Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: My question is for the government leader in the Senate.

Senator Gold, my office has yet again received disturbing reports regarding online citizenship application procedures.

A permanent resident cardholder applied for their citizenship online and was sent a citizenship test link. However, the instructions clearly stated that they could only complete this online test between 12 a.m. and 1 a.m. that night. Fortunately, the applicant was aware of standard procedure and was ultimately given 21 days to complete the test.

Many applicants have undoubtedly found themselves in this situation, which is unacceptable and applies unnecessary additional stress on applicants who are not aware of their rights. My question, Senator Gold, is: What is being done to rectify these mistakes?

Senator Ataullahjan: Senator Gold, these mistakes do not end there. We have also heard reports of frequent errors in the system that lead applicants to believe their oath ceremonies have been scheduled, only for them to be cancelled at the last minute. These administrative errors can have important consequences on applicants’ emotions and schedules.

Senator Gold, the citizenship process in Canada is lengthy, stressful and filled with administrative hurdles. Why do such administrative mistakes continue to happen?

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: My question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Senator Gold, last Thursday I asked about the unacceptable wait time for visitor visas for Pakistan, which was 638 days. Yesterday, I heard from community members that it has gone up this week to 802 days — this is inhumane.

Leader, that means that family members have to wait for almost two years to be able to visit their loved ones. What is being done to reduce the wait time for visas?

Senator Ataullahjan: Senator Gold, you talk about the process being faster, and it has been digitized; yet, between last Thursday and this Wednesday, the wait time has gone up to 802 days.

Senator Gold, I want to read to you one of the messages I received:

Why are we suffering the most? We are contributing to the workforce, paying taxes and yet no one is helping us. The Canadian United Arab Emirates visa office is the most painful visa office.

What do I say to this gentleman and others who feel abandoned by this Liberal government?

Senator Ataullahjan: Senator Gold, you talk about the process being faster, and it has been digitized; yet, between last Thursday and this Wednesday, the wait time has gone up to 802 days.

Senator Ataullahjan: Senator Gold, you talk about the process being faster, and it has been digitized; yet, between last Thursday and this Wednesday, the wait time has gone up to 802 days.

Senator Gold, I want to read to you one of the messages I received:

Why are we suffering the most? We are contributing to the workforce, paying taxes and yet no one is helping us. The Canadian United Arab Emirates visa office is the most painful visa office.

What do I say to this gentleman and others who feel abandoned by this Liberal government?

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Senator Gold, I have been approached by community members at gatherings and events and have received countless emails and text messages regarding the wait times for visitor visas for Pakistan. According to the government’s website, for other countries in the region, it can be as little as 18 days. However, for Pakistan, it is 638 days for a visitor visa. I’ve been sent copies of applications, and my community is waiting for answers. People’s lives are on hold, and these wait times are totally unacceptable.

When will the Canadian visa office be shifted back to Pakistan to help expedite the processing time for visitor visas?

Senator Ataullahjan: Senator Gold, I have asked three former Liberal immigration ministers and the current minister, Minister Fraser, when the visa office would be shifted back to Islamabad. Pakistan, at one time, was not considered a safe country. However, most of our allies have their embassies open. It has become a family station again. Canada continues to have an office in Abu Dhabi, which adds to the wait times.

I have brought up the issue to the current immigration minister, Minister Fraser. The response I always get is, “We are aware of the issue. It has been brought to our attention.”

If the Liberal government is aware of the issue, why is it not acting on it? Why is it not attempting to fix the problem?

Senator Ataullahjan: Government leader, Mr. Saberi is one of many Afghans. If you remember, I raised the case of Mr. Haqmal, the interpreter who was stuck in Ukraine and who has since moved to Germany. He is still waiting for his papers. These people risked their lives working alongside our soldiers and diplomats. Yet, they have been effectively abandoned by your government and are now being targeted by the Taliban. After the Taliban’s takeover, the Trudeau government promised to rescue 40,000 Afghans to Canada, but IRCC says only 19,395 Afghans have arrived since August 2021.

Why is your government not doing everything in its power to bring these people to safety? Do you not realize that their lives are at stake?

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Last week, The Globe and Mail reported on the case of Mohammad Salim Saberi, a former guard at Canada’s embassy in Kabul who was attacked by the Taliban earlier this month leaving him with a broken thumb. Mr. Saberi believes that they are also tracking and following him. Since then, he has gone into hiding as he waits to be approved for resettlement by IRCC.

It has been more than a year since he first started asking to be rescued. This is not the first Trudeau government failure to secure the safety of Afghans in need of help. What is taking so long? What steps, if any, is your government taking to bring Mr. Saberi, and others who find themselves in this situation, safely home to Canada?

Senator Ataullahjan: Senator Gold, there were over 110,000 refugee applications yet to be processed by April 26, and many applicants live in horrible conditions, often in a refugee colony, while they await a decision from the IRCC. These delays are putting LGBT refugees’ lives at risk on a daily basis and greatly affecting their mental health. To make matters worse, they are often persecuted by other refugees and the police. Senator Gold, these vulnerable refugees live in constant fear for their lives. Why is your government not doing more to help them? How much longer do they have to wait?

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Leader in the Senate. Senator Gold, last week we learned that a Saskatoon resident has been trying for 19 years to bring his parents, who fled from Afghanistan to Pakistan when the Taliban took over in the late 1990s, to Canada.

