Canada has named the 12 members of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, who will monitor federal policy related to immigration and multiculturalism.
The Standing Committee, also called CIMM for short, oversees matters relating to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). It studies and reports on how each of these organizations are operating, whether they are sticking to their mandates, and how they are being managed.
Among other things, they examine statute law, the backlogs of immigration applications, program and policy objectives and effectiveness.
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In the previous parliamentary session, CIMM conducted a major study of the COVID-19 impact on Canadian immigration, and made recommendations on how the immigration system can be changed. The leading political party is not obligated to make any changes based on these studies, but it can help inform policy.
The committee is made up of elected Members of Parliament (MPs) from each “recognized” political party. In Canada, a party is only recognized if there are 12 or more members in the House of Commons.
The new committee will not be able to carry out their responsibilities until members have been named and a chair is elected. Members will elect a chair at the first committee meeting on December 14.
Membership is subject to change throughout the parliamentary session. For now, here are the 12 MPs who are starting off:
Shafqat Ali from the Liberal Party represents the Brampton Centre riding, which is in Ontario. He was elected in the 2021 Canadian federal election. Before politics, he worked in real estate.
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe from the Bloc Québécois is an MP for the electoral district of Lac-Saint-Jean in Quebec. He is currently one of the vice chairs on the immigration committee. He works in the paper industry, and the film industry as a boom operator. Brunelle-Duceppe was originally elected in 2019.
Sukh Dhaliwal has been the Liberal MP for Surrey-Newton, B.C., since 2015. He emigrated from India in 1984, and co-founded a successful land surveying company.
Fayçal El-Khoury is a Liberal MP representing the riding of Laval—Les Îles, Quebec. He immigrated to Canada from Lebanon in 1976, and holds an engineering degree.
Rosemarie Falk is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Battlefords-Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. Prior to politics she has a background in social work.
Jasraj Singh Hallan is from the Conservative Party. He is the incumbent Shadow Minister, who is responsible for keeping the government accountable to their actions relating to immigration. Hallan is the MP for Calgary Forest Lawn in Alberta.
Arielle Kayabaga represents the electoral district of London West as a member of the Liberal Party. She was elected in 2021. Her family moved to Canada when she was 11 years old, fleeing the Burundian Civil War.
Jenny Kwan is the incumbent Shadow Minister from the New Democratic Party. She has been the MP for Vancouver East, B.C., since 2015. Kwan has a long history in politics starting at age 26 when she became the youngest-ever Vancouver city counsellor.
Marie-France Lalonde has been the Liberal MP for Orléans, Ontario, since 2019. She is the co-owner of a senior’s residence, and has previously worked in hospitals.
Brad Redekopp is the Conservative MP for the riding of West Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Before politics he worked in finance and accounting in the manufacturing industry.
Kyle Seeback is currently serving as the vice chair. He was elected as the Conservative MP for Dufferin—Caledon in 2019, he also previously represented the riding of Brampton West from 2011 to 2015. Prior to his political career he worked as a civil litigation lawyer.
Salma Zahid has been the Liberal MP for Scarborough Centre, Ontario, since 2015. She is the incumbent Chair of the Standing Committee on Immigration. She has two masters degrees in educational management, and business.
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