
Liberal

Thank you.

If there are no more speakers on the list, I will ask the clerk to take the vote—unless there's unanimous consent.

There is unanimous consent.

(Motion agreed to)

With that, can I adjourn the meeting now?

There is a consensus to adjourn.

The meeting is adjourned.

Click this link to read the full transcript of the committee meeting:

https://openparliament.ca/committees/immigration/44-1/95/?singlepage=1

CIMM#95: Briefing on the Temporary Immigration Measures Initiated in Response to the Ongoing Conflicts in Sudan and Gaza

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