As Prime Minister Mark Carney heads to India this week for trade talks, police have warned a Canadian Sikh leader about a “credible threat” to his life.

Moninder Singh, who heads the Sikh Federation of Canada, said a member of the Vancouver Police Department delivered the caution on Sunday.

The tip about the threat came from a confidential informant, the officer told Singh, whose wife and children were also deemed to be at risk.

The Sikh activist, who lives in Surrey, B.C., shared an audio recording of the police visit, as well as a photo of the officer’s business card, with Global News.

“From time to time, the VPD conducts what is called a ‘Duty to Warn’ when we receive information regarding a threat to someone,” a police spokesperson said.

“I can’t comment on if any ‘Duty to Warn’ incidents happened over the weekend as there would be an ongoing criminal investigation associated.”

Police did not share any further details but Singh believes it is the latest attempt by the government of India to silence its Canadian opponents.

in 2022, Singh and fellow activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar were the first to receive a duty to warn notice. Nijjar was gunned down the following year, allegedly by the Indian government.

Since then, police have warned Singh periodically about new threats against him but last weekend’s was the first to include his family.

Since he is not a business person like those typically preyed upon by India’s extortion gangs, he suspects he is being targeted because of his activism.

Singh is an outspoken critic of human rights in India, and an advocate of the Khalistan movement that supports independence for India’s Sikh-majority Punjab.

The RCMP has previously linked such threats to the Indian government, and Singh believes that is also the case for this latest caution from police.

“India uses criminal syndicates, gangs in Canada, to carry out their dirty work for them,” he said. “India taps them and then they go out and carry these political assassinations out.”

“So I feel like the reason why they’re targeting me, for my political expression, my support for a Sikh homeland, Khalistan, or unveiling India’s horrible human rights record, I think it comes back to India.”

For Singh, the incident has underscored concerns that Carney is re-engaging with India without regard to the safety of Canada’s large Sikh community.

Under pressure to diversity Canada’s trade partners amidst U.S. President Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariffs, Carney has turned to India.

But national security officials have reported that the government of India is behind foreign interference, disinformation and transnational repression in Canada.

The RCMP believes the Indian government has collaborated with the Bishnoi gang to attack political opponents, notably Nijjar, who was killed outside a Surrey Sikh temple in 2023.

Gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi and his Canadian lieutenant Goldy Brar allegedly carried out the killing for India. The crime group is also partly responsible for the current extortion crisis in Canadian cities.

Following Nijjar’s murder, the FBI uncovered a similar plot by an Indian intelligence officer to kill Canadian lawyer and activist Gurpantwant Singh Pannun in New York.

Then, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme accused India of orchestrating a broader array of violent crimes, prompting Canada to expel six India diplomats in October 2024.

Indian diplomats and agents were engaging in “clandestine activities” such as collecting information on members of Canada’s South Asian community, he said.

“This information is shared with senior levels of the Indian government, who then direct the commission of serious criminal activities against Indo-Canadians through the kinetic use of Lawrence Bishnoi’s organized crime network,” National Security Advisor Nathalie Drouin testified.

“Bishnoi is currently in jail in India, and he is able to order these actions through his gang, which has extensive criminal networks in India and internationally,” she said.

“Serious crimes committed in Canada include homicides, assassination plots, perpetrated extortions and other extreme violence.”

At the same time, Canada’s foreign interference inquiry called India the “second most active country engaging in electoral foreign interference in Canada.”

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In an interview on Monday, Singh said he had received no assurances from Canadian officials that those issues had been resolved, or that India had promised to stop.

Deepening ties with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government without having dealt with the underlying national security threats was premature, he said.

“There’s a lot of unfinished business,” Singh said, adding that many Canadian Sikhs felt betrayed to see Carney and his officials meeting their Indian counterparts.

“It’s a bit of a slap in the face of the Sikh community that we have all these ongoing issues and we’re talking to a country that’s behind all of that.”

“We’re not holding them accountable in any which way.”

Throughout Canada’s various disclosures of India’s actions, New Delhi has denied them and put the blame on former prime minister Justin Trudeau, while claiming it needs to see evidence before taking action.

“The burden of proof lies on the accuser, not on the accused,” Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Patnaik told Global News in an interview on Monday.

Patnaik vowed that if such evidence surfaced, India would take action, even if it implicated senior officials in Modi’s government.

He said he had no response to latest Canadian Security Intelligence Service annual report, which referred to India’s role in the Nijjar murder.

