No new powers to revoke refugee status

Re: “Welcome to Canada – unless we change our mind” (Editorial, March 1).

Your editorial wrongly claims that Bill C-31, Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act, includes a new power that allows the minister of citizenship and immigration to revoke permanent-resident status from refugees in Canada. This is completely false. As is the case under the current refugee system, only the independent and quasijudicial Immigration and Refugee Board can decide to revoke refugee status and permanent residency, not the minister. Revocation is decided by the IRB on a case-by-case basis, and mainly in cases in which refugee status was fraudulently obtained or is no longer justified.

The authority of the independent IRB to revoke the status of fraudulent refugees is not a new power. The current Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which came into effect in 2002 (and before that, immigration legislation dating back to 1989), has always included this authority, and for good reason.

Under existing law, refugee status can be removed by the IRB if it is found that someone has gained refugee status in Canada fraudulently. This can include cases in which someone returns to their country of alleged persecution shortly after they receive status. That is because the test for determining whether someone is a refugee is that he or she has a “wellfounded fear of persecution” and “is unable or, by reason of that fear, unwilling to avail themself of the protection of (their country of nationality).” Therefore, if someone returns to their country of alleged persecution, it is strong evidence that they are not actually a legitimate refugee.

In other words, this revocation power is only used when it is clear that someone received refugee status in Canada through fraud or misrepresentation and is not actually persecuted in his or her country of origin. Bill C-31 only modifies the current law by changing the current redundant process for revoking fraudulently obtained refugee status and permanent residency in two separate steps, to a one-step process at the independent IRB that revokes both simultaneously. It is an administrative change, and not a new authority.

It is simply incorrect to suggest that C-31 includes any new powers, or loosens any of the criteria in Canada’s immigration laws pertaining to the removal of refugee status. The reasons for revoking refugee status and, as a result, permanent residency remain exactly the same as under the current system. And, as is the case under current immigration laws, only the independent IRB can make that decision, not the minister. The Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act will make our refugee system fast and fair, ensuring that bona fide refugees quickly receive Canada’s protection, and that those who abuse Canada’s generosity and do not require our protection are quickly removed.

Jason Kenney Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism

Ottawa