Citizenship and Immigration committee  New Delhi. No.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Well—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I have not been to Islamabad.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Cairo was not a pleasant experience. A couple of years ago, Kenya was not a pleasant experience, but more recently it was. I was impressed by the potential of some of those visa officers; I was really heartened. Colombia I also found helpful, but—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I would be willing to name the one particular post that I found was excellent when I was last there; it was Kenya, about a year and a bit ago—very helpful, very receptive. I was bringing a delegation of young leaders from our church, and they were shown the program. It was explained to them.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In Canada, we've watched asylum and resettlement being reinterpreted. We're told now that changes like the safe third country agreement, which is a reinterpretation of the Geneva Convention, would allow for enhanced resettlement, yet numbers of government-assisted refugees remain stagnant, and years have been added to the private sponsorship process.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We ask you to support sponsorship agreement holders in their professional development and to support the ongoing training of our hundreds of sponsors across the country, including support for eligibility training. This has begun with CIC. It needs to be broadened. Sponsorship agreement holders want to continue to name refugees in need of resettlement, help Canada meet its global responsibility, and bring in additional numbers.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  And, please, make the private sponsorship program work. We believe that the department and the sponsorship agreement holders share a common desire to make it work, but we ask you, our representatives in Parliament—especially those of you here today—to hold us to it. The program has domestic integrity; it's got global credibility; it's Canadians acting responsibly to build a better tomorrow.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  But we are deeply troubled by the backlog and the processing time, and we feel the program is at the point of collapse. It needs an overhaul and systemic change, far more than what is being addressed at this moment, and there is a deflection of all problems at the feet of sponsors.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Initially the excuse given was they wanted to address the huge numbers in the backlog. Then it became a matter of efficiency. It was actually talked about as being very efficient not having the RAD; we were managing the system better. I think it's probably resource-related. It may be beyond that.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Let me speak for the Raza family.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  They have been working since they arrived in Canada.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The employer guarantees them a job. They are under a removal order. They are living in a church. There are Canadian-born children. There is not even a queue in the immigration system that this family could apply to. They are the labour this country was built on. They don't meet the elite qualifications.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Let me add that we are very good at interdiction policies, at keeping people away from our shores. We are now also getting very good at not allowing sponsorship into Canada. I'm told there's now a four- to five-year wait for any sponsorship I submit. I am told to cut my numbers in half.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I can say that in Toronto, if there is a case on our doorstep, I always refer the individual in the congregation to an interfaith sanctuary coalition in Toronto. In Vancouver I refer them to Amnesty or to other groups. I've worked intensively with the Unitarians in the past. We don't do this alone; we can build from each other and get each other's expertise.