The killing signalled “a significant escalation in India’s repression efforts against the Khalistan movement and a clear intent to target individuals in North America,” CSIS wrote.

“I cannot say anything about it,” said Patnaik, who replaced the previous high commissioner expelled from Canada for his role in violence against Canadians.

“Same way when we have our own report, it says that Canada supports separatist movements in India, that Canada support Khalistani movement in India,” he said.

“That’s the way our agencies look at it.”

Asked about extortions by Indian nationals working for India-based crime groups such as the Bishnoi gang, he said that was Canada’s problem.

An RCMP report released to Global News under the Access to Information Act said the Bishnoi gang was “acting on behalf of the Indian government.”

“You have to deal with it. If you start pointing fingers outside, that’s a different matter. It’s very easy to point fingers outside,” the high commissioner said.

Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca

As governments work to improve Canadians’ access to a family doctor, a new report shows the ability to access primary care varies depending on the province or territory.

The report, based on the Canadian Medical Association’s Our Care survey, shows about 5.8 million adults remain without primary care access. But when narrowing down, fewer Canadians in New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and two territories have access compared to others such as Ontario, British Columbia or Manitoba.

“I think the report findings really illustrate how we don’t have one national health-care system, instead we have 13 or more primary care systems,” said Dr. Tara Kiran, who worked with the CMA on the survey.

The survey gathered responses from 16,876 Canadian adults from across the country. They were asked if they had a regular family doctor or nurse practitioner, or a primary care setting to receive care.

New Brunswick ranked among the lowest, with 65.9 per cent of respondents reporting they had a primary care clinician — meaning if that number held true for the full population about an estimated 240,000 people are without.

“It’s not surprising to see that we’re lagging behind other provinces with regards to access to family physicians,” said Dr. Lise Babin, a family physician in New Brunswick.

“That’s what the numbers have been telling us for the last years and the fact there has not been much investment in primary care in New Brunswick like in the past years, that has definitely contributed to us lagging behind.”

By comparison, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba saw the highest numbers of people reporting having a clinician at 87.4 per cent, 88.5 per cent and 88.8 per cent, respectively.

Kiran said there could be multiple factors behind this including investments in team-based care, such as in Ontario and Alberta, or better pay that attracts doctors to those provinces.

Babin said in an interview with Global News the lack of a family doctor can lead to issues for Canadians’ health, especially those with chronic health problems.

A recent study from Ontario backs up Babin’s assertions, with researchers finding Ontarians with multiple chronic conditions who went without a family doctor for two or more years had 12-fold higher odds of death, and a nearly 16-fold higher chance of premature death.

The report by the CMA also looked at whether those with a clinician could get care for an urgent concern the same or following day, with only 37 per cent nationally saying they could.

Ontario reported higher than the national average at 44.6 per cent, while Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and the Northwest Territories reported lower than average rates.

“It’s not that the doctor doesn’t want to do a good job and see the patient, it’s just that we haven’t designed our systems to be able to make that easy,” said Kiran.

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She said one way to improve that is more investment in inter-professional teams to “grow the capacity” of family doctors and nurse practitioners to care for people.

After-hours care was also examined, with 31 per cent of Canadians reporting someone from their primary care clinic was able to help with urgent issues outside regular weekday hours.

B.C., Alberta, and Atlantic Canadian provinces all ranked “significantly” lower than the national average.

“So there are circumstances when patients could maybe get some advice late in the evening, and that’s where 811 comes in, and there are situations where patients don’t generally abuse the emergency department,” said Dr. Eddy Lang, an emergency room physician in Calgary.

“If they’re coming to see us, they genuinely feel they have an urgent problem that requires attention.”

Overall, the report found that among those with primary care access, about 67 per cent said their doctor or nurse practitioner supports their general well-being.

But it also found satisfaction by Canadians in the primary system was still low, with just 27.8 per cent nationally saying they were satisfied with how it is working.

“I think the conclusion is that we haven’t been doing OK for many years, but I think there is optimism,” said Babin. “We just have to go with it (investments) and then just try to do as much as we can with the investments we have now and I remain optimistic that we’re going to see a difference.”

Kiran adds that since the satisfaction rate is consistent regardless if a province or territory has more people with a family doctor or not, it shows primary care is about more than just having a clinician.

“People are looking not just for a family doctor, but being able to get in in a timely way, have access to their records, be treated with respect and feel empowered to be able to take care of themselves with the information that they need,” she said.

