Vote No. 276

That the motion be amended by deleting all of the words after the word “That” and substituting the following: “this House decline to give third reading to Bill C-31, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Balanced Refugee Reform Act, the Marine Transportation Security Act and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Act, because it: ( a) gives significant powers to the Minister that could be exercised in an arbitrary manner, including the power to designate so-called “safe” countries without independent advice; (b) violates international conventions to which Canada is signatory by providing mechanisms for the government to indiscriminately designate and subsequently imprison bona fide refugees – including children – for up to one year; (c) undermines best practices in refugee settlement by imposing, on some refugees, five years of forced separation from families; (d) adopts a biometrics programme for temporary resident visas without adequate parliamentary scrutiny of the privacy risks; and (e) is not clearly consistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”.

Bill details

An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Balanced Refugee Reform Act, the Marine Transportation Security Act and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Act