Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Senator Gold, we’ve all read that the Government of Pakistan is forcing millions of Afghan refugees to return to Afghanistan. This is not just shocking; it’s against international law and puts many lives at risk.

I know there are Afghans who have been accepted into Canada as refugees but haven’t been able to leave Pakistan. Many of them are Hazara minorities. They are now being forced back to Pakistan, which puts them obviously at further risk of persecution by the Taliban.

What is our government doing to ensure these refugees are allowed to exit Pakistan and come to Canada?

Senator Omidvar: I’m encouraged by your statement that the Government of Canada is in dialogue with the Government of Pakistan. The forced return of refugees, also known as refoulement is against international human rights, humanitarian and customary law.

In the conversations with the Government of Pakistan, what is Canada doing to push countries — not just Pakistan but others as well, I imagine — to meet international legal obligations, including the principle of non-refoulement and to stop the crackdown against Afghan refugees?

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Senator Gold, I have a question for you, and it is about immigration. A study by the Desjardins group has determined that planned large-scale immigration — planned by the government; I support it; you know that — will lead to higher real GDP growth at the national level and in all Canadian provinces. At the same time, the impact on per capita real GDP growth is more mixed, depending on where immigrants settle and possibly how quickly they are able to use their education and qualifications in the employment market. However, there is a real knock-on effect on housing. The current supply of housing is insufficient. This will lead to increased pressure in housing prices, and the impact will be felt across the country.

Senator Gold, my question to you is this: What is the government planning to do to increase the housing supply in Canada for Canadians and immigrants?

Senator Omidvar: Thank you for that answer, Senator Gold. The report by Desjardins also points to a solution, and that is the dispersion of immigrants to all parts of our country, not just the hot spots of B.C. and Ontario, in particular, to the Prairie provinces. They note that this would decrease the pressure on housing prices and housing affordability in certain parts of Canada and provide a substantive offset to the impact of higher immigration on home prices.

Can you help us understand the government’s current plan with the current immigration numbers for better distribution of immigrants across the country? Thank you, Senator Gold.

Senator Omidvar: Senator Gold, there is a rather straightforward solution, which is that the federal government should allow international students to tap into settlement supports. In this case, they may not fall vulnerable to extortion in housing and through extortion of other kinds that has led them, as we know — these are anecdotes but they are serious — to suicide, sex trafficking, et cetera.

Will the government consider opening up settlement supports throughout the country to international foreign students in need?

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: My question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Senator Gold, I wish to draw our attention to the growing stories of abuse that international students are facing when they come to Canada. I think we all appreciate the boost to our economy — close to $24 billion — and the boost to the bottom line of post-secondary educational institutions, but the underbelly of abuse is a stain on our reputation. I hope you agree with me on that.

While I understand that education is a provincial responsibility, the granting of visas for students is solely a federal one. Can you tell me if the government is taking this seriously and what, if anything, they are doing to correct the situation?

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: My question is for Senator Gold, the Government Representative in the Senate. Senator Gold, last week Statistics Canada released a report that noted that more than 8.3 million people, roughly 23% of our population in Canada, is today either a landed immigrant or were at some point. Most of them, we know, will go on to become citizens.

Today, we learned that the government has a new target for immigration over the next three years: By the year 2025, we will be bringing in 500,000 immigrants per year. I think this is a good thing. Immigration done well benefits us all.

But the really encouraging thing, Senator Gold, in all of this is that immigrants are no longer simply choosing “MTV” — Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver — but going to other places. The Maritimes is a big winner. Wonderful. However, it does not appear that the government is matching the increase in immigration with an increase in settlement funding.

In Nova Scotia, for example, where the increase is significant, the number of immigrants between 2018 and 2021 increased by 51%. Congratulations, Nova Scotia. But the funding for their primary settlement agency, Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia, or ISANS, increased only by 7%. The agency reported to The Globe and Mail that they were having significant challenges keeping up with the pace of demand.

Can you tell us, Senator Gold, if the government is planning to — in a parallel — increase the funding for settlement agencies in Nova Scotia and, indeed, across Canada to keep pace with the increase in immigration?

