44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 7, 2022 10:00AM
- Jun/7/22 11:44:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, following the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan last summer, the government initially committed to resettling 20,000 vulnerable Afghan refugees, and we have now increased that commitment to bringing at least 40,000 Afghans to Canada.
On July 23, 2001, the Government of Canada announced special immigration measures for individuals with a significant and enduring relationship with the Government of Canada, along with their accompanying family members. On August 13, we announced a special humanitarian program focused on resettling Afghan nationals who were outside of Afghanistan and who do not have a durable solution in a third country.
This program focuses on women leaders, human rights defenders, LGBTQ2 individuals, journalists and people who assisted Canadian journalists. We have also created a permanent resident pathway for extended family members of former Afghan interpreters who previously immigrated to Canada under the 2009 and 2012 public policies.
IRCC has mobilized its global network and all available resources are being devoted to this effort. IRCC also prioritized the processing of privately sponsored Afghan refugees. The department is harnessing the generosity of Canadians, including through sponsorship agreement holders, as well as individuals and corporate donations to private sponsorship.
Today, we marked an important milestone by welcoming more than 15,000 Afghan refugees to Canada, and hundreds more are arriving each week, including 300 privately sponsored refugees arriving on a chartered flight tomorrow.
I also think it is important to put Canada's commitment to Afghans in a global context. Per capita, our goal of bringing at least 40,000 Afghan nationals to Canada places us among the top countries in the world when it comes to resettlement, second only to the United States on numbers alone. In terms of broad numbers, our commitment of 40,000 is larger than the United Kingdom and Australia, and the same as the one being pursued by a European nation that has 10 times the population of Canada.
We remain firm in our commitment to settle at least 40,000 Afghan nationals in safety to Canada as quickly and safely as possible. We will not stop until the work is done.
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- Jun/7/22 11:48:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, we are one of the only countries in the world to have implemented a humanitarian stream to welcome even more Afghan refugees based on their particular vulnerability, including women leaders, LGBTQ2 people, human rights defenders, journalists and members of religious and ethnic minorities.
With our standard refugee program, the humanitarian stream works through a referral system and individuals do not apply directly. Individuals are referred by designated partners trained and experienced at assessing vulnerability and operating a situation of mass displacement and humanitarian hardship.
Our referral partners include the United Nations Refugee Agency, Front Line Defenders, ProtectDefenders.eu and Canadian private sponsors. In light of the current situation in Afghanistan, we will waive the requirement for a refugee status determination to some private sponsorship applications, broadening sponsors' access to the program.
In addition to all these pathways, we are going to work with partners to utilize the economic mobility pathways pilot, an innovative program designed to help skilled refugees resettle in Canada to welcome even more Afghan refugees. We are committed to resettle at least—
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- Jun/7/22 11:49:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first off, I want to express my disappointment for having to be here tonight to re-address a simple question. It is a question of transparency and openness from the government on lessons learned from the fall of Kabul last year.
The first thing I want to do is read into the record the mandate of the Special Committee on Afghanistan. It reads:
to conduct hearings to examine and review the events related to the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, including, but not limited to, the government's contingency planning for that event and the subsequent efforts to evacuate, or otherwise authorize entry to Canada of, Canadian citizens, and interpreters, contractors and other Afghans who had assisted the Canadian Armed Forces or other Canadian organizations
That was our mandate. I am going to read the definition, from the defence terminus database, of what an after-action review is. It is “A professional discussion of...[an] operational event that focuses on identifying what happened, why it happened, and how it can be improved.” In reality, we are asking for the same thing. It is just to get those after-action reviews.
I put a motion forward at the Special Committee on Afghanistan for the government. We brought it up during testimony, and we had Global Affairs Canada officials admit that they had conducted an after-action review or a review of what happened last summer in Kabul.
After that, we had defence officials there, including the chief of the defence staff. They admitted that they went through the Canadian Armed Forces after-action review process or post-operational review and conducted that. In fact, they fed into a PCO-led interdepartmental review of what went right, what went wrong and what we needed to improve going forward from last summer, all great stuff that made sense. Considering the mandate of the Special Committee on Afghanistan, would that information not be invaluable to our hard-working analysts and committee members so they can put together the report?
I therefore put a motion forward. I asked the officials about this, but unfortunately we did not get the information. I put it forward at committee. Unfortunately, the Liberal members of the committee decided to filibuster. It never got to a vote before we ran out of time, because the Special Committee on Afghanistan is wrapping up. In fact, the chair will table the report tomorrow.
I have gone down every possible avenue. I submitted an Order Paper question, a written question, to see if I could get the information that way. Then I stood up during question period, which brings me here tonight to ask for the information.