—with files from Global News’ Katherine Ward

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The company at the centre of a $29.5 million government lawsuit and allegations of fraud is pushing to move the case to commercial court in the hopes of speeding up the legal fight — a move the Ford government is attempting to block.

The company, Keel Digital Solutions, received millions from both the Ministry of Colleges and Universities as well as the Ministry of Labour, through its subsidiary Get A-Head, for counselling services for students on college and university campuses.

In a recent lawsuit, the province alleged the owners of Keel submitted “fraudulent” data on the services they provided and that the company was “unjustly enriched.” Keel fired back, saying the government’s argument was “deeply flawed, built on misstatements and outright inaccuracies.”

Now, weeks after being served with legal action by the government, its executives are trying to move the fight to a new arena — urging the province to accept a speedier resolution to allegations of fraud.

“Keel is ready to have the facts tested,” the company said in a statement.

“If the Province truly believes in its own allegations, and if it genuinely stands behind its repeated rhetoric about ‘Respect for Taxpayers,’ then it should have no hesitation in advancing this matter immediately in the Commercial Court, saving potentially millions in legal fees.”

In the latest twist, Keel’s executives have filed a motion to move the case to the Superior Court’s Commercial List, arguing they want to prioritize speed in order to preserve their reputation.

In the filing, the company claimed that the province “unleashed the weight of the government,” putting both the company’s viability and the owners’ reputation at risk. It expressed concern that a resolution could be “years away.”

“The reputations of the individual defendants and the ongoing viability of the corporate defendants are being irreparably damaged in real time,” the motion by Keel Digital Solutions argued.

The company said the government’s lawsuit, launched in early January, has made its directors “toxic,” has “effectively shut down the business,” forced them to lay off at least 30 staff and could result in the “bankruptcy” of its owners.

“The only practical way to mitigate the devastating harm to the defendants is an expedited trial that dismisses the baseless and misguided allegations in the claim,” Keel said in its motion.

Moving the case to the commercial list — presided by a team of judges with experience in managing complex commercial litigation — could potentially speed up the legal battle and lead to a resolution within a year.

The government, however, has balked at the request.

In a filing of its own, lawyers for the Ministry of the Attorney General said they do not view the case as being “appropriate” for the commercial court because the central concern relates to “compliance with provincial funding agreements and fraud.”

Rather than sitting idle, the government suggested its lawyers have already moved ahead with the next stage of the ongoing legal battle by requesting Keel’s internal data on the virtual mental health counselling sessions it offered.

The data includes start and end times of sessions, participant numbers, identification numbers, and login details, all of which the government claims the company has yet to turn over.

“It is [the company’s] refusal, and the absence of that highly relevant data, that grounded the audit’s serious concerns and is now central to Ontario’s claim,” government lawyers said in their filing.

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Back in November, the Ford government sent the findings of a forensic audit into Keel Digital Solution to Ontario Provincial Police, which has since opened an investigation.

The province said that a “routine audit” of the business had raised red flags that led to the forensic probe and eventual police investigation. Keel Digital Solutions strenuously denied that claim, raising questions about how the audit had been conducted and disputing its findings.

Then, at the beginning of the year, the government announced it had filed its own lawsuit against Keel, accusing it of breaching its contract and providing false and misleading reports.

The government’s lawsuit — against which Keel has filed a counterclaim and wants to see moved into commercial court — alleged that between 2022 and 2025 the company “provided false and misleading quarterly reports of their corporate performance measures,” which resulted in the government paying out its contracts.

Keel’s counterclaim seeks damages of $98 million, including for payments the government withheld and for what they call loss of corporate value.

The company said in its defence that the government’s audit process was secretive and “deeply flawed.” It also claims that when the province announced the police referral due to what it called “inconsistencies” found through the audit, the company says that it was done with the intent to harm its reputation.

The claims from either the government or Keel Digital Solutions have not been proven in court, and no charges have been laid in the OPP’s investigation.

The motion to move the case to the Commercial List will be heard in early March.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Canadian flags waved and children cheered as Team Canada athletes returned home Monday after capturing 21 medals, including five gold, at the Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games.

Supporters gathered at airports in Toronto and Montreal, greeting athletes with signs, pom-poms and applause after Canada secured five gold medals along with a series of hard-fought podium finishes.

“Feels good, feels good to be back on Canadian soil,” curler Brett Gallant said upon arrival from Milan.

Gallant was part of Canada’s return to the top of the podium in men’s curling.

