Government admits to error in refugee law

Parliament must pass new legislation to fix it, experts say

needs to introduce and pass a new law.

“They can’t undo what they’ve done,” he said. “The only way to undo it is for Parliament to undo it.”

Edelmann said the error occurred because the Protecting Canada’s Refugee System Act overlaps two earlier pieces of refugee legislation and the wording in the coming-into-force provisions was not specific enough. The government basically “got caught in (its) own tangled omnibus web of overlapping amendments,” he argued.

He said it’s “one example of unintended consequences” of the bill, and he expects there will be more since it involved “massive changes taken with limited consultation.”

Asylum claimants facing detention, he said, are already experiencing difficulty filling out the necessary forms, and he expects there will be “serious procedural and logistical problems” trying to meet the timelines set out for refugee hearings.

NDP immigration critic Jinny Sims said it’s “another example” of the Conservative government “rushing through legislation ... without thinking through all the ramifications.”

As the government has yet to actually address the problem, despite promises it’s “looking at options,” she said it leaves some of the “most vulnerable people” in a grey area because they’re not sure of their rights.

“I think the Conservatives need to do two things. One, they need to address the mistake they made and make it right,” Sims said. “The second thing they need to do is look at the way they do legislation ... This is another example of a lack of due diligence.”

Besides creating the new Refugee Appeal Division and setting new rules on who can access it, Bill C-31 aims to deport failed asylum seekers more quickly and crack down on human smugglers and those who use their services.