CCR Resolutions Database

The Canadian Red Cross is about to sign a Detention Monitoring Agreement to monitor CIC detention facilities;

1. By resolution passed in 1993 the formation of a joint committee of private sponsorship representatives and CIC personnel for the purpose of improving communications was mandated;
2. This committee as originally mandated has successfully negotiated the current Sponsorship Agreement and is now engaged in the drafting of a new version of the agreement, as well as having been involved in working at a number of other on-going issues related to the private sponsorship of refugees;
3. CIC personnel present at these meetings have been inconsistent in number and in the level of decision-making power, resulting in a lack of policy-making ability as well as results-oriented discussion;
4. The SAH representatives have contributed far beyond a normal volunteer capacity in the hope of achieving results in the area of policy making;

delays cause anxiety and instability for refugees and their families;

1. In the past when the immigration system has undergone a substantial change the government has allowed those caught up in the older system to receive landing under relaxed criteria;
2. There are a substantial number of protection claimants caught up at various stages in the present immigration system;
3. The Canadian Government is proposing a complete overhaul of the present system through Bill C-11;
4. It is undesirable to burden the new immigration system with a substantial caseload from the old system;

1. There have been a series of allegations of racial bias and institutional racism concerning members of the IRB and its personnel;
2. There have been no serious studies of these allegations of racial bias;

The CCR reaffirms Resolution 3 from November 1992 and Resolution16 from December 2000,

1. Immigrant serving agencies require operational funds to deliver services to newcomers as per the terms of contribution agreements of CIC;
2. There has been an ongoing problem with service provider organizations having insufficient cashflow to deliver continuous services to newcomers due to delays in the approval of new contribution agreements;

1. National Detention Standards remain at a draft stage but function as de facto guidelines;
2. It is acknowledged that there are no management oversight boards for detention facilities within the CIC structure and no satisfactory complaint mechanisms;

1. The CCR in June 1994 called on CIC to fund agencies at levels to provide for adequate working conditions;
2. Staff working in CIC funded programs, including in provinces that have signed agreements, are skilled professionals;
3. There is wide variation in funding levels for salaries, none of which adequately compensate staff for the work which they are doing;
4. Many workers have no benefits, no pension plans, no prep time for teachers and in general sub-standard working conditions;
5. Some contracts do not even allow for sick days;

1. The CCR opposes interdiction and has affirmed in Resolution 13 of May 93 and in the report of a task force published in May 1998 and entitled Interdicting Refugees its commitment to the right to seek asylum in Canada, but notes that the practice of interdiction continues;
2. The International Air Transport Association Control Authority Working Group Code of Conduct for Immigration Liaison Officers of October 1998 provides that Liaison Officers should direct requests for asylum to the office of the UNHCR or to the appropriate diplomatic mission (paragraph 2.3);
3. Interception of refugee claimants en route to Canada is normally effected by airline staff or subcontracted security firms who are not subject to the code of conduct and not by governmental Liaison Officers;

1. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has expressed; a desire for a coordinated continuum in the refugee sponsorship process;
2. CIC has issued a tender for proposal for an In-Canada Service Provider (ISP), the latest with a closing date of May 29, 2001;
3. The ISP tender should have been posted for the public after budget was secured;
4. The RSTP was extended to June 30, 2001 to facilitate transition to the ISP;
5. There is another indefinite delay in the July 1, 2001 starting date for the ISP;
6. There is a significant increase in new Sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAH) to whom RSTP/ISP would be indispensable in order for them to carry out their work effectively;
7. The training and resources developed by the RSTP have enhanced SAHs effectiveness in refugee sponsorship;
8. There will be a significant gap with the dissolution of the RSTP on June 30, 2001, which will result in the loss of infrastructure and knowledgeable staff;

1. Minister’s Permits have been issued for compassionate and humanitarian reasons to allow for urgent admission of individuals and families in dire circumstances;
2. Minister’s Permits have been issued to persons in Canada who are inadmissible on medical grounds;
3. The recipients of Minister’s Permits are not eligible for benefits available to resettled refugees and persons with permanent resident status (such as travel loans and health care);

1. The UNHCR exclusion clause guidelines of December 1996 provide that:
   a) in principle, the applicability of the exclusion clauses should be considered only after the adjudicator is satisfied that the individual fulfils the criteria for refugee status (guidelines 9).
   b) an assessment of a claim requires that the nature of the crime and the claimant’s role in it be weighed against the gravity of the persecution feared (guideline 9).
   c) the exclusion clauses need to be interpreted restrictively (guideline 8);
2. The Federal Court has said that:
   a) it is not legally necessary to decide inclusion before exclusion, but it is desirable to do so.
   b) the refugee definition does not require that the gravity of the crime be balanced against the gravity of the persecution feared.
   c) the Board must be extremely cautious in its application of the exclusion clauses, but also that the standard of proof is less than the balance of probabilities;
3. The Immigration Act gives the Chairperson of the Immigration and Refugee Board power to issue guidelines to the Board;

