We live in an interconnected world, and events transpiring worldwide ultimately affects Canadians, whether we are speaking about economic trade, global prices of goods and commodities, knowledge and skills exchange, effects of climate change, disease transmission and control, natural disaster management, and others. Fulfilling our international obligations protects and serves the interests of Canadians.
People fleeing war, persecution or natural disasters face tremendous barriers to obtaining necessary travel documents. For this reason, I have been advocating for visa-free travel for urgent, life-and-death situations such as the war in Ukraine. I have also been advocating for the government to rescind the safe third country agreement because often, refugees cannot get to safety without first going to a third country. It is paramount that Canada has an adequately resourced immigration system that can act with flexibility and expediency in times of crisis without compromising national security standards.
As your Member of Parliament, I will fight to ensure Canada fulfills its humanitarian and environmental obligations as a member of the international community.
OPEN LETTER: Special Immigration Measure for Refugee Crisis in Lebanon
Israel’s war on Lebanon has displaced almost one million people. Increasingly, families have no home to return to. Nearly 600,000 people have crossed from Lebanon into Syria. The past few weeks have been the deadliest and the most devastating for Lebanon and people in decades,” said UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, Ivo Freijsen.
The federal government set a standard in the design of the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program. Regardless of the magnitude of the crisis this program has never been repeated for any other Canadian family members in other conflict zone. Former Minister of IRCC Sean Fraser was informed by his immigration officials that CUAET “would set a significant precedent” and “an expectation
that it could be done for other population.” Officials are correct to assume that Canadians expect the government to be fair and equitable in applying Canada's immigration policies.