(Chair) in the chair.

[English]

Honourable senators, I begin by welcoming members of the committee and members of the public watching our proceedings. My name is Ratna Omidvar, senator from Ontario, and I am chair of this committee.

Let us introduce ourselves to the public and our witnesses.

Colleagues, we will proceed to clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-242, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (temporary resident visas for parents and grandparents).

Before we begin, I would like to remind senators of a number of points. If at any point, a senator is not clear where we are in the process, please ask for clarification. I want to always ensure that we all have the same understanding of where we are in this process.

As chair, it is my job to do my utmost to ensure that all senators wishing to speak, have the opportunity to do so. For this, I need to depend, however, on your cooperation. I ask all of you to consider other senators and to keep your remarks to the point and as brief as possible.

Should we overlook your hand in our lineup of speakers, please don’t hesitate to do whatever you think is necessary to catch our attention.

Finally, I wish to remind honourable senators that if there is any uncertainty as to the results of a voice vote or a show of hands, the most effective route is to request a roll call vote, which obviously provides unambiguous results. Senators are aware that any tied vote negates the motion in question.

Are there any questions on process? If not, we can now proceed.

Colleagues, is it agreed that the committee proceeds to clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-242, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (temporary resident visas for parents and grandparents)?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Thank you. Shall the title stand postponed?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Shall clause 1, which contains the short title, stand postponed?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Shall clause 2 carry?

Of course.

Shall clause 3 carry?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Shall clause 4 carry?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Shall clause 5 carry?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Shall clause 1, which contains the short title, carry?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Shall the title carry?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Shall the bill carry?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Does the committee wish to consider appending observations to the report? I know that there are observations, colleagues. We have two submitted to us from Senator McPhedran.

Colleagues, does the committee wish to discuss observations in public or in camera?

In public. Colleagues, we have two draft observations prepared by Senator McPhedran, which were circulated to you yesterday. The page is providing copies if you require one. There’s an updated version of the observation coming around.

Yes, it’s updated. We’re going to get it to you for your eyes, and in Senator McPhedran’s absence, I will read it out.

Do we all have a copy in both official languages? Yes? We have it in both languages. Thank you.

The observation states, and I will read this out:

Your committee heard from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada that allowing super visa applicants to purchase foreign medical insurance may introduce changes to the existing insurance regulatory framework. Your committee notes that Bill C-242 is devoid of any implementation framework for the creation and ongoing monitoring of a vetting process for international insurance providers, which may cause potential difficulties in compiling a list of foreign insurance providers that comply with existing federal and provincial-territorial regulatory requirements.

The committee therefore recommends that extensive consultation and research be carried out in conjunction with provincial and territorial partners, regulators and health sector experts before approving any foreign insurance providers.

Is the observation agreed?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

The second observation is this:

The Committee observes possible legislative redundancy because the stated objectives of Bill C-242 may be accomplished under the current Ministerial Instructions framework regarding parent and grandparent super visas, and recommends that attention be paid to ensuring administrative efficiency in the implementation of Bill C-242.

Is this agreed, colleagues?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

Can someone help us with the French version of these observations?

I’m not the author of this, so I am at a bit of a loss here.

Many of us were here, and we have had this issue of the validity of the insurance-provider list. We called the government back twice.