1. Citizenship and Immigration Canada maintains a list of countries to which Canada does not generally deport individuals from those countries;
2. A significant number of people from those countries, who are subject to deportation, have now been in Canada for many years and have no avenue to resolve their situation;
3. Living in this limbo situation causes great hardship and suffering, including long term separation from immediate family members;
4. It is very difficult for persons in this situation to be accepted for permanent residence through the Humanitarian and Compassionate stream;
5. This situation will continue to prevail after the implementation of the new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Bill C-11);

1. CCR brings together NGOs active and involved in the 4 Metropolis Centres of Excellence (Vancouver, Prairies, Toronto, Montreal and soon the Atlantic);
2. Metropolis (Canada) is proposing a national research program aimed at developing immigration policies and programs for the coming 6 years;
3. The proposed research priorities question the role of community organizations serving refugees and immigrants and will affect the areas of activity of NGOs;
4. Metropolis relies on the support and participation of NGOs in the processes; of consultation, adoption and implementation of a national research program;
5. The current Metropolis proposal deals mainly with immigration as an economic and competitive issue  and gives undue priority to public security and criminality aspects of immigration;
6. The Metropolis proposal marginalizes the role and responsibility of the  host society in settling newcomers and fails to take into account the reception and settlement of refugees;

1. There are massive human rights abuses against Sierra Leonean refugees in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and the Gambia;
2. The CCR appreciates the special Sierra Leone program introduced by the federal government in 2000-2001;

1. Numerous members of CCR and other refugee advocates have criticized the lack of an effective procedure to deal with complaints about Convention Refugee Determination Division members' and Refugee Claims Officers' behaviour and competence;
2. The complaint procedures and protocols implemented, to date, by the Immigration and Refugee Board have failed to adequately address the concerns of refugees and their advocates;

1. A National Settlement Service Standards (NSSS) Framework was developed by the CCR through a National Consultation process that involved a broad range of individuals and agencies providing settlement services to immigrants, refugees and refugee claimants;
2. The CCR adopted in principle the NSSS framework as presented by the Working Group on Settlement in June 2000 (Res. 1, Jun. 00);
3. The National Settlement Service Standards Steering Committee was asked to develop a plan to implement this framework across Canada;

1. In resolution 9 of November 1996, the CCR committed itself to exposing atrocities by the Sudanese government upon the people of southern Sudan;
2. Anglican members of their refugee network have worked with Sudanese in Canada to sponsor refugees from Sudan;
3. The war in Sudan, which is in part responsible for the displacement of millions of people, has been fuelled by oil revenues from the expanding operation in which Talisman Energy is a major partner;
4. The national pension fund of the Anglican Church of Canada has invested heavily in the Talisman shares;

1. Citizenship and Immigration Canada does not consistently provide refugee claimants with interpreters at eligibility interviews;
2. The notes which are produced by Citizenship and Immigration Canada at eligibility interviews are given great weight at hearings before the Convention Refugee Determination Division;
3. The lack of interpretation at an eligibility interview can and does create confusion and misunderstanding between refugee claimants and Citizenship and Immigration Canada officials;

1. CIC has been using P&I, a private company, to remove African nationals from Canada to Africa;
2. The deportees have been forcibly detained and unlawfully confined by a private company;

1. HIV positive persons are not a threat to public health or safety;
2. Instituting mandatory HIV testing for all prospective immigrants is discriminatory since this would be the only group for whom mandatory testing is imposed;
3. Testing could significantly harm people identified as being HIV positive who live in countries with coercive laws or practice;

on November 29, 2000, the Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH)representatives in attendance at the SAH Forum voted on and passed with an overwhelming majority three resolutions expressing their support for:

1. formally situating the SAH network within CCR, 2. submitting an SAH application for the In-Canada Service-Provider contract,
2. submitting this proposal under the umbrella of CCR;

1. There are minor orphans of war or civil strife or in other refugee-like situations whose future is limited without resettlement;
2. Current procedures for the sponsorship of orphaned minors are inadequate;

1. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in its report invited Canada to draw on the resources of the OAS human rights system;
2. Training for IRB members in international human rights law is not given by a competent arms-length human rights body;