“Well it’s been a few years since Canadian men have been at the top of the podium, so it’s nice to accomplish that,” he said.

The women’s hockey team came home with silver. Forward Natalie Spooner said the support from home was felt throughout the tournament.

“We felt so much support from Canada, families and fans across the country and it’s amazing,” she told reporters. “Obviously it was heartbreaking we lost. I thought we had a great game, had our chances and it just didn’t go our way.”

Teammate Sarah Fillier described the championship atmosphere as unforgettable.

“That gold medal game, the building was electric and the coolest environment I’ve ever played in,” she said.

Bobsleigher Keaton Bruggeling, competing in his first Olympics, said the reception back home was overwhelming.

“To have the rallying, feel the pride in the flag, it’s an unbelievable feeling,” he said.

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In Montreal, speedskater Valérie Maltais returned with three medals and the honour of serving as a flagbearer at the closing ceremony. “I got really emotional,” she said of the homecoming.

Freestyle skier Mikaël Kingsbury, one of the most decorated mogul skiers in the sport’s history, brought home gold in dual moguls and also carried the Canadian flag.

“To win that in mogul skiing, the first gold medal and the first for Canada, and to be a flag bearer, it was huge,” he said.

Back in Toronto, family members waited eagerly for reunions. Marie Spooner said she was proud of her daughter’s effort. “She has worked very hard to get there,” she said.

Fans lining the arrivals area said the Games helped unite the country. “It’s nice, it’s unity, bringing people together from all over the country,” one supporter said.

More athletes are expected to return in the days ahead.

When Robin Lukash lost her son to a drug overdose, she didn’t know what to do.

“I didn’t have anywhere to go,” Lukash said.

The Okanagan woman said her son David, who was 37 and a UBC student at the time, struggled with mental health and used substances to self-medicate.

“The autopsy showed a small amount of fentanyl, but that small amount of fentanyl was enough,” the grieving mother said.

Her grief, she said, was compounded by feelings of isolation until she found a support group called ‘Healing Hearts’.

“I had a cohort of people that I probably never would have met, who understand completely what it was like to lose someone so suddenly and with all of the background baggage,” Lukash said.

Healing Hearts started several years ago by Moms Stop the Harm, an advocacy group that recognized a need to provide specific support for a specific type of grief.

“It’s very stigmatized and there’s a lot of shame,” said Helen Jennens. “People are afraid to talk about it.”

Jennens knows it all too well.

The Kelowna woman lost two of her sons to the toxic drug crisis and is now a facilitator helping others navigate grief, but she says she is treated very differently.

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“We need the same compassion that anyone gets when they’ve lost their child or loved one and because of the circumstances around these deaths, we don’t get it,” Jennens said.

While the number of drug toxicity deaths went down by 21 per cent from 2024 to 2025, the numbers are still staggering.

More than 1,800 lives were lost in B.C. last year, in 2025 and more than 15,000 people have died since the health emergency was declared in 2016.

“So that’s 15,000 plus families suffering with nowhere to go, Jennens said.

In addition to Healing Hearts, Moms Stop The Harm also offers Holding Hope groups for those currently battling addictions and their loved ones.

The group sessions are offered in person and virtually across B.C. and Canada.

For Lukash, they have been life-saving.

“My first few meetings, I just listened and cried the whole time because everyone was telling my story, Lukash said. “I don’t know how I could keep going without them.”

For more information or to access a support group, you can check out the Healing Hearts website. 

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A Quebec government cabinet minister has taken the stand in a civil case over her decision to cancel an event in 2023 because she thought it would promote anti-abortion views.

British Columbia-based Harvest Ministries International is suing the provincial government for $80,000 and seeking a declaration from the Superior Court that the Christian group’s Charter rights were violated by the cancellation.

Housing Minister Caroline Proulx defended her decision to block the “Faith, Fire, Freedom Rally” at Quebec City’s provincially owned convention centre in 2023, when she was responsible for the tourism portfolio.

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She says she was shocked to discover anti-abortion “misinformation” on the group’s website.

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, which is representing the plaintiffs, says the matter at issue is whether a religious organization can be denied access to a publicly owned venue because of its beliefs.

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The Quebec government maintains that the right to freedom of religion and non-discrimination applies only to individuals, not to legal entities.

Earlier in the day, Pastor Arthur Lucier, founder of Harvest Ministries International, testified that the Quebec City gathering was not an anti-abortion event, but rather a reconciliation event between the founding peoples of the Canadian federation.

