2nd Session, 41st Parliament,
Volume 149, Issue 152
Monday, June 15, 2015
The Honourable Leo Housakos, Speaker
Citizenship and Immigration
Deportation of Burundi Nationals
Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer: Honourable senators, I have a question for the Leader of the Government in the Senate and it has to do with the situation that is happening in Burundi at the moment. As we know, Burundi is a country of La Francophonie and Canada has a great relationship with Burundi. At the moment, Burundi is suffering terrible atrocities with their president insisting on running for a further term.
I would like to ask the question: What are we doing to the people that we are going to be deporting to Burundi? Are we going to stop that deportation as is our convention?
[Translation]
Hon. Claude Carignan (Leader of the Government): Senator, as you know, our government keeps a close eye on countries in crisis and their stability. If there are risks to the safety of individuals should they be deported to their home country, the risk level is always taken into account to ensure that people who are already in difficult situations are not placed in even more dangerous situations.
[English]
Senator Jaffer: Thank you for your answer. I completely respect the fact that you may not know about this. May I please ask you to find out if we are stopping the deportation of people from Canada to Burundi while this conflict lasts?
[Translation]
Senator Carignan: We are concerned about what is happening in Burundi, and we will continue to keep a close eye on the situation while working with our humanitarian partners on the ground.