Bill C-12

Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Act

An Act respecting certain measures relating to the security of Canada's borders and the integrity of the Canadian immigration system and respecting other related security measures

Part 1 amends the Customs Act to provide the Canada Border Services Agency with facilities free of charge for carrying out any purpose related to the administration or enforcement of that Act and other Acts of Parliament and to provide officers of that Agency with access at certain locations to goods destined for export. It also includes transitional provisions.
Part 2 amends the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to create a new temporary accelerated scheduling pathway that allows the Minister of Health to add precursor chemicals to Schedule V to that Act. It also makes related amendments to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Police Enforcement) Regulations and the Precursor Control Regulations .
Part 3 amends the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and the Cannabis Act to confirm that the Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, make regulations exempting members of law enforcement from the application of any provision of the Criminal Code that creates drug-related inchoate offences when they are undertaking lawful investigations.
Part 4 amends the Oceans Act to provide that coast guard services include activities related to security and to authorize the responsible minister to collect, analyze and disclose information and intelligence.
Part 5 amends the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Act to authorize the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to disclose, for certain purposes and subject to any regulations, personal information under the control of the Department within the Department and to certain other federal and provincial government entities.
It also amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to authorize the making of regulations relating to the disclosure of information collected for the purposes of that Act to federal departments and agencies.
Part 6 amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to, among other things,
(a) eliminate the designated countries of origin regime;
(b) authorize the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to specify the information and documents that are required in support of a claim for refugee protection;
(c) authorize the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board to determine that claims for refugee protection that have not yet been referred to the Refugee Protection Division have been abandoned in certain circumstances;
(d) provide the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration with the power to determine that claims for refugee protection that have not yet been referred to the Refugee Protection Division have been withdrawn in certain circumstances;
(e) require the Refugee Protection Division and the Refugee Appeal Division to suspend certain proceedings respecting a claim for refugee protection if the claimant is not present in Canada;
(f) clarify that decisions of the Immigration and Refugee Board must be rendered, and reasons for those decisions must be given, in the manner specified by its Chairperson; and
(g) authorize regulations to be made setting out the circumstances in which the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration or the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness must designate, in relation to certain proceedings or applications, a representative for persons who are under 18 years of age or who are unable to appreciate the nature of the proceeding or application.
It also includes transitional provisions.
Part 7 amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to, among other things,
(a) authorize the Governor in Council to make an order specifying that certain applications made under that Act are not to be accepted for processing, or that the processing of those applications is to be suspended or terminated, when the Governor in Council is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to do so;
(b) authorize the Governor in Council to make an order to cancel, suspend or vary certain documents issued under that Act, or to impose or vary conditions, when the Governor in Council is of the opinion that it is in the public interest to do so;
(c) for the application of an order referred to in paragraph (b), require a person to appear for an examination, answer questions truthfully and produce all relevant documents or evidence that an officer requires; and
(d) authorize the Governor in Council to make regulations prescribing circumstances in which a document issued under that Act can be cancelled, suspended or varied, and in which officers may terminate the processing of certain applications made under that Act.
Part 8 amends the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to add two new grounds of ineligibility for claims for refugee protection as well as powers to make regulations respecting exceptions to those new grounds. It also includes a transitional provision respecting the retroactive application of those new grounds.
Part 9 amends the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act to, among other things,
(a) increase the maximum administrative monetary penalties that may be imposed for certain violations and the maximum punishments that may be imposed for certain criminal offences under that Act;
(b) replace the existing optional compliance agreement regime with a new mandatory compliance agreement regime that, among other things,
(i) requires every person or entity that receives an administrative monetary penalty for a prescribed violation to enter into a compliance agreement with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (the Centre),
(ii) requires the Director of the Centre to make a compliance order if the person or entity refuses to enter into a compliance agreement or fails to comply with such an agreement, and
(iii) designates the contravention of a compliance order as a new violation under that Act;
(c) require persons or entities referred to in section 5 of that Act, other than those already required to register, to enroll with the Centre; and
(d) authorize the Centre to disclose certain information to the Commissioner of Canada Elections, subject to certain conditions.
It also makes consequential and related amendments to the Retail Payment Activities Act and the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations and includes transitional provisions.
Part 10 amends the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Act to make the Director of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada a member of the committee established under subsection 18(1) of that Act. It also amends the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act to enable the Director to exchange information with the other members of that committee.
Part 11 amends the Sex Offender Information Registration Act to, among other things,
(a) make certain changes to a sex offender’s reporting obligations, including the circumstances in which they are required to report, the information that must be provided and the time within which it is to be provided;
(b) provide that any of a sex offender’s physical characteristics that may assist in their identification may be recorded when they report to a registration centre;
(c) clarify what may constitute a reasonable excuse for a sex offender’s non-compliance with the requirement to give at least 14 days’ notice prior to a departure from their residence for seven or more consecutive days;
(d) authorize the Canada Border Services Agency to disclose certain information relating to a sex offender’s arrival in and departure from Canada to law enforcement agencies for the purposes of the administration and enforcement of that Act;
(e) authorize, in certain circumstances, the disclosure of information collected under that Act if there are reasonable grounds to believe that it will assist in the prevention or investigation of a crime of a sexual nature; and
(f) clarify that a person who discloses information under section 16 of that Act with the belief that they are acting in accordance with that section is not guilty of an offence under section 17 of that Act.
It also makes a related amendment to the Customs Act .