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Lucier told the court he was informed three weeks before the event that the rental agreement had been cancelled and said he approached 50 other venues without success, calling the situation “heartbreaking” for those who wanted to attend.

Superior Court Justice Alain Trudel is hearing the case at the Quebec City courthouse, where lawyers will make their final arguments on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2026.

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An inmate escaped from custody while being transported by staff from Correctional Service Canada on Friday, prompting a police search in Prince Albert.

In a news release issued Monday, the agency said Keiston Custer, 30, absconded from lawful custody on Feb. 20 while being transported from Saskatchewan Penitentiary in Prince Albert, Sask.

Correctional officials said the Prince Albert Police Service and the Prince Albert detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were notified. A warrant has been issued for Custer’s arrest.

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Custer is described as five feet 10 inches tall (178 centimetres) and weighing 181 pounds (82 kilograms), with a medium complexion, brown eyes and black hair.

He is serving a sentence of 10 years and two days for manslaughter using a firearm, rioting and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000.

Anyone with information about Custer’s whereabouts is asked to contact police.

Correctional Service Canada said it will investigate the circumstances surrounding the escape and is working with police to locate the inmate as quickly as possible.

On an ordinary April day in 1999 in a small agricultural community in the heart of Alberta’s southern Bible Belt, a gunman entered W.R. Myers High School in Taber — killing one student before a gym teacher managed to tackle him down.

The student who lost his life was Jason Lang. His friend Shane Christmas, also 17, was blasted in the stomach but survived.

It was the first fatal school shooting in Canada in a quarter of a century — and came eight days after the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., where 12 students and one teacher were killed.

Now, 27 years later, Dale Lang, Jason’s father, is speaking out after another tragic school shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C. has shaken Canada.

“This is something that you can’t fix. It’s a very helpless feeling, a very empty feeling.”

He says the shooting that took his son’s life will never fade from his memory.

“Even though I would say that God has healed us over the time, we still think about it sometimes and we still live in a place where you know you’ve lost somebody and you can’t get them back.”

Jason’s legacy has continued in several ways, including a scholarship in his name, which has helped countless students.

“We have had, over the years, a number of students who have contacted us to say thank you, to say they remember Jason, they know what happened. So, there’s kind of a legacy going on and hopefully it’s a positive thing that helps people remember things can go wrong and we have to watch out for each other.”

After the shooting in 1999, when classes at W.R. Myers resumed, Lang returned to the school in an effort to heal as a community.

“A lot of the kids were very frightened about the idea of going back into the school where somebody had been killed. For us to be able to (greet them), that was a healing thing for us, but also a healing thing for the kids.”

Lang, an Anglican minister at the time, became a tireless crusader for nearly a decade against the sort of bullying and school violence that led to the shooting. He then walked away from organized religion.

He says the message he shared following Jason’s death unfortunately still rings true today.

“We’re living in a world that’s pretty broken and damaged and people are getting damaged. It was my hope that those kinds of things would begin to change a little but in the 27 years since, we still see a lot of terrible things happening to people, needless things happening.”

Now, for the families of Tumbler Ridge, like Lang’s family, things cannot be the same.

“For the families that lost people, it’s a new normal and it’s not a very nice normal,” said Lang.

As a former pastor, Lang says faith, forgiveness and acceptance was crucial for his personal journey of healing.

“We need some place that we can go to (a church), where we are stimulated to honour and respect other people and treasure other people — support people wherever and whenever we can. There’s lots of good people out there doing nice things and good things,” Lang said.

“But there’s still a lot of broken people and hurting situations and difficult family circumstances and all of those things. So, I’ll just keep praying and we’ll see what happens.”

While hesitant to give advice on healing to other people, Lang does believe there is a way to continue your life even after dealing with such a horrible tragedy.

“These things are painful and when you think about them even 20 years later, you still have a sense of the pain, but it doesn’t mean you can’t be healed and move on with your life.”

With files from Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Saskatchewan is hoping to become a province with one power grid as SaskPower creates more transmission lines.

Saskatchewan currently has two separate grids, in the north and south. SaskPower says this causes interference when moving power to the northern grid as they have to wheel power through Manitoba to get it there.

SaskPower’s new multi-billion-dollar project is hoping to make Saskatchewan more independent by connecting the two grids with transmission lines made in Saskatoon. They hope to increase availability and reliability of power in and out of the province, including to the United States.

