CCR Resolutions Database

That CCR request a meeting between CIC and the CCR and affected communities to discuss landing delays for security reasons.

That the CCR call upon the government of Canada to endorse the UN decision by declaring June 26 as the Canadian Day in support of survivors of torture.

That the CCR urge all its member groups to adopt the following convention:

As a member of the Canadian Council for Refugees, our organization:

1. Commits itself to facilitating the elimination of racism and all forms of discrimination by working towards the identification and elimination of the barriers that prevent refugees and immigrants from participating in Canadian society;
2. Commits itself to ensuring that the principles of equality, equity for all races, languages, faiths and cultures are reflected in our organization's policies, procedures and relations with staff, members and the society. It is our responsibility to ensure that the communities that we serve and members of our organization see themselves valued and reflected within the organization;
3. Undertakes to develop and implement an anti-racism policy;
4. Fosters an environment that is free of racism, sexism, discrimination and bias where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity;
5. Seeks opportunities for training and education in anti-racism for our staff, volunteers and Board;
6. Provides opportunities for refugees, immigrants and people of colour to be represented when selecting participants for meetings (e.g. CCR conferences) and when organizing events;
7. Recognizes the importance of public education about why Canada must protect refugees and welcome immigrants. This work may be undertaken through active media work, through public education programs and through making positive information on refugees and immigrants readily available and accessible.

That the CCR:

1. Demand that the Government of Canada put special emphasis immediately on Colombian nationals at risk of human rights violations, including expediting the processing of persons applying through the Humanitarian Designated (Source Country) class;
2. Urge the Government of Canada to strongly condemn the serious and escalating human rights violations in Colombia in all international and regional fora and in particular:
   a) request the UN Human Rights Commission convene a special session on Colombia;
   b) raise concerns about Colombia at the next meeting of the OAS general assembly;
3. Urge the Government of Canada to cease all sales of military equipment to Colombia, including all "dual purpose" equipment that could have military application.

That the CCR:

1. Adopt as policy the contents of the position paper prepared for the Minister's consultations on legislative review;
2. Press the Minister for further broad consultations on proposed changes resulting from the legislative review, before the drafting of legislation.

That the CCR call on the federal government to:

1. Grant equal legal status to same-sex relationships within the Family Class as is currently given heterosexual relationships;
2. Exempt refugees from rejection on the basis of medical inadmissibility, particularly gays and lesbians with HIV/AIDS;
3. Extend full and equal protection to people fleeing persecution based on sexual orientation at visa offices;
4. Waive the one-year cohabitation requirement for overseas sponsorship of a same-sex partner and to substitute it with an appropriate non-discriminatory alternative.

That the CCR play a proactive role in supporting the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered immigrants and refugees by:

1. a) Becoming familiar with the issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered immigrants and refugees, with the agencies providing specialized services to these communities, and with the immigration options available to them;

   b) Providing training opportunities at conferences for settlement staff to begin to challenge attitudes which discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered refugees and immigrants;

   c) Developing internal policies that affirm the rights of individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered immigrants and refugees;

   d) Applying inclusive hiring practices that encourage the employment of staff from these communities.

2. Taking a proactive role in encouraging CCR member agencies to accept their responsibility to provide appropriate settlement services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered immigrants and refugees by undertaking the same initiatives outlined above.

That the CCR:

1. Obtain from the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration broad based statistical information on refusals of privately sponsored applications.
2. Request that the Minister put in place policy which requires visa posts to give sponsoring groups and refugee applicants detailed reasons for the refusal of an application.

That the CCR:

1. Write to the Ministers of Justice, Foreign Affairs and Immigration requesting that they comply with Article 28 of the Refugee Convention by issuing travel documents, unconditionally and in an expedited manner, to Convention Refugees once they have been granted refugee status and not wait until they are landed.
2. Call on the UNHCR to make a similar intervention with the Canadian government.
3. Call on the Canadian government to stop asking Convention Refugees, be they landed or not, to obtain passports from their country of origin.

That the CCR urge the IRB to ensure that any document supplied by the IRB's documentation centre contain proper identification and naming of sources of any information in that document when that document is entered into evidence at a hearing.

That the CCR:

1. Write to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration requesting a written confirmation of the list to which Canada does not presently deport nationals of these countries;
2. Request that the Minister direct the Immigration department to automatically make public in writing any further decisions regarding either suspensions or resumptions of deportations.