Strengthening Canada's Immigration System and Borders Act

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to know if my colleague agrees with us and with the customs officers' union. We all agree that there is a staffing problem. It is all well and good to say that staffing levels are going to be increased. It is time to do it. I am not minimizing the issue. There is a staffing problem; there is a staff shortage.

Does my colleague agree that Canada Border Services Agency officers should be allowed to patrol between border crossings? It is not a matter of doing the RCMP's job for them, but about bringing more operational flexibility.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Madam Speaker, of course, we were very disappointed in the Liberal government's failure to hire the 1,000 CBSA officers that were promised and would have strengthened our security at our borders.

Would we support expanding the authority that CBSA officers have in between ports, as they only have jurisdiction within a certain perimeter around each port of entry? I think that should be looked at and considered. It is not a bad idea. We need to strengthen our borders.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Madam Speaker, I understand that, at the health committee, one of our colleagues called on the Liberals to shut down fentanyl consumption sites next to areas with children. However, the Liberal health minister refused to rule out approving more consumption sites next to schools and day cares, despite acknowledging the fentanyl usage in the area.

I live in an area where there is a school downtown and I watch parents walk with their children in the morning out of apprehension. At 4:00 in the morning, there are cleaners out washing the streets because of the dynamics around two consumption sites in my community and near a school.

What would the member say in response to the fact that this is an issue related to families, children and safety in our communities? Police sirens and ambulances are heard night and day. People are living on the street and in the corners of retail spaces in the area where I walk to and from work.

Can the member expand more on how this is even allowed? It is incomprehensible when we think about the value of our children and families.

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member from Saskatchewan for her observations about the damage being done by these supervised injection sites. It is reprehensible and abhorrent that some of these sites are located next to schools where children are exposed to that kind of activity. They also have to be careful that they avoid used needles and other debris and carnage from that kind of activity. I think that needs to be addressed.

I do not think there should be any supervised injection sites at all in Canada. I think we need to treat people. We need to give them hope. We need to help them out of their addiction—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

We are out of time.

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Waterloo, ON]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I did not want to ruin the member's clip, but I think being accurate in this place is important. Applications are made to Health Canada, which can approve or deny them, but Health Canada does not pick the location. Conservatives should stop misleading Canadians.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

That is debate.

Order. It is my duty pursuant to Standing Order 38 to inform the House that the questions to be raised tonight at the time of adjournment are as follows: the hon. member for Haldimand—Norfolk, Justice; the hon. member for Nunavut, Northern Affairs; the hon. member for Terra Nova—The Peninsulas, Oil and Gas Industry.

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

Madam Speaker, after 10 years of Liberal failure, Canadians now face a cost of living crisis, a crime crisis, a housing crisis and a border crisis, and the government has the nerve to stand up here today and pretend that Bill C-12 will strengthen Canada's immigration systems and borders.

This bill will not fix our immigration system and does not protect Canadians. It does little to stop the flow of fentanyl, guns, gangsters or illegal crossings, and most certainly does not defend the rights and freedoms of law-abiding Canadians. This bill is the second attempt at a failed Liberal bill, Bill C-2, which, of course, the Liberals did not spend much time working on over the summer.

Before we even get into Bill C-12, we have to remember how we got here. About a month ago, the Liberals tried to ram through Bill C-2, which would have given them sweeping, warrantless powers to seize Canadians' personal information from banks and telecoms. There would be no warrants, judicial oversight, transparency or respect for the charter or Canadians.

It was so abusive, invasive and offensive to our democratic tradition that the Privacy Commissioner confirmed the Liberals did not even bother to consult him. The Liberals planned a mass surveillance power grab and hoped Canadians would not notice. The Liberals got caught and Conservatives forced them to back down, go back to the drawing board and rewrite this bill.

