LATEST NEWS – On June 15, MPs from all parties gave final approval for Bill C-11, the Balanced Refugee Reform Act. The Bill is now moving to the Senate for consideration. Read CIC’s press release.
On March 30, 2010, the government tabled legislation in the House of Commons to reform Canada’s Inland Refugee Protection System, Bill C-11. The Bill sets out to make the refugee claim process faster and fairer. Notably, it implements a full appeal of the first decision on a refugee claim to a new Refugee Appeals Division. Peter Showler, Director of the Refugee Forum at the University of Ottawa writes that “The government has made a practical and legitimate attempt to balance fairness with prompt refugee claim processing. As usual, with such a complex system of refugee determination, the devil will indeed be in the details.”
- Read Peter Showler’s full commentary.
- Read Peter Showler’s op-ed in the Ottawa Citizen: Toward fast and fair
- Read Peter Showler’s op-ed in the Edmonton Journal: Claims delayed by Tory gov’t delay
Links to government pages
- Citizenship and Immigration news release: Balanced reforms planned for Canada’s asylum system
- Citizenship and Immigration summary page: Balanced Refugee Reform
May 5, 2010: Canadian Council for Refugees: Submission on the refugee reform bill, Bill C-11 (link to PDF)
April 19, 2010: Reaction from the Canadian Council for Refugees (link to PDF)
Selected media articles
June 16, 2010
- Embassy Magazine: Too early for congratulations on refugee reforms
June 15, 2010
- National Post: Refugee reform bill given speedy final approval
June 14, 2010
- Toronto Star: Miracle deal on the Hill
June 10, 2010
- CBC News: Refugee reform deal ‘win-win’: Kenney
- Globe and Mail: Conservatives work deal with Bloc, NDP on refugee reform
- Winnipeg Free Press: Tories reach deal with NDP, Bloc on passing refugee reform bill
May 4, 2010
- National Post: Kenney warns against gutting refugee reforms
- Toronto Star: Refugee reforms trade fairness for haste
May 3, 2010
- Media Release: Liberals call for key changes to refugee reform bill
- National Post: Refugees from Mexico’s drug war get chilly reception in Canada
April 23, 2010
- Lawyers Weekly: Timelines mar refugee system overhaul: lawyers
April 14, 2010
- Canadian Catholic News: Immigration reforms will provide speedier help for refugees
April 12, 2010
- Metro News: Who gets to decide what countries are ‘safe?’
April 11, 2010
April 9, 2010
- Montreal Gazette: Ottawa’s fast-track refugee bill is a rush to judgment
- Winnipeg Free Press: Kenney willing to tweak refugee reform bill
April 8, 2010
- The Chronicle Herald (Halifax): Strong support for bill to streamline refugee asylum process
April 7, 2010
- Embassy Magazine: No trace of ‘safe’ in refugee legislation
April 5, 2010
- Metro News: A closer look at proposed refugee reforms
- Montreal Gazette: Quicker refugee hearings put ‘genuine’ claimants at most risk: Critics
April 4, 2010
- Calgary Herald: Writing our refugee rules
- Toronto Star: Will new bill save the refugee mess?
April 1, 2010:
- Globe and Mail editorial: Reforming a broken system
- Globe and Mail: When it comes to refugee claims, it’s pretty easy to ID the ‘safe’ countries (by Margaret Wente)
- Toronto Star editorial: A good start on refugee reforms
March 31, 2010:
- Embassy Magazine: Kenney accused of using UN refugees as ‘blackmail’ to pass reforms
- Globe and Mail: Order out of chaos – why refugee reform makes sense (by Jeffrey Simpson)
- National Post editorial board: Welcome refugee reforms
- Wall Street Journal: Canada Takes Aim at Asylum Laws
March 30, 2010:
- CBC News: Proposed refugee law speeds process: Kenney
- Globe and Mail: Refugee bill speeds decisions, deportations
- Globe and Mail: Kenney proposes a two-stream approach to refugee reform
- The Toronto Star: Ottawa plans refugee process overhaul
- National Post: Welcome mat put out, pulled away
Additional work by Peter Showler
Fast, Fair and Final: Reforming Canada’s Refugee System. Maytree, 2009.
This report puts forward a proposal for reforming the inland refugee system. The proposal recognizes that it is difficult to make decisions about refugee status. It is therefore important to have a dedicated and professional tribunal. The report identifies the need for an appeal process and good legal counsel. With these steps in place, the author suggests that the Pre-removal Risk Assessment, most Humanitarian and Compassionate applications, as well as their related judicial reviews will no longer be necessary. If this proposal were implemented, the entire process would only take thirteen months.
Making their Mark: Canada’s Young Refugees. Celebrating Ten Years of the Maytree Scholarship Program. Maytree, 2009.
This documents highlights the success of Maytree’s Scholarship program, which provides financial student aid to young refugees living in Canada without family in Canada. The students’ scholastic and professional success is chronicled. The report includes an essay by Peter Showler which suggests a number of reforms to improve the system.
Maytree Policy Insights – From Insecurity to Prosperity: Practical Ideas for a Stronger Canada. Maytree, 2010.
This document is a must-read for policy makers and practitioners who are interested in ideas that reduce poverty and promote inclusion. The ideas have been prepared by Maytree’s policy partners on issues such as employment insurance, caregiver benefits, community engagement, diversity in the arts, immigration and refugee policy.
Refugee Sandwich: Stories of Exile and Asylum. Montreal: McGill University Press, 2006.
This book describes the inland refugee system from the perspective of various players including legal counsel, federal court judges, interpreters, hearing officers, claimants and board members. The stories included provide insight into the complexities of making refugee decisions.