(Ottawa) The Bloc Québécois proposes the activation of an “emergency component” at the Department of Immigration as soon as a crisis leads to a flood of refugees like the one triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine or the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan.
Posted at 11:03 a.m.
This way of doing things should include, according to the political party, the establishment of a special emergency visa, an expanded sponsorship program and the partial lifting of requirements for collecting biometric data.
The Bloc immigration spokesperson, Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, presented the series of measures Monday in a press briefing as constituting “a toolbox” that can be prepared upstream, through administrative changes, at Immigration , Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
The member for Lac-Saint-Jean acknowledged that some of these actions had already been taken regarding the reception of Ukrainians fleeing the war, such as the alleviation of part of the requirements to provide biometric data. However, he maintained that the Bloc proposal would make it possible to act in a timely manner, which was far from being done in his eyes.
“There are things that have been put in place that are good. Unfortunately, the government’s response speed is far too slow when a crisis arises,” he summed up.
The “emergency component” would also provide for the organization of chartered flights, which the Bloc Québécois calls “air gateways”. Three chartered flights recently transported approximately 900 Ukrainians to Canada, but the Bloc Québécois believes that this is insufficient and that it happened too late.
The Bloc proposal also includes a “Reserve force of immigration officers” that can be deployed in times of crisis, in addition to a plan for the “opening of emergency visa offices”. .
“These crises will happen more and more frequently due to climate change, among other things. […] [Et] this government is currently always reacting and what we are proposing to it is to prevent in order to better heal,” said Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.
He said he had a meeting scheduled with Immigration Minister Sean Fraser before the end of the parliamentary session on June 23 and that he certainly intended to raise this issue.