That is the only reason we are debating Bill C-12 today, because the Liberals' first attempt was exposed as a direct assault on Canadians' privacy, freedom and basic civil liberties. Law-abiding Canadians will not be treated like criminals just because Liberals cannot control the border that they themselves have broken.

Now the Liberals are back with Bill C-12, promising that this time it is different. Conservatives scrutinize every line, every clause, every hidden catch, to ensure the Liberals are not sneaking in another assault on Canadians' rights, freedoms and civil liberties. The Liberal government has forfeited the benefit of the doubt. The Liberal government tried once to spy on Canadians without a warrant; only a fool would trust them a second time.

This bill barely touches on the number one border threat facing this country: the illegal flow of fentanyl, weapons and violent criminals across our border. It makes no mention of the badly needed bail reform to the Liberals' catch-and-release, revolving-door injustice system. It makes no reference to mandatory prison sentences when the Liberals brought house arrest to dozens of serious crimes, cracking down on fentanyl traffickers and gangs doing drive-bys in our once-safe neighbourhoods or hiring more CBSA officers, which the Liberals promised to do in their election platform.

Under the Liberal government, drug traffickers walk free on house arrest, gangsters avoid mandatory jail time and repeat violent offenders are released again and again under Liberal catch-and-release bail. None of this will stop a single fentanyl dealer or gun smuggler with real punishments and consequences.

The government actually believes that someone trafficking poison into our communities should be able to serve their sentence at home, on the couch, watching TV. Remember, the Liberals legalized hard drugs, they brought in taxpayer-funded hard drugs and flooded them into our streets and they also brought in drug consumption sites.

Conservatives believe that fentanyl traffickers and drug kingpins should be in prison and those possessing 40 milligrams or more should be treated like the mass murderers they are and should receive life imprisonment, yet this bill does absolutely nothing to change that.

The Liberals obsess over legal gun owners while doing absolutely nothing to put the gangsters behind bars. The Liberals target law-abiding hunters and farmers while letting fentanyl traffickers out on bail. It is backward and dangerous, and Canadians are paying the price.

While this border crisis spreads fentanyl into our communities, the Liberals are opening and defending drug consumption sites near schools and playgrounds.

Conservatives demanded not too long ago that the Liberals shut down overdose sites next to locations with children. What did the health minister have to say? They refused to rule out approving more drug-injection sites, even though they acknowledged that these sites are filled with rampant fentanyl use.

The Liberals will not reverse the policies that got us into this mess in the first place. The Liberals will not jail fentanyl traffickers. The Liberals will not stop illegal border flows. The Liberals will not ever protect school zones from drug consumption sites. This is not compassion; it is government-orchestrated chaos.

Let us talk about the reality that Bill C-12 pretends it would address, but would not. Canada now has three million temporary residents, over 7% of our population, and that number is going up every day. Canada now has 500,000 undocumented individuals, and that number is also going up every day. Canada has 300,000 asylum claims in the queue, and of course that is also growing every day. The result is that our housing market is collapsing, our health care is collapsing, our job market is collapsing and our communities are simply overwhelmed. The Liberals created chaos, and now they want more power, not to fix it, but to cover up the mess they made.

Let us not forget how much this border crisis is costing taxpayers. Conservatives uncovered just how badly the Liberals have mismanaged the interim federal health program. Under their Liberal government, federal health care costs for asylum claimants have exploded to $456 million per year, representing a 1,186% increase since 2016. Coverage includes benefits that many Canadians pay for out of pocket or do not receive at all, including vision care, counselling, physiotherapy, assistive devices, home care, nursing homes and pharmaceuticals.

Canadians are a compassionate people, but is it really fair for non-citizens to get health care coverage that Canadians themselves do not receive?

There has been a 376% increase in claims and a 1,100% increase in reimbursements since the Liberals took office. The Liberals spent $1.1 billion on hotels for asylum claimants and gave $1.5 billion more to provinces for refugee costs, while Canadian citizens wait in ER hallways, seniors cannot get long-term care and families cannot find a family doctor.

Canadians are compassionate, but is it really fair that non-citizens get better benefits than Canadians and law-abiding newcomers alike who have paid their taxes and paid their dues their entire lives? Only the Liberals could think that was an acceptable situation.

The Liberal Prime Minister and his Liberal MPs have created a system where Canadians wait, Canadians sacrifice, Canadians pay and everyone else gets priority. Canadians have been paying into our health care system for their entire lives. Our seniors and families all across Canada deserve to reap the rewards of their hard work by getting health care when they need it. Instead, our health care system is already overwhelmed and overcapacity, and Canadian seniors cannot get the treatment they need. It is not sustainable.