Senator Omidvar: Thank you, Senator Gold, for that fulsome answer. I’m glad to have given you advance notice of it.

I do have an area of concern, though. In the next three years, the government is planning to increase immigration in almost every category, but by the year 2025, its target for refugees will decrease by roughly 2,600 or more.

Given all the turmoil in the world, given the 100 million displaced people in the world, our own pride in being a country of refuge, Senator Gold, are we turning our back on our own brand?

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Honourable senators, my question is once again about Afghanistan.

We all know how brutal that regime is. As an example, a few weeks ago Yama Naseemi, a young 24-year-old boy who applied for protection to Canada, was shot brutally outside his home in Kabul. His application was supported by Operation Abraham, which is headed up by former minister of justice Irwin Cotler.

We know that we have promised to resettle 40,000 Afghan refugees. We know that roughly 13,000 have applied to come, but the point of protecting vulnerable refugees is that they need to be protected soon, and quickly. That should be our operating motto. Senator Gold, can you tell me what new efforts the government is making to extract those most vulnerable in Afghanistan and bring them to safety?

Senator Omidvar: Thank you, Senator Gold. That was very fulsome answer. I appreciate that.

Although Afghanistan is not Syria — the context is extremely different — I also want to give credit to the government for that Herculean effort just six years ago. That history, I think, is still fresh in our minds.

The government has so far produced three reports outlining the lessons learned from that experience. My concern is that the lessons learned may well be lessons lost, because we’re not applying them. Can you tell me what the government is doing to train Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC, staff so that they can be better prepared for these crises, which will no doubt come again, and apply them at this moment to Afghanistan?

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Honourable senators, my question is for Senator Gold, and it is about Ukraine. As you know, there are two paths for entry into Canada for visitors. In one stream, citizens of countries like the U.K., Italy, Portugal, Spain and countries like Poland, Latvia, Mexico and Croatia fill out an online form and get a response within a day authorizing their entrance into Canada. It runs smooth as silk.

The second stream, which includes countries like Russia, but also Ukraine, must fill out a fairly onerous application, file it with the embassy, stand in line to get the authorization, stand in line to get the stamp, and, of course, this could be fine in ordinary times.

These are not ordinary times for Ukraine. More than 165,000 Ukrainians have applied for entry into Canada, but only 54,000 have been authorized under the new emergency travel program. Therefore, we’re looking at yet another backlog in an already backlogged system.

Today, at the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, we heard from Minister Joly who declared that Canada is Ukraine’s best friend.

Will Canada act as a best friend and extend express travel authorization for Ukrainians as well?

Senator Omidvar: I should remark that the sound quality is pretty bad, and I only heard a small portion of what Senator Gold said. I will read it in Hansard, but perhaps you would note this, Your Honour.

Senator Gold, Canada is incredibly fortunate to have the second-largest Ukrainian diaspora in the world. As we know, they’re deeply connected to friends, families and communities and are deeply concerned about them because they are now living in unimaginable precariousness and danger.

Will the government announce new numbers for private sponsorship so that the energy and enthusiasm of Ukrainian Canadians can be a bridge to safety for vulnerable Ukrainians?

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Honourable senators, I, too, would like to congratulate Senator Griffin for an outstanding term in the Senate.

My question is for the representative of the government in the Senate. Senator Gold, just a few weeks ago Minister Fraser, the Minister of Immigration, announced an ambitious immigration plan. However, as we know, events overtake plans, and the events of the last week in Ukraine perhaps more than most.

Will the government make additional commitments on top of the stated levels to accommodate a wave of Ukrainian refugees without impinging on its commitments to Afghan and other refugees?

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Honourable senators, my question is for Senator Gold, the representative of the government in the Senate.

Senator Gold, I, too, will stick with Afghanistan. My question is about the many Afghan human rights defenders, interpreters, former colleagues of the Government of Canada, Canada’s Armed Forces and Canadian civil society organizations and others who meet all the explicit and stated criteria for resettlement in Canada. However, their files appear to be stuck in bureaucratic logjams. I have to conclude that this happens because there are three different ministries, often with different mandates, protocols and priorities. They are Global Affairs Canada, Public Safety Canada and IRCC.

