Group Members:Bushra FaisalRazia Baloch

Samina RathoreAndrew Chaudhry

Fahmida Kabir

Immigration Policy Analysis Bill – C 585

Bill C-585

Refugee claimant from outside Canada: 2 Classes

Convention refugee Abroad class:• If you are outside your country and cannot return back

because of well-founded fear of prosecution on base of:• Religion, Race, Political opinion, Nationality, Membership

in a particular social group, such as women or people with a particular sexual orientation.

• You must also be Outside Canada and want to be in Canada.

• Referred by UNHCR or another organization or • Sponsored by a private sponsorship group. • Selected as government -assessed or privatively

sponsored or have funds to support yourself and your dependents after you arrive in Canada.

Refugee claimant from outside Canada: 2 Classes contd…

Country of Asylum Class• You may be in this class if you are outside of your

country and continuously and personally affected by war or armed conflict or suffered massive violation of human rights.

• You must be outside of Canada• Referred by UNHCR, or other organization, or

privately sponsored or you have funds to support yourself and your dependents in Canada, or selected as government assessed.

• You will have to pass medical exam and security and criminal checks.

Refugee claim within CanadaYou may claim as a refugee from within Canada who fear prosecution or who would be in danger if they had to leave. Some dangers they may face include the following:• Torture• Risk of their life• Risk of cruel or unusual treatment or punishment.

Currently available help to refugees:• Federal government provides funds to provinces and

territories to help refugees to settle in Canada such as:• Social assistance and Interim Federal Health Program

( IFHP).

Bill C-585• Bill C- 585 was tabled by Pickering-Scarborough East MP Corneliu

Chisu as an amendment to the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act.

• Currently, the federal government gives funds to the provinces to help them pay for core social services and programs through the Canada Social Transfer (CST).

• Bill C-585 lays out the terms of the Canada Social Transfer, including funding for services such as post-secondary education, child care and welfare

• The Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, which lays out the terms of the CST, contains a condition that provinces cannot impose a minimum period of residency to restrict eligibility for social assistance benefits – called the National Standard.

• Bill C-585 would amend the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act so that provinces could impose a residency requirement for people without permanent status, without losing any CST funding. The Bill would therefore erode the national standard of no minimum residency requirement for social assistance

The Bill would be free to impose residency requirements on:• Refugee claimants who are waiting for their claims to be decided• Unsuccessful refugee claimants (including those who may not

meet the legal test for refugee status but still face violence or persecution in their home country), whether or not they are appealing or pursuing other options

• Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) applicants• People who have applied in Canada for permanent residence and

are waiting for processing, including successful humanitarian and compassionate applicants and sponsored spouses

• Temporary resident permit holders who are not victims of human trafficking.

• The Bill would not allow provinces to impose residency requirements on Canadian citizens, permanent residents, victims of trafficking on a temporary resident permit, and accepted refugees.

What Can happen?• If passed, Bill C-585 would allow provinces to impose

minimum residency requirements for eligibility for social assistance benefits, but only for certain categories of people.

• In other words, a province could decide that people with certain kinds of status are not eligible for social assistance until they have lived in that province for a specified period of time.

• In some cases, people may be eligible for a work permit, but it can take time for a permit to be approved and issued.

• An alternate source of income is required, at least in the interim, which social assistance frequently provides.

What can happen contd…• Even with a work permit, it can be hard to find a job,

particularly for people who are suffering from trauma and the impact of violence and persecution in their home country. Many speak neither English nor French.

• Others are not eligible for a work permit, such as newly arrived claimants from countries that the federal government has designated as “safe” – regardless of the violence or persecution they have experienced there.

Scenario…• Suppose a woman fleeing Mexico from the threat of death

because of domestic violence she would not have the time to pack up cash and valuables

• She would run – often with nothing except the clothes on her back

• In the time between when that woman arrives in Canada and until her case is heard at the Refugee Protection Division she will receive NOTHING.

• She will have no source of income support. • She is entirely reliant on community programs whose resources

are already stretched thin.• She will probably end up living on the street at least until she is

determined to be a refugee.

Restrict Social Assistance for Refugees• The Federal government is quietly using a motion

to try to restrict access to social assistance for refugee claimants

• This will basically allow provinces and territories to deny a large number of persons, particularly refugee claimants who are not victims of human trafficking or who have not had their refugee hearing, from receiving social assistance when they first arrive in the province.