Canadians are a proud and caring people, but unvalidated asylum seekers should not be getting better benefits than Canadians do. We need immediate reform. The Liberals call that compassion, but I call it betrayal of Canadian taxpayers. This is not sustainable, it is not fair and Canadians expect more from this Liberal government.

Let us expose this bill's failures every step of the way and make sure that it works for Canadians. Conservatives will always stand up for secure borders; privacy and freedom; jail, not bail for fentanyl traffickers and violent criminals; no more drug sites next to schools; and an immigration system that is fair, sustainable and puts Canadians first. Because compassion must have limits, immigration must be lawful and sovereignty must be preserved. This country is worth fighting for. Our borders matter, our safety matters, our freedom matters, our privacy matters and Canadians matter. Conservatives will always stand up and fight for hard-working Canadians.

The Liberals continue to distract from a border crisis, a crime crisis and an immigration crisis entirely of the Liberal government's making. The bill would not fix the problem; it would not stop the flow of drugs, guns, gangs or illegal crossings that are flowing over the border at record levels. We will not let the Liberals use the bill as a back door to violate the privacy, rights and freedoms of Canadians again.

Conservatives will fight for Canadians. We will fight to restore public safety on our streets, secure our border, restore our sovereignty and put Canadians first once again.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, someone saying something does not necessarily mean it is a reflection of reality. Let me give a specific example.

This member and other Conservatives have consistently been saying “injection sites” and been critical of the federal government. To be very clear, the injection sites are the provinces' responsibility, and they are the ones that ultimately give consent as to where those injection sites go. The Conservatives are saying that Ottawa should override a provincial responsibility, but they do not say that. Instead, they try to give the impression that the federal government wants injection sites by playgrounds, which is just wrong, and I find in the comments they often give in the speeches the same sort of thing. A simple statement is expressed, but when I dig into it, I find out that it is exceptionally misleading.

Why do Conservative members consistently do that?

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

Madam Speaker, this is an another example of the Liberals' trying to divide, deny and distract. Canadians are fed up. Over 50,000 Canadians have died from the opioid crisis, which is a higher death toll than from the Second World War. Liberals continue to do nothing about it.

Conservatives will lock up the fentanyl kingpins as the mass murderers that they are and keep them in prison for life, but the Liberals want to deny, deflect, divide and distract.

I have a question for the Liberal member: Will he stop the expansion of drug consumption sites next to schools, day cares and playgrounds?

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Madam Speaker, I am inclined to offer my colleague a word of advice. It is perfectly acceptable to be critical of a bill, but one still has to keep one foot in reality.

When I heard my colleague talking about fentanyl and supervised consumption sites earlier, his comments did not in any way reflect the message that we are getting from the experts who are trying to help people struggling with addictions.

During the election campaign, we supported a supervised consumption site that presented us with a lot of scientific evidence to show that these sites are an indispensable public health tool. Furthermore, I do not think that people are taking fentanyl at these sites.

It is the same thing with firearms. No one has been able to give me an example of a hunting weapon that has been made illegal. Assault weapons have been made illegal, but hunting weapons have not. The duty of a legislator is to provide information to the public, and we have to be careful about what information we are providing.

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

Madam Speaker, I find it very rich. The member is asking for information, so let me give him some. This is from the Health Canada website. Is Health Canada also misleading? The Liberal member keeps accusing members of the House of misleading Canadians.

According to the Health Canada website, again, fentanyl and its analogues were involved in 33% of opioid-related poisoning visits to the emergency department from January to June 2024. The number of all opioid-related poisoning emergency department visits that involve fentanyl and its analogues has increased 106% since 2018, when national surveillance began. This is a real problem. It is not just killing Canadians. It is not just ripping up families. It is not just destroying communities and causing trauma for loved ones. It is also overwhelming our health care system.

Conservatives will take action. The Liberals will continue to distract, defy and deny.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola.

My hon. colleague was just asked a question by the member for Winnipeg North. The member intimated that nobody wants safe injection sites next to schools. I think that we can all agree with that. Where I part company with the Liberal Party is on whether we will permit safe injection sites near schools.

The problem is that under the current regime, there have been safe injection sites that are far too close to vulnerable people. Does my hon. colleague agree with this, and would he like to expand, because clearly these things are happening far too close to vulnerable populations and nothing is being done? It is not a matter of wanting it; it is a matter—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Richmond Hill South has the floor.

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

Madam Speaker, when I was campaigning for the election and was knocking on doors, parents told me that they do not want their kids to be stepping on needles when they go to the park to play.