CCR Resolutions Database

That the CCR:

1. Call on the chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation to appoint a Task Force to examine refugee and immigration services, policies and structures in Canada for systemic racism.
2. Call on the chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation to ensure that such a Task Force include refugees, immigrants, refugee and immigrant advocacy organizations and experts in systemic racism in Canada.

That the CCR:

1. Request a meeting between representatives of the CCR and the responsible officials in the federal government to share the issues and problems perceived in the Interim Federal Health Care Program and attempt to cooperate in making appropriate revisions to ensure efficient and relevant health care service delivery to the clients covered by the Interim Federal Health Care Program.
2. Working together with provincial umbrella organizations, insist that the provincial and federal governments address gaps in coverage and establish consistency of service and coverage across Canada.

That the CCR urge the Government of Canada to respond to the deterioration of the security of Afghan women by resettling Afghan refugee women and their families through speedy processing of private sponsorships including Women at Risk, and through resuming the government sponsorship program for the region.

That the CCR:

1. Urgently request the Prime Minister of Canada to address this inconsistency in Canadian policy by ordering an immediate suspension of deportations to Zaire.
2. Request a clarification from the UNHCR on the dangers of deporting people to Zaire at this time.

That the CCR:

1. Condemn the security certificate process and particularly the provisions for mandatory detention without review and asks for the immediate repeal of this section of the Act.
2. Urge the Government of Canada to suspend immediately the use of these provisions which clearly violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Canada's international human rights obligations;
3. Call upon the Canadian Bar Association and human rights NGOs to condemn these procedures which violate fundamental human rights.

That the CCR urge CIC:

1. Not to classify LINC as a training program as this would result in its transfer to the province as part of the federal commitment to devolve all training to the provinces.
2. To continue to see LINC as an integral part of settlement services.

That the CCR urge the Government of Canada, through consultations with other donor countries and international agencies, to develop a fund to provide educational opportunities, at the tertiary level, to Sudanese refugees in Kenya, Uganda and elsewhere in Africa.

That the CCR:

1. Reject the draft ID regulations published November 16, 1996.
2. Call on the Canadian government to: a) Amend the Immigration Act to remove the requirement for identity documents for Convention refugees, and others in refugee-like situations. b) Withdraw the proposed regulations; or in the alternative:
   i) commit resources to land affected persons within 6 months.
   ii) direct immigration officers to give greater weight to personal interviews and other documentary evidence when primary documents cannot be obtained.
   iii) make an exemption to permit family reunification where the passage of time due to delays in landing processing has prevented sponsorship.
3. Submit a detailed brief of their criticisms of the regulations and call on member agencies to do the same.
4. Call on the UNHCR to condemn the proposed regulations on the grounds that they violate Canada's international obligation to protect families, children and refugees and to facilitate family reunification.

That the CCR urge the Government of Canada to:

1. Review legislation to ensure a simple (one step) effective court remedy when fundamental rights arise in expulsion.
2. Write to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights asking them to hold a seminar in Canada with international experts from international committees and commissions and members of the Canadian legal community to advise on current requirements of international human rights law for the new legislation.

That the CCR:

1. Call on the federal government to launch a large-scale, proactive mass media campaign to promote the contributions of refugees and immigrants.
2. Urge that this campaign include significant input from refugee, immigrant and settlement communities and their advocacy agencies.

That the CCR urge the Government of Canada to:

1. Support the safe and voluntary repatriation of remaining Rwandan refugees in Zaire, Tanzania and Burundi under close supervision of NGOs and international bodies such as the UNHCR and UNCHR.
2. Exercise influence and push for firm and coordinated international action to create a favourable atmosphere for repatriation by:
   a) Helping the Rwandan government and international NGOs in Rwanda to continue with community economic development projects by providing financial and technical assistance.
   b) Diminishing the degree of fear of refugees to repatriation by urging the Government of Rwanda to end human rights violations.
   c) Cooperate with foreign donors in order to provide logistical and financial assistance to rebuild the Rwandan judicial system.
   d) Influence the Rwandan government to quickly begin trials.
3. Extend financial, logistical and moral support to the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda based in Arusha, Tanzania, and influence the governments of Zaire, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi and Cameroons to cooperate with this Tribunal to ensure that criminals are brought to justice.
4. Support a concerted political action to force the government of Zaire to stop permitting the former Rwandan government's militia and the forces of interhamwe, responsible for the 1994 genocide, from using Zairian territory for military operations against the government of national reconciliation in Rwanda.

That the CCR write to the Government of Canada clearly reiterating the original principles of the Private Sponsorship Program and expressing our concern over Citizenship and Immigration Canada's regular attempts to dilute or discard these principles.

