Gloria Galloway
Ottawa — The Globe and Mail
Immigration Minister unveils legislation that would cut delay in hearing claims to 60 days and allow for quicker removal of bogus applicants
People who ask for asylum after arriving in Canada would get quick hearings and failed claimants would get kicked out of Canada faster under new legislation tabled Tuesday by the Immigration Minister.
It currently takes 19 months on average for a claimant to get a hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board. The proposed law aims to cut that time to 60 days and would put the decision in the hands of about 100 senior public servants.
The government hopes to streamline the process by introducing a new application system that would help officials gather a wide range of information about a prospective refugee before their case is heard.
An appeal division would be created to give those whose claims are rejected a chance to plead their case and offer evidence. That opportunity does not now exist. The claimant would be removed within a year of the final negative IRB decision.
The government intends to remove those people who make bogus claims within a year after the final IRB decision. It currently takes an average of 4.5 years to remove a failed refugee claimant from Canada and some manage to prolong their stay for as many as 10 years, taking advantage of the county's social programs.
The legislation would also designate safe countries of origin. Refugee claimants from countries with strong democratic and judicial frameworks would get an initial hearing but would not be able to appeal the decision to the IRB. They would still be able to ask the Federal Court to look at their case.
The designation of safe countries of origin could become a diplomatic hot potato for the government, as most countries would argue that they should be on the list.
Ottawa has yet to determine which countries are safe and which are not. Senior government officials said the process of making those designations could take some time.
The intention of the proposed law is to reduce the substantial list of asylum seekers living Canada. The backlog of cases now sits at about 60,000.
There are about 38,000 claimants whose whereabouts are unknown.
Critics argue that one of the reasons the list is so long is that the government, for many years, failed to make an adequate number of appointments to the IRB.
The proposed reforms go hand in hand with changes announced Monday that would increase by 2,500 the number of refugees allowed into Canada from slums and camps around the world. Those people would have to be designated by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees as being truly in need of a safe haven.
The government also intends to introduce a program that would allow claimants who are unlikely to return to their country of origin voluntarily. Canada would give those people a plane ticket and as much as $2,000 to help them reintegrate back home.
Overall, the government plans to invest an additional $540.7-million and over five years and $85.4-million ongoing to increase its capacity to make faster decisions and removals.
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