That the CCR urge CIC to seek ways to ensure that AAP/RAP allocations are made available and can be administered in all communities where sponsorship groups wish to assist refugees to resettle under Joint Assistance Programs and other blended programs.

That the CCR request that the Department implement a National Policy allowing entry of unaccompanied minors on the same basis as the Buffalo/Niagara agreement.

That the CCR write to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration urging her to direct immigration officials reviewing H&C applications to exercise their discretion pursuant to Section 2.1 of the Immigration Regulations to exempt refused Iranian refugees from the requirement to have a passport and to accept satisfactory alternative identity documents.

That the CCR:

1. Request these dollars be used in all provinces for the purposes for which they were released, i.e. settlement services;
2. Contact the Minister of Immigration to urge her to request that Treasury Board regulations be relaxed to allow the settlement funds allocated for 1997/98 fiscal year as a surplus to be spent on 1998/99 fiscal year.

That the CCR:

1. Urge Citizenship and Immigration:
   (i)to allow private sponsors in Canada to retain their ability to identify and refer refugees for consideration for resettlement to Canada as CR5s under the Joint Assistance and Women at Risk Programs;
   (ii)not to oblige private sponsors, in making the referral, to provide a CR3 undertaking at the time of referral as is described in the Operations Memorandum "Refugee and Humanitarian Resettlement Program: in Canada": and to revise the Operations Memorandum to reflect this, especially in Sections 8.4, 9.2.1 and 9.2.2;
2. Request the NGO-Government Committee on the Private Sponsorship of Refugees to support this resolution;
3. Request that CIC enter into consultation with private sponsors and other stakeholders to seek ways to address the issues of concern currently hampering the referral of named refugees under the CR5 Program.

That the CCR express its opposition to the recruitment of previous or present CIC employees for the role of RCO.

That the CCR write to CIC in support of measures allowing dependants abroad to be processed in Canada and requesting that CCR be consulted and allowed to make representations on such changes.

That the CCR:

1. Call on the Canadian Government to expand its language training program in Pakistan for refugee women coming to Canada so that they are not limited to refugees admitted under the Focus Humanitarian Program;
2. Remind the Government of Canada of its Resolution 7 of November 1995 and urge CIDA to assist Afghan refugee women in Pakistan by establishing income generating projects;
3. Remind Citizenship and Immigration of its Resolution 12 of November 1996 and the need to respond to the situation of Afghan refugee women through expedited processing.

That the CCR write to the IRB Chairperson to recommend that:

1. Expedited hearings be generously used for such children;
2. The IRB develop substantive guidelines for children which will include family reunification as one of its principles.

That the CCR:

1. Write to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration requesting an immediate suspension of deportations to Nigeria;
2. Write to the Minister of Foreign Affairs asking for his intervention in this matter;
3. Distribute copies of the above letters to all members of the CCR requesting them to also send similar letters;
4. Publicize our position in a communiqué issued to the media and other relevant organizations.

That the CCR urge that:

1. Government funding for AAP services be based on delivery of needed services without arbitrary parameters and funding be contracted on a "Global" basis for agreed services;
2. Meaningful dialogue and consultation between service delivery NGOs and CIC take place before final approval of RAP regulations.

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

1. Draft and implement guidelines for the gathering of information concerning Convention refugee claimants;
2. Ensure the Guidelines so developed are similar in nature and intent to the IRB's Guidelines with respect to the gathering of claimant-specific information and include the assurance that the security of the refugee claimant and his/her family will be paramount and that notice is given to claimants of proposed information searches with an opportunity for the claimant and his/her counsel to respond;
3. Ensure that such Guidelines are binding on any government agency involved in the gathering of information concerning refugee claimants, including but not limited to the RCMP and CSIS.

That the CCR write:

1. The chair of the IRB urging that a training session regarding current country conditions in Zaire/DRC be organized on an urgent basis, and that lawyers and NGOs be invited to participate;
2. The Refugee Branch requesting the same for PCDOs.

That the CCR:

1. Adopt the policy that education is a right of all minors regardless of immigration status;
2. Write to appropriate Provincial Ministers of Education urging that they adopt the above policy, and, for those provinces where this is already required by law, urging that they comply with their own legislation;
3. Write to CIC urging that in the interim letters of no objection be issued to the children of refugee claimants without delay prior to determination of eligibility.