- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Independent
- Spadina—Fort York
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 62%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $144,966.01
- Government Page
- Sep/21/23 2:34:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on June 9, I asked the government if it was aware of an apartheid era visa process at our high commission in South Africa. The government said it takes racism seriously and has rolled out anti-racism training in visa offices, including in South Africa. However, I recently met with Canadian High Commissioner Chris Cooter in Pretoria and, astoundingly, he said he was not aware of any racism issues.
Who am I to believe, the government, an IRCC committee report that specifically identified mission racism in Africa or an out-of-touch high commissioner?
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- Jun/20/23 10:08:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are here this evening to debate the immensely important matter of overt and subtle racism at IRCC offices abroad.
I asked the minister on June 9 to confirm or deny if Canada is running an apartheid-era, visa selection process in South Africa. Unfortunately, the government’s response has left me with more questions than answers.
Canadians are rightfully proud of our contribution to helping to end apartheid. The fact that Canadian immigration officers could be perpetuating apartheid in our visa selection processes today is appalling.
It bears reiterating some key facts from my question, including how the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration tabled a report in May 2022 that noted overt and subtle racism at its offices abroad, especially at posts where visa decisions were delegated to locally engaged staff, such as in South Africa. It came to my attention that an unofficial filter system has been incorporated in that country, whereby white, local staff are overwhelmingly refusing visa applications from predominantly Black South Africans. This is shameful.
It has real impacts on real people. This evening, I want to read into the record stories that I have been given permission to share to put a face to the travesty of the government’s failure to address this systemic racism.
These are stories that have been shared with me by regulated Canadian immigration consultants who have helped countless applicants navigate Canada’s immigration system. For the purposes of protecting their clients, some of whom have had to reapply, as well the consultants' own livelihoods, we have taken the cautionary step of anonymizing identities.
I want to tell members about Jane Smith, a Black South African mother who sought a visitor visa so that she could be by her daughter’s side, who had fallen ill and was rushed to the emergency room. During the most traumatic period in their family’s life, no one at the local office seemed to care. Emails and phone calls were unanswered. A decision was only rendered four months later. It was much too late, but fortunately, Jane’s daughter recovered.
The fact remains that a mother was prevented from being by her child’s side. Perhaps, these human consequences do not matter as much. Instead, let us consider how the government's inaction to address racism is costing our country real dollars.
Jessica Smith and her family were planning on vacationing in the United States. She walked into the U.S. embassy in Johannesburg and received her visa in 48 hours, just two days. However, from us, for three months, she heard nothing back and ended up cancelling over a week’s worth of flights, hotel bookings, and theatre and other activities, depriving our economy of thousands of tourism dollars.
In fact, one regulated Canadian immigration consultant told me about another family that initially planned on visiting both the U.S. and Canada, but they did not even bother with us. The situation is so bad that Canada has now developed a reputation where people do not even bothering applying.
There are also direct consequences for Canadians, including talent and, in the example I will share, for our health care system, which continues to be under strain.
Dr. Joe Smith is a Black surgeon who received a job offer from a provincial regional health authority to join its operating team in an underserved area and relieve its long backlog.
Despite the extensive work and references from the Canadian provincial health authority, somehow his file was deemed incomplete, and they were not even afforded a chance to answer, which is something that is always afforded to white doctors. Why?
Can my colleague confirm or deny if Canada is running an apartheid-era, visa-selection process?
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- Jun/9/23 2:09:06 p.m.
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Unfortunately, what we have seen in Toronto, and frankly the country writ large, has been a surge in anti-Asian racism. According to the official statistics of the Toronto Police Service, the hate crime rates have surged since the pandemic by over 50% from 2019 to 2020, and a further 22.4% from 2020 to 2021.
The thing we need to bear in mind is that, culturally, as a community, we also do not have a tendency to report statistics. I can say, as a member of Chinese heritage myself, that we prefer to keep our head down, work, and hope that we will be respected and acknowledged. I think there is also a bit of historic lived experience where there is a distrust of the system, perhaps not in Canada, because of the experiences they may have had back home in Communist regimes, which are not necessarily places where people can trust that the system will take care of them or take their concerns seriously.