Is it True?• One wonders what’s really at play here. Is Mr.

Chisu hoping to assist in stemming the tide of refugees that enter Canada by helping to establish Canada as a country that is not only is willing to let refugees die from poor health, but is also willing to starve them?

• However we claim that ,we are a country that has long had compassion for refugees on the understanding that everyone is entitled to a safe and decent place to live. Let’s keep it that way. (An act to, 2014)

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)• Bill C-585 violates Canada’s binding obligations under the International

Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention).

• Article 9 of the ICESCR provides that States Parties, including Canada, “recognize the right of everyone to social security, including social insurance.” The ICESCR contains no jurisdictional limitations, and the rights contained therein should be available to all people, including non-nationals such as refugee claimants.

• The right to social assistance is no exception, and refugee claimants “should enjoy equal treatment in access to non-contributory social security schemes, including reasonable access to health care and family support, consistent with international standards.” (Denying social, 2014)

Article 6 of ICCPR• Bill C-585 also implicates the right to life

guaranteed in Article 6 of the ICCPR. The right to life includes both negative and positive obligations. 

• Those positive obligations involve adopting measures to protect life, including providing access to social assistance, which directly impacts individuals’ abilities to access basic necessities such as shelter, food, or healthcare.

Article 2 of ICCPR• Canada has undertaken under Article 2 of the ICESCR to take steps to

progressively realize the rights in the Covenant, including the right to social assistance.  A corollary to this commitment is the obligation to refrain from limiting the fundamental rights guaranteed in the ICESCR.

• There is a strong presumption in international law that retrogressive measures taken in relation to fundamental human rights are prohibited.  There is no justification for measures that result in arbitrary cuts to social assistance and have devastating impacts to refugee claimants’ lives on the basis of their immigration status sufficient to rebut this presumption.

• Principles similar to the rule against non-retrogression have been espoused by the Supreme Court of Canada, which has held that once the government puts in place a scheme to provide benefits, that scheme must be administered in a Charter-compliant way. ( Denying social, 2014)

Meanwhile at the Parliament…• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpLDa0365Eo

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RMNb1JFZrE• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qic0NZR9O9c

Solution…• Deliberate attempts at worsening the lives of refugee

claimants, who are already in situations of extreme precariousness, by restricting their access to social assistance violates Canada’s protection obligations under the Refugee Convention.

• Bill C-585 should be immediately withdrawn. It contravenes numerous international human rights obligations binding on Canada.  The impact of the Bill would be devastating to individuals who have suffered a great deal in their home countries and have fled to Canada in order to seek protection.

• It would deliberately prolong their suffering and deny them the protection they so desperately need and that Canada has committed to providing.

Let’s Discuss…• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSO8iRgkZEM

• Q 1. After watching this video clip what do you think how refugees are going to survive without social assistance?

• Q 2. Should Refugee’s have access to social assistance if they are awaiting deportation?

• Q 3. Do you believe, Bill C585 may effect Canada’s reputation when it comes to “being a world leader in protecting refugees since past 40 years”?

References• Keung, N. (2014, Sept 14). Bill tabled to ban refugees from social assistance. Toronto

Star. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2014/09/14/bill_tabled_to_ban_refugees_from_social_assistance.html

 • Bill C-585: An Act to Exclude Refugees from Social Assistance. (2014). Retrieved

from http://www.cwp-csp.ca/2014/06/bill-c-585-an-act-to-exclude-refugees-from-social-assistance/

 • Nerenberg, K. (2014, September 23). The Conservetive War on refugee continues.

Rabble.ca. Retrieved from http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/karl-nerenberg/2014/09/conservative-war-on-refugees-continues

• Amnesty International. (2014). Denying social assistance to refugee claimants violates international law. Retrieved from http://www.amnesty.ca/news/public-statements/denying-social- assistance-to-refugee-claimants-violates-international-law-bill

• Canada Without Poverty. (2014). An act to exclude refugee from social Assistance. Retrieved from http://www.cwp- csp.ca/2014/06/bill-c-585-an-act-to-exclude-refugees-from-social-assistance/e