Senator Gold, can you tell us if the government has or is planning to initiate a high-level cabinet committee comprised of the three ministers of these departments? Only they can break these logjams, not the bureaucrats. Such a proposal has been made in a non-partisan manner by three leaders we all know from different corners of the political spectrum. They are Peter MacKay, former Minister of Foreign Affairs; Ed Broadbent, the former leader of the NDP; and Allan Rock, former Attorney General of Canada.

Is the government planning to act on this sage and sound advice from the voices of experience?

Senator Omidvar: Senator Gold, yesterday we heard from Senator Simons about private sponsors being ready, willing, able, on standby and waiting for refugees to arrive. The issue is the caps on privately sponsored refugees that are put on by the government. In the last Syrian refugee crisis, the government lifted that cap.

Will the government also allow these caps to be lifted this time around? People are on standby and refugees are in need of help. It seems to be a simple, magical solution. Over to you, Senator Gold.

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Honourable senators, my question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, I have been persistent in my questions to you about the Afghanistan file, and I have been persistently critical of the government’s handling of the situation. But I’m a fair person, and fair is fair. I was delighted to learn about the chartered flight last week and the arrival of 250 Afghan refugees. Of course, I was doubly delighted to learn that they would be resettled in Canada with the help of private sponsors.

Behind the headlines, I can see that many public servants likely worked around the clock night and day to make this happen. My commendations to them, the government and our public servants.

So you can expect what my question is: When can we expect the next flight to arrive?

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: My question is for the representative of the government, and it is about Raif Badawi, a political prisoner in Saudi Arabia who has been jailed for his beliefs since 2012. Irwin Cotler, Canada’s former attorney general, has been advocating on Mr. Badawi’s behalf.

Eight months ago, the House of Commons passed a motion calling on the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to grant citizenship to Raif Badawi by exercising his discretion under section 5 of the Citizenship Act, which authorizes him to grant citizenship to any person to alleviate unusual and special hardships. Six months later, on June 3, 2021, this chamber passed the same motion, led by our colleague Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne. When will the government follow the will of both houses of Parliament and grant Raif Badawi Canadian citizenship?

Senator Omidvar: Thank you, Senator Gold. I look forward to hearing from you on that response, as does Mr. Cotler.

I understand that citizenship applications are backlogged for many because of the virus, but we have families who have been waiting for close to two or three years to get an initial response to their application, even though we significantly increased the budget of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC, last year, and the Budget Implementation Act, or BIA.

As one example, members of the Syrian family I sponsored in 2016 were disappointed that they could not vote in the last Canadian election because they were not yet citizens. Their 16‑year-old son, who is a graduate of high school, desperately wants to join the Canadian Armed Forces, but he cannot because he is not yet a Canadian citizen.

I hope you will agree with me, Senator Gold, when I say: What more could this country want from its refugees? Will you kindly inquire into these delays for many anxious wannabe Canadians?

Senator Omidvar: Senator Gold, I draw your attention to the safe houses in Kabul that are being operated by former members of the Canadian Armed Forces. Our veterans have stepped up to the plate and are raising money so that Afghan interpreters and their families can be safe while efforts are being made for their evacuation. Their money has run out and these safe houses are being closed.

Can you tell us whether the Canadian government is going to fund these safe houses to support the safety of Afghan interpreters, and their families, who worked alongside our troops?

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: My question is for Senator Gold, the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

My question, Senator Gold is about Afghanistan and our obligations to those who are in danger because they worked alongside Canadian Forces, Canadian NGOs, journalists and activists. Now they are in danger and Canadians believe it is our moral imperative to bring them to safety.

However, the government’s good intentions — and I want to grant that the government does have good intentions — must be followed through with execution and implementation. By all accounts, we are failing significantly on that front.

Why is the government not taking a leaf out of the Syrian refugee playbook? If there is a key lesson to take forward from our response from that time, it is this: A deadline serves all parts of the system, political and bureaucratic, to get to the finish line.

When will the government outline a detailed plan, with timelines, to bring Afghan refugees to Canada?