Citizenship and Immigration committee  To add to that, there is a long tradition of Canada supporting the most vulnerable abroad. Canadians should be proud of that.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  And with the 1951 convention, which is, as I mentioned earlier, not only a legally binding instrument on states party to the convention but which also contains customary international law by which asylum seekers should be entitled to the protection of the state where the claimants are known.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As you know, the state of affairs in international relations means that there's no international police. There is a security council here that is the ultimate decision-making body that can decide when there is an infringement on peace and security under chapter 7 by one of the member states.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Briefly, the United States did not participate in the consultation leading to the adoption of the global compact for migration, which is the one that will be formally adopted in Marrakesh in 10 days. The United States delegation in Geneva, and later on in New York, has participated in the consultation on the global compact on refugees.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Detain.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That's totally right in terms of the norm, but the compact does not address those situations. The compact addresses the situation of the front-line countries in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Asia and down south in Central America, which do not necessarily have the financial means, the services, the refugee status determination procedures in place to support, on their own, the response to a mass arrival of refugees such as we have seen with the Rohingya, the South Sudanese or the Syrians.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As in any international forum, it's a question of a good relationship with the other member states that are, on their side, abiding by the political commitment that has been reflected in the compact. Let's not confuse things here: The compact doesn't have clear-cut, measurable recommendations against which Canada will be able to be assessed in an objective manner.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  There are two things. There will certainly be advocacy on the part of my organization to call for Canada to do more for refugees, whether it's in terms of the resettlement level or the funding level. As was mentioned before, I think we should not lose track of how, over the years, Canada has been a strong partner.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Professor Smith has already alluded to this response, and I'm happy to offer him the floor.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  We are in close dialogue with IRCC—Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada—which is our partner in the resettlement, especially when it comes to government-assisted resettlement or the blended visa program for refugees who are resettled in Canada. As I briefly mentioned, the global criteria of resettlement have been agreed upon by 35 members states, including Canada, and there is an objective assessment of the most vulnerable refugees whose survival is at risk in the first country where they found asylum.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  You're correct, but it's a political commitment. Therefore, we expect all the member states to deliver results against the commitment, which has been agreed upon between the host countries and countries like Canada, which are more in the funding seat.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The UN is a collection of 193 members states, one of them being Canada, so we are at the service of the 193 member states, but obviously we do advocate for the policies to be aligned to the international agreement, whether they are legally binding or a political commitment.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Let me repeat that there is no signing of the compact. It's going to be as part of the omnibus resolution of the High Commissioner for Refugees' resolution to the General Assembly, which will affirm the 193 members states are affirming the valued added of the compact as a vision, a tool, a road map, to help those countries in the front line of the refugee response and to better share the responsibility, financially and otherwise.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Every member state remains a sovereign decision-maker as far as those matters are concerned, but there is an expectation of co-operation among member states.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No. A mechanism in the global compact is called the global forum. It is held every four years at the ministerial level, when all countries come together to renew their political commitment in funding, resettlement levels, helping, getting more active, whether it's the private sector or development institutions or international financial institutions.