That the CCR call on the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to:

1. Withdraw from Bill C-49 the proposal that Refugee Division panels be reduced from two to one.
2. Stop the appointment of IRB members based on political factors and instead base such decisions on the merit and competence of candidates.

that the CCR:

1. Express to Citizenship and Immigration Canada its deep disappointment at the lack of attention to reform of the Women at Risk programme.
2. Call on the Department to:

            a) Distinguish in its Women at Risk statistics between Stream A and Stream B cases;

            b) Continue to process expeditiously women with urgent protection needs through CR1 channels, but categorize them as Women at Risk Stream A for the purpose of statistics, where they meet the Women at Risk definition;

            c) Continue to process Women at Risk Stream B cases as a subset of the Joint Assistance Initiative, categorized for statistical purposes as Women at Risk Stream B;

1. Reaffirm its former Women at Risk resolutions, with a particular emphasis on the call to negotiate the use of Reception Centres for the initial reception and (for CR5) matching of Women at Risk.

that the CCR write immediately to the B.C. Minister of Social Services, Joy Macphail, to demand the immediate repeal of these regulations and to remind her of:

1. Canada's international obligations to refugee claimants;
2. The length of time rejected refugee claimants remain in Canada prior to deportation;
3. The social and economic plight of newly arrived refugee claimants.

1. The settlement core group on behalf of the settlement working group:

*  monitor the Settlement Renewal process;

* further develop these principles and draft others which address gaps in the current set;

* develop standards which relate to these principles;

2. The CCR forward this document immediately, followed by any subsequent principles and standards, to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration for inclusion in the legal agreements between the Federal Government and partners as determined through the Settlement Renewal process;
3. The CCR communicate these principles to all the participants of the Settlement Renewal workshop.

NATIONAL PRINCIPLES

National principles must be upheld by national standards.  These standards still need to be developed along with mechanisms which ensure compliance.

1.   Client eligibility

a) Settlement/integration services should be available to immigrants/refugees based on need rather than on immigration status or length of time in Canada;

2.   Eligibility of Service Deliverers:

b) Services which are mandated by provincial, regional, or local governments (health care, primary‑secondary education, administration of justice) should not be funded as settlement and integration services;

c) Not‑for‑profit, community‑based organizations with proven track records, and a primary mandate in delivering settlement/integration services should be given funding priority;

d) Service-providers should have expertise and skills in the field of settlement and integration;

3.   Rights of clients:

e) Providers of settlement and integration services must respect and protect fundamental rights of clients (eg. confidentiality, legal, etc.);

f) Services should be delivered in a manner that is culturally and linguistically appropriate and free from racism and other forms of discrimination;

g) Organizations collecting and using data must meet standards of appropriateness, confidentiality, validity, etc. and must be accountable to the clients whose information is being collected;

4.   Comprehensiveness of services:

h) Where appropriate and practical, clients should be able to choose from among service-providers the approach to service-delivery that best meets their needs;

i) Settlement/integration services should:

-  meet national standards,

-  reflect changing needs of the local community,

-  meet the self-defined needs of the individual immigrant/refugee;

5.   Accessibility of services

j) Services should be made accessible by identifying and removing systemic barriers;

6.   Priority-setting and funding allocation process

k)Where established, local or regional advisory bodies should identify local settlement and integration priorities.  These non-partisan bodies should be composed of community members with expertise in the provision of settlement services and reflect the ethno-racial composition of the client group;

7.   Humanitarian Obligations

l)Settlement Renewal should not reduce the federal government's national obligations to international responsibility-sharing and offering a safe haven to refugees.  The rights and needs of refugees must be integrated and guaranteed priority in the provision of settlement and integration services;

8.   Accountability

m) Allocation of settlement funds should be utilized solely for settlement/integration services;

n) Methods for ensuring accountability should be appropriate, realistic and cost effective. They should:

-reflect accountability methods already in place;

-not constitute "undue scrutiny" in comparison with practices for other comparable service sectors;

9.   Enduring Federal Role

o) A strong federal role must include a commitment to continue to fund settlement services at a rate not less than the 1994/95 funding level.

that the CCR, in addition to other previously adopted recommendations:

1. Call on the Department to:
   • Establish accountability mechanisms, including civilian oversight or an ombudsman, for the Enforcement Branch of the Immigration Department;
   • Protect the deportee's identity vis-a-vis the country to which they are being deported;
   • Respect the principle of family unity by ordering that removals never be effected when the removal would lead to family separation;
2. Endorse the following recommendations of the assessment of the CIC-RCMP task force, dated May 25, 1995:
   • that the Department develop a Code of Conduct and Discipline for investigators;
   • that the Department undertake a pro-active recruiting campaign to attract women and visible minorities to the enforcement function;
   • that the Department design and implement a community based approach to the issue of illegal immigration;
   • that all persons employed in the enforcement function receive cross cultural training.

that the CCR:

1. Urge Canada to ratify the American Convention on Human Rights;
2. Invite the Network on International Human Rights to hold discussions with a view to increasing awareness of the functioning of the OAS human rights system and thereby encouraging such ratification.

that the CCR:

1. Endorse the report in principle;
2. Call on the government to respond immediately to the concerns raised in the report;
3. In particular endorse and call for swift action on the following recommendations:

R1.Spouses and dependent children of refugees in Canada should be granted a “derivative status” immediately upon positive determination of the refugee claim, on the basis of which they could proceed to Canada.  All processing of their permanent residence applications, including medical examinations, would be conducted in Canada, in parallel with the refugee's application.

