Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I move that Bill C-12, in clause 74, be amended by adding after line 14 on page 32 the following:
(2) Section 111.1 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1):
(1.1) Regulations made under paragraph (1)(b.1) or (b.2) may provide for exceptions in respect of claimants who are unaccompanied minor children or who would be removed from Canada to a country in which
(a) general conditions, including armed conflict or an environmental disaster, pose a serious danger to the lives or safety of the civilian population;
(b) they would be at risk of persecution for reasons of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression; or
(c) they were victims of domestic violence or gender-based violence.
Mr. Chair, this amendment addresses the same new ineligibility provisions, as previous stakeholder groups have noted that these new restrictions will disproportionately impact women, 2SLGBTQ+ persons and other survivors of gender-based violence.
My amendment creates exemptions for this rule that would prevent Canada from arbitrarily sending people back to war zones, places ravaged by environmental disaster or places where they could be persecuted for their sexual orientation or gender identity.
It also creates exemptions for victims of domestic and gender-based violence, unaccompanied minors and individuals from moratorium countries where Canada has suspended removals due to generalized insecurity, i.e., Haiti, Afghanistan and Venezuela. An assessment process to achieve these exemptions would be worked out through regulation.
