Hon. Marie-Françoise Mégie: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, my question has to do with the ninth report of the Auditor General of Canada regarding the backlog of permanent residency applications at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or the IRCC.

The IRCC currently has about 2,600 employees, but the target for the number of cases that must be processed has increased by 50% from 2018 to 2023, going from 310,000 to 465,000 cases. If the government intends to increase the target to 500,000, will it also hire more people to ensure more humane working conditions for the staff processing these cases?

Senator Mégie: In the same report by the Auditor General, we learned that applications from people coming from Haiti are almost automatically processed manually, which unduly increases processing times.

Could we simplify the immigration process in Canada to keep those processing times from becoming the equivalent of a death sentence for some asylum seekers?

Hon. Marie-Françoise Mégie: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, in the wake of Minister Miller’s announcement last week, Le Devoir published an article today entitled “Ottawa accusé de faire marche arrière sur son engagement humanitaire après Roxham,” or “Ottawa accused of walking back its humanitarian engagement after Roxham.” Here’s part of what it says:

“I think the meaning of ‘humanitarian’ is being twisted,” said Adèle Garnier, a professor in the department of geography at Université Laval. She believes it is clear that temporary foreign workers “are not humanitarian migrants” according to the traditional definition because this kind of program exists “specifically to meet economic needs.”

According to the article, even though there is already a family reunification program, “The 11,000 Colombians, Venezuelans and Haitians will qualify if a member of their extended family is already in Canada.”

Senator Gold, when will we learn the details of the new program Minister Miller announced, and when will it be on stream?

Hon. Marie-Françoise Mégie: Thank you for your response, Senator Gold. If I may make a suggestion: In response to the humanitarian emergency in Haiti, the United States has taken a unilateral approach with its H-1B1 visa in order to welcome Haitian nationals.

In light of this humanitarian emergency, what is stopping Canada from taking such an approach?

Senator Mégie: Thank you for your answer, Senator Gold. I just wanted to add a detail: We have heard a lot about immigrant students who want to come to Canada. However, as soon as they fill out the forms, they automatically receive a rejection.

Are there any specific guidelines that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada could adopt to correct this problem and thereby reduce the growing gap between the francophone and anglophone populations?

Hon. Marie-Françoise Mégie: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate, Senator Gold. As an immigrant, I am delighted that the Government of Canada is planning to increase its immigration targets. We know that, demographically, a population can grow in three ways: through increased fertility, and we will give that some thought; through decreased mortality, which we are already seeing; or through increased immigration. Our current population growth is primarily the result of immigration, which continues to shape who we are as Canadians. However, from one census to the next, the proportion of francophones in Canada is shrinking. What percentage of French-speaking immigrants has our government set as a target for Canada to become a truly bilingual country again?

Hon. Marie-Françoise Mégie: Thank you, Senator Gold. The point of my first question was that, with more money allocated to development assistance, we could afford to go and get most of the civilians fleeing the war. Ottawa has agreed to extend emergency stays for Ukrainians fleeing war to three years and to make it easier for them to work in Canada.

Through the efforts of the African Canadian Association of Ottawa, more than 1,200 students are now in a position to continue their studies. According to Boulou Ebanda de B’béri, a professor and special advisor on anti-racism and inclusive excellence at the University of Ottawa, the biggest challenge is getting Immigration Canada to accept them. He has written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ensure that Black students from Ukraine can benefit from the expedited programs introduced for Ukrainians.

Does the government plan to grant that request?