SoVote

Kevin Vuong

Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
Independent

Spadina—Fort York
Ontario
Voting Attendance: 62%
Expenses Last Quarter: $144,966.01

Government Page

Oct/3/23 6:59:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary talks about training. That is great. The issue is this. What is the result? I will tell him what the result is. In May of 2022, Canada was host to the world AIDS summit. There were African delegates invited to our country on Canadian government letterhead who could not get visas, which were immensely delayed or outright rejected. In October of 2022, Toronto, my home city, was supposed to host the Gabon-Canada trade investment forum. Not a single delegate from Africa who had been invited on Canadian government letterhead was able to secure a visa. How does the parliamentary secretary reconcile these two? There is a clear problem and if the government does not act it is going to be escalated. We as a country cannot afford any more international embarrassment. More importantly, what is happening is not living up to our standards or values. What is the government going to do to address this issue before it gets worse?

166 words

Context: House Hansard - 228 - Oct/3/23

Mr. Kevin Vuong (Spadina—Fort York, Ind.)

Oct/3/23 6:50:59 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on June 9, 2023, I asked the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship if Canada was operating an apartheid era visa process in our high commission in South Africa. Canadians are proud of our country's role in contributing to the end of apartheid, and I think they would be shocked to know there are high commission staff who are perpetuating the racial injustices of apartheid in our name. Canada's immigration system has been facing challenges in recent years and has been overwhelmed with visa applicants experiencing really long processing times. While there has been improvement in some countries, it seems it has worsened in South Africa. My office has been inundated with calls from family and friends of South Africans who have faced visa wait times well beyond what applicants elsewhere face. In India, a very busy mission, Canadian officials can turnaround a visa request in a month. In the Philippines, it is done in only 29 days. However, the current processing time for a visitor visa in South Africa now stands at 115 days, or nearly four months. There is something clearly wrong. Weddings and funerals are being missed. Children are fighting illnesses without their parents. This is unacceptable to me and the diverse constituents I represent. There are also real economic consequences, as visa delays and denials impact work and study permits. Canadian employers are losing critically needed South African talent. A health authority with a long backlog for surgeries lost a new surgeon it had vetted and wanted to hire and is being forced to transfer patients for treatment to the United States. Immigration insiders have referred to this as Canada's Africa problem. Indeed, accusations of systemic racism have been levied at various visa posts around the world, including in Pretoria. Sadly, systemic racism among Canadian institutions is real, and IRCC is not immune to this often invisible disease. In May 2022, the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration released a parliamentary report that revealed “systemic racism” within IRCC that actually resulted in discriminatory results against people of colour. That is unacceptable. Immigration, like everything else, should be merit-based. It should not matter what the colour of one's skin is. Canadian media has widely reported on visa issues vis-à-vis South Africa, and the Government of Canada has undertaken anti-racism training, which is great. However, we do not know the impact of the new training. One inconvenient truth is that some Canadian missions will delegate visa decision-making to locally engaged staff at non-priority visa posts. In the case of South Africa, I was told Canada relies predominantly on white local staff to accept or refuse applications from predominantly Black and Indian South Africans. On September 12, 2023, on my own personal expense, I met with Chris Cooter, Canada's high commissioner, in Pretoria, South Africa, to ascertain the reason for abnormally high visa refusal rates among Black and Indian South Africans. Unbelievably, the high commissioner informed me that he was not aware of racism issues. Understandably, I was disappointed by his response. Indeed, why would there be global anti-racism training, including in South Africa, if such training was not needed? Why would a parliamentary report talk about systemic racism within IRCC if it did not exist? The Canadian government must get to the bottom of this. Canada stood up for Africa during the dark days of apartheid, and as a son of refugees, I feel a duty to ensure that future generations of new Canadians receive the same warmth, compassion and equity that my family did. Who am I to believe, the government, an IRCC committee report or an out-of-touch high commissioner?

621 words

Context: House Hansard - 210 - Jun/9/23

Mr. Kevin Vuong (Spadina—Fort York, Ind.)

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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Member of Parliament

Kevin Vuong