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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 16

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 13, 2021 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 16 - Dec/13/21
Mr. Bernard Généreux (Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, CPC)
  • Dec/13/21 7:37:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I wanted to participate in tonight's adjournment debate because I am still dissatisfied with an answer provided by the former minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, who has been the Minister of Public Safety since December 3. My original question was about temporary foreign workers, but obviously, the immigration program is a much more complex program and has ramifications throughout the entire immigration system. I will use the example of an applicant I spoke with just today. Nazar Mackendi, an immigrant of Haitian origin, has been in my riding for some time now. He is still waiting for approval on his application for permanent residence, which was duly submitted in August 2019, over two years and four months ago. Waiting for a bit is fine, but two years and four months is a ridiculously long time to wait. On top of that, his work permit is going to expire soon. If Mr. Mackendi leaves the country to visit his family, which we are currently advising against, not only for this reason but also because of the pandemic, he may not be able to return. Also, since nothing is happening on his permanent residence file, he will have to pay $438 by January 31 to renew his work permit in order to remain in Canada legally and continue working. My question is the following: What would the minister or his parliamentary secretary do in Mr. Mackendi's place?
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Context: House Hansard - 16 - Dec/13/21
Mr. Bernard Généreux
  • Dec/13/21 7:42:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary for his response. However, he did not at all answer my question or Mr. Mackendi's question. The reality is that there are people in 2020‑21 who have already found out about their permanent resident status. Their applications have already been approved, no problem, while his has been dragging on for two and a half years. My question is very simple: When can Mr. Mackendi expect his file to be reviewed and approved? It is outrageous to see a file drag on for practically two and a half years. That is terrible.
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