Therefore, while we have the official statistics of the Toronto Police Service, there are other avenues, such as Project 1907, which collected self-reported statistics from members of the Chinese community that were collected by members of the Chinese community. There was a level of trust, and they felt more comfortable. Those statistics are a lot more staggering, and I think more accurate, in truly capturing the immense number of hate crimes that have been committed. Those statistics report a very concerning quintupling, a 500% growth, in hate crimes. I worry a lot about that.
I can say that, during the pandemic, when my mother was still with us, would go to pick up groceries. She was living with a rare autoimmune disease that affected her lungs, so she coughed more, and she had trouble breathing when she was wearing a mask. I was worried that she would be a victim of some sort of targeted Asian hate crime just because of the way she looked and because she was coughing, not because she had COVID, but because of the condition she was living with. I worry a lot about people who look like me, such as the sponsor of Motion No. 63, and some other members, such as the member for Wellington—Halton Hills, as they think about the life they want to lead and the careers they aspire to when they see the vitriol some of us receive or that is targeted toward people who look like us on social media.
I cannot count the number of times I have been called a Chink. I do not want to put on the record the stuff I have been called, nor what people think is okay to say to my staff when they call in. I remember working late just a few weeks ago. The staff had gone home, and I was preparing for a late show. We had a call come into my Ottawa office, so I picked it up. I was there, so why not? There was a gentleman on the other end of the line who said that he was a constituent, which was obviously an indication that he was not. Thinking that I was a member of my staff working in my office, he then launched into how I should be ashamed of working for a Chink like me, and that he could not believe that the military would let someone like me serve in our Canadian Armed Forces.
In some respects, I signed up for this, but my staff did not. The members of my staff represent the diversity of my community and our country. They reflect the many faces of Toronto. One of my staff members is also of Chinese heritage. I am glad that I got that phone call and not her. She and other members of my staff also have to see the stuff that comes in to my office.
We have a dedicated folder where we gather this, and we use a euphemism for it of “negative feedback”, because it is so bad. I wonder sometimes if we should speak up and say something. When we do, our critics will say things like we are playing the victim or we are trying to get sympathy. On the other hand, if we do not speak up, we let this issue fester. We do not address it.
I am glad we are having this discussion today, but what I really want to see is truly some action. This matter relates to a broader issue that we have been debating extensively in this House, and that is the matter of foreign interference. Far too often, some regimes, and in this instance I am referring to the Chinese Communist Party, will use racism as a shield to try to defend themselves from very legitimate criticisms of the genocide being committed against the Uyghur peoples, the dismantling of Hong Kong's democratic institutions and the aggression in the South China Sea. They will try to wash it all away with a “How dare you? You must hate Chinese people. You are racist.”
I want to reiterate, as we heard from a number of different members, there is a key distinction between the Chinese people and the Chinese Communist Party. It is vitally important, with this cloud of foreign interference hanging over this place and our country and its democratic institutions, we shine a light into the shadows where foreign operatives hide. There is no better way to address these questions people have when they look at someone like me and wonder, “Where do his loyalties really lie? Is he really a Canadian?”
This is why we need to hold an independent non-partisan public inquiry into foreign interference. It is also why we need to add transparency with a foreign agent influence registry so we know who is working with who. If one is conducting legitimate advocacy, advancement for trade and different business, that is fine. Transparency is great. We cannot allow this cloud to continue to hang, because in the absence of transparency, these bad actors are able to take advantage of this to actually perpetuate racism themselves.
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- Jun/9/23 12:08:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in May 2022, an IRCC committee tabled a report that noted overt and subtle racism at its offices abroad, especially at posts where visa decisions were delegated to locally engaged staff, such as in South Africa. It has come to my attention that an unofficial filter system has been incorporated in that country. White local staff are overwhelmingly refusing visa applications from predominantly Black South Africans. Indeed, white visa applications are being placed in one pile and non-white in another. This is unconscionable.
Can the minister confirm or deny if Canada is running an apartheid-era visa selection process in South Africa?
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-261, an Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act and to make related amendments to another Act (hate propaganda, hate crimes and hate speech).
He said: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce a bill that seeks to combat the growing incidents of hate propaganda and hate crimes and to make it a discriminatory practice to communicate hate speech via the Internet.
Racism remains alive and well in Canada, and it is especially active online. This bill would also amend the Criminal Code and Canadian Human Rights Act to better address online hate speech.
I know hate speech far too well and can provide examples when I have been called a chink and told to die. This bill would reduce such vile attacks on people subjected to racial slurs, some on an almost daily basis.
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