R6.As a matter of principle, the benefit of the doubt with respect to family relationship should be given to refugees applying to sponsor their families.  Visa officers should be encouraged to use flexibility in assessing evidence of relationships and should take into account the delays and costs involved in requesting further proofs.

R14.Where spouse and children of a refugee claimant in Canada are themselves clearly in need of protection, they should not have to wait until the refugee claim is determined and the applications for permanent residence can be processed.  In such cases, visa officers should be directed to issue visas allowing the family to travel to Canada on an urgent basis.

R15.Where children of a refugee or refugee claimant in Canada are without adult care-giver, visa officers should be directed to take a proactive approach to ensure that the children have proper adult protection.  Where such protection is not available, arrangements should be made for them to join the parent in Canada without delay.

R16.Where women in need of protection in third countries have a clear connection to Canada and are likely to benefit by being united with real or de facto family members in Canada, they should be granted asylum in Canada.

R18.Additional visa post resources should be devoted to Africa.  This should be done by reallocating existing resources from regions with relatively light workloads.

R19.Serious consideration should be given to sending “flying teams” of visa officers on a temporary basis to areas where there is a need for additional resources.

R20.For refugees, eligibility of a child for landing based on the 19 year age limit should be determined as of the date of filing of the refugee claim by the parent in Canada, where the child is identified in the parent claimant's PIF.

R23.The present 19 year age limit for dependent children should be treated as a rebuttable presumption rather than an absolute limit.  Where it can be demonstrated that an unmarried child over the age of 19 is dependent on a Convention refugee in Canada, such child should be eligible to be included on the refugee's landing application.

R27.Children who are de facto members of a family unit that is applying for landing in Canada should be included in the family unit notwithstanding that such child may not have been legally adopted by the family.  A de facto adopted child should not be permitted subsequently to sponsor his or her natural parents for landing as members of the family class  (except where the natural parents who have been presumed dead are subsequently located and wish to be reunited with their child.)

R29.The special programs should be revived and updated to allow refugees in Canada to sponsor members of their extended family who find themselves in desperate situations.

R31.The government should take measures to ensure that family reunification for refugees is not obstructed or delayed by the existence of the various fees for landing.

R32.The government should give priority to finding some resolution for the thousands of refugees unable to be landed for lack of satisfactory identity documents.

1.  Urge its members to study and endorse the report and raise its recommendations in correspondence with the government.

that 

1. The CCR seek a dialogue with the appropriate representatives of the indigenous peoples of this land in order to consider collaboration with them for the purpose of ensuring that indigenous peoples and uprooted peoples both benefit fully from the United Nations human rights covenants and conventions;
2. The Working Group on Protection invite volunteers to establish a subcommittee to pursue this resolution.

that the CCR:

1. Endorse EXCOM Conclusion 19(p);
2. Invite American NGOs involved in resettlement and the UNHCR for a regional meeting to prepare for the upcoming international tripartite (NGO, government, UNHCR) resettlement consultation to be held in Geneva;
3. Seek government support to enable Canadian NGO participation at this tripartite consultation.

that the CCR call on Citizenship and Immigration Canada to:

1. Establish a joint committee to review procedures on the taking of Port of Entry notes and their use by the IRB;
2. Cease asking questions about the basis of the refugee claim;
3. Give officers a code of conduct, guidelines and training to ensure that the claimant is treated with respect during the interview;
4. Indicate in the guidelines that nothing is to be said or done that would cast aspersions on the merits of the claim or might discourage the claimant from making the claim;
5. Allow the presence of lawyers or other support persons such as family, friends or NGOs where their presence would not unduly delay the interview;
6. Provide copies of the interview notes to the claimant at the end of the interview and where possible record the interview;
7. Institute an accessible, transparent and accountable complaints procedure.

that the CCR call on the Canadian government to ratify the Convention on the rights of all migrant workers and their families.

that the CCR:

1. Oppose refugee claims being determined at any stage by way of administrative process;
2. Support the proposition that refugee claims should be determined by the IRB, an independent quasi-judicial body;
3. Support the proposition that decisions about humanitarian and compassionate claims and risk assessment should be made after a determination of a person's refugee claim;
4. Support the proposition that the IRB is the best available body to make the initial decision about the risks a person may face should that person be removed from Canada or to deal with a re-opening for changes of conditions.

 that the CCR:

1. Call upon the Parliament and Government of Canada forthwith to incorporate all the above United Nations Covenants and Conventions into Canadian law, and in particular into the Immigration Act and Regulations, directing all Canadian civil servants and courts to enforce them;
2. Write to the Ministers of Justice and of Citizenship and Immigration and the chair of the parliamentary committee on Human Rights and Disabled Persons advising them of the problem and urging them to establish a mechanism to monitor Canada's compliance with its international human rights treaty obligations and to make an annual report to parliament (such a report to include such matters as the status of international cases submitted from Canada and any legislative or other measures taken);
3. Request all Chief Justices to organize training sessions for judges on the interpretation and application of Canada's international human rights treaties, with international participation.