Again, I am just looking to get all of the reports, including any of the draft reports, to committee so we can move forward. We are lacking them, and it was obvious, based on testimony, that the interdepartmental coordination between the three departments involved in this, particularly with respect to immigration, was weak, if not non-existent. The committee was unable to get all of the reports to provide an effective response going forward.
This is really the key point that I want to hit. In the end, this is all about setting the conditions for the future. If Canada ever commits, whether it is militarily or diplomatically, to another mission around the globe, we need to rely upon the cultural advisers, interpreters and linguists who are willing to step forward. If they are unwilling to do so and do not trust us to have their backs if things go sideways, as they did in Afghanistan, we are the ones who will lose out.
We are likely going to hear from the parliamentary secretary. I am glad he is here to answer my question. However, I think he is going to use national security as an excuse, which is not the case. Ultimately, the sad reality is that the Afghans who should be coming here are the losers in this whole circumstance.
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- Jun/7/22 11:54:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague and fellow member of the Special Committee on Afghanistan for the opportunity to speak to this important topic. I also want to thank him for his service to Canada and say that his contributions at committee are always insightful.
Canada's response to the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban's seizure of power in August 2021 was one of the largest, most challenging and complex international crisis operations in recent decades. It involved the first Canadian-led non-combatant evacuation operations since the 2006 operation in Lebanon.
Through close co-operation with our international partners, we supported and continue to support eligible individuals wanting to leave Afghanistan. Following the signing of the Doha agreement in February 2020, Canada began to prepare for a worsening security situation. We closely monitored events on the ground, informed by intelligence agencies and partners.
Coordinated contingency planning for a potential closure of the embassy of Canada in Afghanistan and an evacuation of Canadians began early between Global Affairs Canada and the Department of National Defence. The security of Canadians in Afghanistan was one of the utmost priority. As testimony from officials made clear at committee, even with the best efforts on assessments from the field, the Taliban overtook Kabul far more quickly than anticipated.
I can tell my colleague that departments and ministers worked closely together across government for a coordinated response, starting in July 2021. Daily interdepartmental task force calls took place to ensure collaboration between departments. From the Global Affairs Canada perspective, our consular team went into high gear to provide robust consular support to Canadians, permanent residents and their family members in Afghanistan to facilitate their safe passage to Canada.
This effort required coordinated support from the embassy in Kabul as they themselves prepared to close down operations in a precarious security situation, as well as from Ottawa and from eight of our missions across the globe. From the onset of this crisis, surge capacity responders worked around the clock to manage an unprecedented volume of answering calls and emails from Canadians, permanent residents, members of Parliament and family members outside of Afghanistan, as well as vulnerable people in Afghanistan seeking help and advice.
Across the government, hundreds of employees worked together on the coordinated response efforts. Partner departments were embedded in Global Affairs Canada's operation centre, enabling close collaboration amongst departments. At the same time, support was provided to Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada to enable them to carry out their mandate in resettling Afghan nationals in Canada.
While the response to the crisis in Afghanistan remains ongoing, we always review our efforts in order to identify and capture lessons learned and best practices to improve future emergency management capabilities. We are committed to continuing to work together to implement the lessons learned in order to better serve Canadians' interests abroad.
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- Jun/7/22 11:57:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary for recognizing my service. I do think a lot of the information we found at the Special Committee on Afghanistan was beneficial. I will not thank him for the history lesson, although I think maybe it was beneficial to some for learning what we studied over the last number of months at the committee.
Why would the government not release the reports that would have made our jobs so much easier on committee, especially for the great analysts?
My question is simple. Would the parliamentary secretary not agree that it would have made the analysts' job so much easier if they had had the benefit of seeing all the work that had been done already? He does not have to trust me. I actually asked them this yesterday, and they agreed with me that it would have made their job a lot easier.
Why would the government not release the reports?
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- Jun/7/22 11:58:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada has supported and continues to support the people of Afghanistan.
Through the coordinated efforts of our government, more than 1,460 Canadian permanent residents and their family members were able to safely return to Canada. Emergency consular services continue to be offered to Canadians 24-7, through the emergency watch and response centre at Global Affairs Canada.
In addition, Canada continues to work closely with neighbouring countries to ensure the safe travels of Afghans to Canada under resettlement programs. To date, more than 14,600 Afghan nationals have arrived as a result of these efforts. As we continue to support those in need, it is clear that there is always room for improvement when it comes to collaboration across government departments.
I know that our work on the Special Committee on Afghanistan will help contribute to this process, and I can assure my colleagues and all Canadians that the government will be providing a complete response to the report.
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