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

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we all agree that we need better controls at the border and that this requires many new measures.

Bill C‑12 is the new version of Bill C‑2, which created a significant backlash in civil society because many people outside Parliament and in the opposition believed that, in an attempt to strengthen border protections, the government would be infringing on certain rights and trampling on the privacy of many people. It seemed a bit contradictory.

Earlier, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety told us that the government removed from the bill many of the elements that civil society and the opposition found unacceptable in order to table Bill C‑12, on which there is a broader consensus. At the same time, we are being told that all the other measures that were unacceptable are not being removed, that the government is still interested in them and that the government is ultimately going to come back to Parliament with these measures, such as allowing the police to open mail.

Could my colleague please explain which measures were in Bill C‑2 but are not in Bill C‑12 and which ones he would like to see again in another bill?

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, in Bill C-2, giving the power to employees of Canada Post to seize and search mail without a warrant is a complete violation of our charter rights. Everybody is entitled to jurisprudence, and that was undermined by the Liberals. In Bill C-2, they were also going after the seizure of information through Internet service providers and telecom companies, which we know is also in violation of privacy rights. Finally, under Bill C-2, the Liberals want to limit the use of cash to under $10,000 a year. Undermining our legal tender in this country is ridiculous.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, is the member concerned that our NATO allies will see right through the accounting trickery of shifting a budget for the Coast Guard from a civilian budget to the Canadian Armed Forces without actually improving or enhancing our defence preparedness?

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt in my mind that the Liberals are strictly making this change to the Oceans Act in Bill C-12 to make sure they have the ability to declare that they have now given the security and border control mandate to the Coast Guard, which should be counted toward the 2% and now the 5%. They will not fool anyone at NATO with this trickery, as my colleague said. At the end of the day, according to their own definition, they have to have the ability to provide military tactical capabilities, which the Coast Guard currently does not have.

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we marked a very dark milestone in Canada's history: 10 years of the Liberals. It is a very dark time. We used to have a country that was safe and secure, the envy of the world. It was a country that worked for Canadians, that protected Canadians.

The Liberals might say that they have a new government. I know they are heckling right now, but they might think that this is a brand new government. It is not. It has the same Liberal members of Parliament, the same cabinet ministers and the same failed Liberal policies.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I know they are not happy with what I am saying, but their policies are what hurt Canadians every single day.

Under the Liberals' watch, we have had the fastest-shrinking economy, in which Canadians are now lining up at food banks. Crime, chaos and drugs are running rampant right across our country. There is a record amount of crime. Drugs are now being sold on our streets. Our kids are losing their lives.

Under their watch, in 10 years, 50,000 Canadians have lost their lives to drug overdoses, which is more than were lost in the Second World War. We have a homelessness crisis. Encampments are popping up in my riding in Oxford County and across our country from coast to coast to coast. Canadians are suffering from the Liberals' failed policies.

We had one of the best immigration programs in the world. It was the envy of the world. We brought in the brightest and the best, people who could achieve their full potential, who filled major needs in our country and were able to raise their family. However, under the Liberals' watch, they broke that too. They broke our immigration system, and then they started hijacking our institutions. They started censoring Canadians. They started telling Canadians what they could do, where they could go, what they could say and what they could see. It became all about control.

When the Liberals first brought in Bill C-2, they talked about public safety and immigration, but it was another attempt to attack Canadians' freedoms and privacy. The Liberals wanted to attack Canadians' way of life. It is because of the Conservatives, other parties and Canadians who raised their voices, who objected and said no to the Liberals' policies, that we have Bill C-12 in Parliament today.

I am a proud son of immigrants. My parents chose Canada in the early 1980s. They came for that Canadian dream. They worked hard and played by the rules. They were able to earn a decent living and raise a family under their watch. However, we do not have that system anymore. The Liberals have broken that system in almost all respects.

Let us take a look at the asylum system. We have over 300,000 folks lined up to get asylum. Many cases are bogus and fake asylum claims. It is a system that is now full of fraud and abuse, with an average wait time of almost 44 months to be processed in our country. This all started because of the Liberals' actions.

Members might remember that it was the government that put out a famous tweet when Trump was voted in the first time, which said that everybody is welcome. Can members guess what happened?

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, they think that is the best tweet ever. However, that tweet brought in over 100,000 illegal border crossers to Roxham Road. It put pressure on our system. Many of those cases were bogus, but we cannot fix stupid. That was a dumb move by the government and a dumb move by the former prime minister.

The Liberals are making policy based on tweets. That is how they run the government. Their failures have led to the trouble we are seeing today. I find it ironic when the Liberals put policy forward saying that they are going to fix the system, that it is a new government, but it is their own doing. They did this. They broke it.

This is going to continue, sadly. We have seen it at the border as well, the Canada-U.S. border, one of the longest borders, an important hub for economics and security. Some $2 billion in trade crosses the border every single day. We have a massive economic opportunity. Most Canadians live 100 kilometres away from the border, so it is an important transportational and logistical hub for us, and we need a system that works for both Canada and the U.S. We can have strong economic ties.