There was some progress last July: They rented a house for a year, furnished it and they have been paying for an empty house since. His parents, who now live in a refugee colony, have repeatedly sold everything every time there was a movement on their file. Senator Gold, this is not an isolated case. The family has been trying to reunite for over 19 years, well before COVID-19, and has been repeatedly let down by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. What is being done to ensure that applications do not fall through the cracks?

Senator Ataullahjan: Senator Gold, there is mounting evidence showing Canada’s mismanagement of rescue efforts in Afghanistan. A quick extraction force sat idly at a Kuwaiti air force base for days. A Canadian embassy staffer publicly outed an interpreter and safe house facilitator. The video shows Canadian soldiers ignoring Global Affairs Canada-approved evacuees at the Kabul airport.

There have also been reports of evacuees with perfect paperwork being turned away and of families being separated at checkpoints, leaving spouses and children behind because of trivial inconsistencies with their documents. Why is our government continually placing paperwork above saving lives?

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: My question is for the government leader in the Senate.

Senator Gold, last fall, an investigation by “The Fifth Estate” revealed that the office of the Minister of Immigration was aware of the urgency needed to take decisive action and bring our interpreters to safety in Canada. As early as February 2020, the Minister of Immigration was contacted by Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski. An article published this morning by the National Post revealed Mr. Powlowski had pushed to rescue Afghan interpreters weeks before Kabul fell, citing credible evidence of an imminent Taliban attack against Canadian interpreters and concerns brought to him by an Aman Lara co-founder.

While strict paperwork rules and deadlines imposed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC, led to hundreds of desperate evacuees exposing themselves to Taliban collaborators by rushing to local internet cafés to complete the application, Jeff Valois, who was at the time an advisor to the Prime Minister, allegedly ordered Powlowski to stay in his lane and to let professionals in the ministries handle it.

Senator Gold, in light of the growing number of blunders committed by our government, many are losing faith in Canada’s rescue efforts. Why is our government playing political games instead of saving lives?

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader in the Senate.

Senator Gold, Jawed Ahmad Haqmal, an Afghan interpreter saved the lives of Canadian soldiers during the war by intercepting a radio transmission while pretending to be a Taliban commander and effectively neutralizing a planned ambush. He was a marked man from that day onwards, he told me.

Today, Haqmal, along with his pregnant wife, four children and seven relatives have been stuck in Kiev for the past five months after fleeing Kabul. They have an expired Ukrainian humanitarian visa, no money, and no one in the family has a winter coat. They face the growing threat of a Russian invasion. Despite having been told by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada that his claim has been accepted, he remains trapped in Ukraine.

Senator Gold, I have spoken with Jawed and only got a glimpse of his desperate situation. How is the government planning to help Jawed Ahmad Haqmal and his family in Ukraine?

Senator Ataullahjan: Senator Gold, our government has ordered Canadians to leave Ukraine because of security and safety reasons. Additionally, Canada has issued a travel advisory over heightened concerns of a Russian invasion.

Senator Gold, I have learned that Jawed has been contacting friends and family in the hopes of getting money to feed his family. In fact, a reporter at The Globe and Mail has been sending funds for the past five months to pay for his groceries.

Jawed Ahmad Haqmal saved Canadian military lives and has already gone through the gruelling process of escaping the Taliban. Why has the IRCC not prioritized his case?

Senator Ataullahjan: Senator Gold, we are almost two years into this pandemic and little progress has been made to expedite immigration applications.

Most of the department’s in-person offices remain closed and applicants report being unable to communicate with officers unless they hire an immigration consultant, which comes with a hefty fee.

Senator Gold, what measures have been implemented to modernize the IRCC so it can still function in a more virtual world?

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader in the Senate.

Senator Gold, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC, has been experiencing processing delays since the beginning of the pandemic, leaving nearly 1.8 million immigration applicants in limbo.

These bureaucratic roadblocks have very real impacts on the lives of applicants. While they wait for the government to respond, many must live away from family, and for some it has been many years. As a result, they have missed important moments, such as their child’s first step or the death of a loved one. Delays by IRCC have also caused significant financial burdens for applicants.

Senator Gold, families make life-altering sacrifices to come to Canada. The lack of transparency in the immigration process has become harmful and unjust.

When will IRCC release concrete plans to address the backlog of 1.8 million immigration applications?

Senator Ataullahjan: Senator Gold, the government was being open and transparent, and that’s why we called an election on the day Kabul fell.

What do I say to the young man who was already picked up by the Taliban, who jumped out of the car and ran to escape them, running through the markets, whose family is reaching out to me saying they don’t know what to do. They are looking for him. What do I say to him?

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader in the Senate. Yesterday, the Minister of Immigration, Sean Fraser, said it would take two years to bring Afghan refugees to Canada. I understand the challenges, Senator Gold, but given that the government knew the challenges it would face — if not years ago, at least months ago — does the government expect that some of these refugees who are on the run and hiding home to home, who are also facing a humanitarian crisis, will still be alive after two years?

Hon. Salma Ataullahjan: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, a recent CTV News report revealed that a large number of Afghan refugees are living in Canadian “ghost hotels” for months on end. Those hotels lack basic amenities, such as a kitchen and laundry facility. To make matters worse, children are not allowed to go to school. These families often arrive wearing sneakers and sandals that are not appropriate for our harsh winter. They rely on the kindness of neighbours to get their basic needs.

Senator Gold, the government committed to welcoming 40,000 Afghan refugees but is already struggling to provide for fewer than 4,000 Afghans here today. Why has there been no follow-up with those families? What is the government planning to do to help them?