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“We literally have been helping Alberta keep the lights on through the cold spells that they’ve had,” said Jeremy Harrison, the minister responsible for SaskPower. “This will allow us to do that in a more significant way.”

Harrison says this project will help expand Saskatchewan’s economy and support growth for the future.

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“I think we are coming to a point where really the ability of economies to grow is going to be measured as much by their ability to put power onto grids and move it as by anything else,” Harrison said. “And that is a significant change.”

The province also has long-term plans for the future of power including a transition to nuclear power generation, fuelled by Saskatchewan uranium.

Watch above to see what SaskPower’s new project will do for Saskatchewan and its neighbours.

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Senators on the social affairs committee want to see immigration-related sections in the government’s border security bill, C-12, removed or significantly modified by the Senate national security committee.

The national security committee is responsible for tabling amendments, while the social affairs committee has conducted an in-depth study of the bill’s immigration measures.

The national security committee began Monday with independent Senator Tony Dean reading a lengthy letter on behalf of Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree and Immigration Minister Lena Diab on the rationale for the bill, responding to issues raised in the social affairs committee study.

The letter stressed that there is bipartisan support for this bill as only “a handful” of MPs voted against it and B.C. Premier David Eby said it should be passed “without delay” after alleged extortionists made asylum claims in that province.

That study says the social affairs committee heard from witnesses who warned the legislation could violate human rights and lacks procedural fairness.

Bill C-12 has sections focused on immigration that deal with information-sharing and managing the asylum system. It also proposes giving the government new powers to modify or cancel existing immigration documents and applications.

The committee’s report says if the national security committee opts not to remove the sections on immigration, it should introduce more robust parliamentary oversight to the legislation and include a sunset clause to require a parliamentary review.

The report was broadly welcomed by civil society groups who testified before the Senate social affairs committee.

“When senators actually listened to the people who would be impacted by Bill C-12 — after we were blocked from testifying in the House — they heard how dangerous it is and called for deletion of the immigration sections,” Karen Cocq, Migrant Rights Network spokesperson, said in a media statement.

The Senate committee report contains nine other recommendations aimed at addressing questions raised by witness testimony.

They include a change to the section in the legislation that would bar people who first came to Canada more than a year prior from filing refugee claims. That section would be retroactive to June 24, 2020.

Diab told the committee earlier this month that 37 per cent of asylum claims filed between June 3 and Oct. 31, 2025 would be disallowed under this ineligibility measure — about 19,000 of 50,000 applications.

The letter from Diab and Anandasangaree says while asylum claims have dropped by one third in 2025 compared to 2024, more still needs to be done to disincentivize misuse of the asylum system and new measures are needed with plans to reduce temporary visa volumes.

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Witnesses warned the Senate social affairs committee that the current wording might prevent someone who came to Canada as a baby on a family vacation from making a conventional asylum claim. The committee wants to see that one-year period increased to five years.

The government defended this timeline during committee hearings, saying people could still apply for a pre-removal risk assessment if they sought asylum under these conditions.

Witnesses, including the Canadian Bar Association and Amnesty International, argued the legislation would set up a two-tier asylum system that wouldn’t guarantee in-person hearings for vulnerable people, such as members of the LGBTQ+ community and survivors of domestic violence.

The senators also reject making that section retroactive to June 24, 2020 and want it made active once the bill receives Royal Assent.

The bill proposes giving the government powers to cancel or modify a host of immigration documents — including permanent residency cards — that have been issued already or are in the government’s application inventory if cabinet decides it’s in the public interest.

Government witnesses told the committee this power would be used to address administrative errors, fraud and threats to public health, public safety or national security.

Other witnesses said the broad “public interest” wording could be used to justify discriminatory mass cancellations and cited how sweeping government orders were used to turn away Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany.

The committee recommends adding an amendment to require “robust parliamentary oversight” to monitor the use of these proposed powers.

The social affairs committee also recommends that the government give the Immigration and Refugee Board extra resources to help it review refugee claims. The IRB currently has a backlog of about 300,000 claims waiting to be processed.

The bill proposes giving the government power to share the personal information of migrants, permanent residents and naturalized citizens with other federal departments, provinces, territories and foreign governments.

The government told the committee these powers are intended to ease the administrative burden of information-sharing and ensure applicants get access to services.

The Senate social affairs committee wants the wording changed to exempt permanent residents and naturalized citizens from information-sharing and to introduce a mandatory privacy commissioner review.

The bill has a second reading vote deadline of Feb. 26.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press