On security, it is even more important to keep Canadians safe. Under the Liberals' watch, we have had record numbers of crime, some of the highest. Gun crime and homicides have gone up. If we look at the border, we have seen a massive rise in guns being smuggled in. While the Liberals might believe that lawful, law-abiding firearms owners are the problem, they are not. I have been a firearms owner for over 15 years. I love going to the range. I am a sport shooter. Folks like me, farmers and hunters are not the problem. The problem is the Liberals' weak, open-border policies.

Toronto police and law enforcement across our country have made it clear that 90% of the guns that come into our country are illegal guns. Criminals are not using guns from lawful gun owners. They are smuggling them in through the border. Those guns are now in our communities. They are being used for organized crime. They are being used to kill children. If we cannot secure the border and stop that from happening, we are going to keep losing Canadians.

We now have cartels operating in our country, seven, under the Liberals' watch, under their soft-on-crime and open border policies. They have failed to secure our border. We have seven cartels that are illegally moving around drugs, laundering money and pushing guns, yet the Liberals have the audacity to stand up in the House and say they are going to fix the problem. They are the problem. It is them and their failed policies.

It continues. Drugs keep being pushed in. Oxford County is on the 401 and 403, and it has become, sadly, a hub for drugs being brought into our community. I was talking with a family member who lost a loved one, a son, because he got addicted to drugs, illegal drugs that were brought into our community through the 401 and 403 corridors. They have had real-life consequences because of the Liberals' failures.

Human trafficking is another huge part of the crime we are seeing in southwestern Ontario. Again, the minister responsible for public safety just puts his hands up and says that he is not going to enforce anything at the border. He was asked about hiring more CBSA officers. He said it was not his job.

We know what the Liberals do. They keep over-promising. They keep recycling the same photo ops. They keep announcing that they are going to hire new personnel, but when the minister was asked how many he had hired so far, the answer was zero. They have not hired any frontline officers. When asked when he would do it and why he had not done it, he put his hands up and said that it was not his responsibility. Well, whose responsibility is it? He is the minister responsible. He owes it to every single Canadian to do his job.

Sadly, it is the Liberals who have broken our system. Canada's Conservatives will always stand for law-abiding Canadians. We will invest in securing our borders. We will ensure that repeat violent offenders who commit crimes are locked up and put behind bars, and we will make sure that we fix the broken immigration system so that all Canadians can achieve their full potential.

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

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite did it all while reflecting on the Conservative tough-on-crime policy and amplified the idea that Canada is broken. I would say to the member opposite that Canada is, in fact, not broken. We continue to work with provinces to deal with issues like bail reform, because it is a shared responsibility.

The hon. member sits right behind the leader of the official opposition, and the leader of the official opposition did something despicable over the last week. He called RCMP officers, in particular the head of the RCMP, “despicable”.

The RCMP is an institution that is recognized around the world as positive. Does the member believe that the leader of the Conservative Party should apologize?

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is the Liberals' policies that have destroyed almost every single aspect of our country today. It is their failures, mismanagement, negligence and incompetence that have led our country to be in the state it is in today.

I am proud to say that my jail not bail act has the support of police officers and law enforcement from all levels. I am very excited that we are going to keep this conversation going.

We will always stand with law enforcement on this side of the House.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, during his speech, my colleague made reference to the tweet that resulted in the conflation of economic migrants and asylum seekers. When he mentioned this tweet, which single-handedly broke the asylum system, he was heckled by the Liberal benches. One member in the Liberal benches called it the best tweet ever, so it would seem that the Liberal government has learned nothing, certainly the members on its benches.

I thought I should bring it to this member's attention to see if he had any comments on it.

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is this type of behaviour that has caused the crisis we see today.

The Liberals are making policy on Twitter and are making policy on a paper napkin, but it has real consequences for Canadians. The 100,000 folks coming across our border put pressure on our system, and it broke a system that was once the best in the world and actually helped those who are being persecuted.

What do we get with the Liberals? They heckle and mudsling and try to distract, deny and obstruct. That is the Liberal way, and in the last 10 years, that is the way they have been doing things. It will change under a Conservative government when that happens.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I raised the issue of investments earlier. There is a shortage of personnel to carry out public safety inspections at ports and airports. I am very interested in this issue. Implementing these provisions also presents a number of other challenges.

I wonder if my colleague can enlighten me. In his opinion, what measures should be put in place to strengthen border security, without necessarily passing a bunch of new legislation, but with a focus on concrete action to make it work?

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague raised a great point. The Liberal government is wasting over $700 million in a gun-grab scam. That money should be put toward frontline officers at our borders and in the RCMP. Let us put the money where the boots are on the ground and where we can actually enforce and protect Canadians.

The Liberals, in the past, have put money in bureaucracy and have put money in nice office towers in Ottawa. That money should be put on the ground, where people can do their jobs. We need more scanners, CBSA officers and security.