SECD – Parliamentary Context – February 9, 2026

About the Committee

Committee Mandate

The Standing Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs (SECD) has the mandate to study issues related to national security, defence and veterans' affairs generally. The committee has conducted studies and examined bills in the areas of firearms control, customs and preclearance, security and defence in the Arctic, and issues related to the Canadian Armed Forces and Canadian Veterans.

Motion for this Study

That, notwithstanding any provision of the Rules, previous order or usual practice, if Bill C-12, An Act respecting certain measures relating to the security of Canada’s borders and the integrity of the Canadian immigration system and respecting other related security measures, is adopted at second reading:

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2. the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology be authorized to examine and report on the subject matter of Parts 5, 6, 7 and 8 of the bill;

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(a) be authorized to take into account any report from the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology to the Senate on the subject matter of Parts 5, 6, 7 and 8, during its consideration of the bill; and

(b) submit its final report to the Senate no later than the end of Routine Proceedings on February 24, 2026, after which it shall be deemed to have reported the bill without amendment, with the bill then being placed on the Orders of the Day for third reading at the next sitting of the Senate;

Past Reports

A full list of the studies and legislation that the committee has considered in the 45th Parliament is available.

About the Appearance

Environmental Scan

The Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Yonah Martin, during second reading debate, recognized the importance of Bill C-12 and noted the party’s support for the bill as amended in the House of Commons.

Senators from the Independent Senators Group warned that Part 7 of the Bill undermines Canada’s immigration and refugee system, drawing parallels with US-style tactics and arguing that the new, restrictive timelines could endanger vulnerable asylum seekers.

They also cautioned that allowing the government to act in the public interest could be used to clear the backlog of applications at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada for expediency rather than fairness.

The Progressive Senate Group has voiced human rights concerns for asylum seekers in Canada in relation to Bill C-12.

The Canadian Senators Group has not been vocal on Bill C-12. They previously had concerns about the security checks and the security status of people who gained Canadian citizenship by descent under Bill C-3.

There are no non-affiliated members in the SECD.

Appearance Details

It is anticipated that the Minister will be invited to deliver an opening statement, followed by rounds of questioning from committee members. Public Safety has confirmed that their Minister and officials will be appearing before committee on the same day. We recommend the following IRCC officials to accompany the Minister:

• Dr. Harpreet S. Kochhar, Deputy Minister
• Jason Hollmann, Director General, Asylum
• Aiesha Zafar, Assistant Deputy Minister, Migration Integrity or Tara Lang, A/Assistant Deputy Minister, Migration Integrity
• Suzanne Sinnamon, Senior Counsel, Legal Services Unit

Independent Senators Group

Hassan Yussuf
Ontario
Chair of SECD

Donna Dasko
Ontario
Member

Marty Deacon
Ontario – Waterloo Region
Member

John M. McNair
New Brunswick
Member

Stan Kutcher
Nova Scotia
Member

Suze Youance
Quebec - Lauzon
Member

Top Party Issues

The Independent Senators Group (ISG) does not function as a conventional political party; rather, it governs itself through a set of guiding principles and invites like-minded senators to join under its banner.

The ISG’s purpose is to share information and expertise, engage in dialogue, take collective action on bills or issues that the ISG has designated as priorities, and build on their modernization agenda, through which they promote changes in Senate rules and practices.

Members of the ISG generally approach issues independently and without whipped votes (except for agenda items designated as ISG priorities).

Recent Party Activity

• February 5, 2026 – Debates: Compared part 7 of the bill to a similar tactic used by the Trump regime. (Simons)
• February 5, 2026 – Debates: Claimed that the bill undermines our immigration system and is a vain attempt to respond to the anti-immigrant sentiment in our country. (Simons)
• February 5, 2026 – Debates: Pointed out that asylum seekers are ineligible if they make their refugee claims more than 12 months after landing in Canada. The rules are even stricter for those who cross a land border between ports of entry. (Simons)
• February 5, 2026 – Debates: Concerned that the government might consider the backlog of applications at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada to be a public interest issue and therefore cancel the huge backlog. (Woo)
• December 4, 2025 – Debates: Claimed that the rights to privacy of Canadians are undermined under multiple bills such as Bill C-12. (Simons)
• November 25, 2025 – Debates: Questioned the new 2025–2027 budget and the promise to return to sustainable immigration levels. (Loffreda)
• November 18, 2025 – Debates: Noted the importance of immigration as more of an economic tool. (Arnold)
• November 18, 2025 – Debates: Inquired about Canadian businesses losing 300,000 temporary foreign workers as a result of policy changes. (Hébert)
• November 6, 2025 – Debates: Asked to confirm that no families from Gaza had their visa applications delayed or denied because they applied from Egypt. (Woo)
• November 6, 2025 – Debates: Voiced support for Bill C-3 for allowing access to citizenship by descent. (Coyle)
• November 6, 2025 – Debates: Voiced concern about the first-generation limit and its impact on children born to Canadian diplomats and Canadian Armed Forces personnel. (Coyle)
• November 6, 2025 – Debates: Noted that citizenship is about more than paperwork; it’s about connection to the country and land. (Coyle)
• October 20, 2025 – SECD: Noted the recent commitment of the federal government in recruiting 1,000 Royal Canadian Mounted Police personnel and 1,000 Canada Border Services Agency personnel to increase border security. (McNair)
• October 20, 2025 – SECD: Asked, with respect to Bill C-12, how the government can reconcile the protection of refugees, in accordance with international standards, and the decisions made by President Trump. (Youance)
• December 5, 2024 – SOCI: Inquired if there was concern or a risk that people would want to become Canadians of convenience who could benefit from the advantages of citizenship without establishing a real lasting connection. (Cormier)

Conservative Party of Canada

Dawn Anderson
Northwest Territories
Member

Claude Carignan
Quebec – Milles Isles
Member

Top Party Issues

Since the conclusion of the 2025 federal election, the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) has been vocal on immigration. The Party has regularly linked immigration to housing shortages, healthcare wait times, and unemployment.

The CPC have recently focused on their proposals to eliminate the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and to abolish birthright citizenship for children of temporary residents.

The Party’s Shadow Minister for Immigration, Michelle Rempel-Garner, has indicated more immigration-related policy proposals are coming from the CPC soon. Below are some key policy proposals the CPC put forth during the last campaign:

Processing Times and Client Service (Committed to process refugee claims faster on a last-in, first-out basis), Border / Asylum Issues (Drew a distinction between “fake” and “real” asylum seekers and committed to deporting the former), Levels (Proposed capping immigration levels and tying them to housing, labour market, and healthcare capacity), French Immigration (Released a “Quebec platform,” in which they committed to respecting the spirit of the Canada-Quebec Accord vis-à-vis Quebec’s powers over immigration and opposing the century initiative).

Recent Party Activity

• February 5, 2026 – Debates: Described C-12 as a belated attempt to restore credibility to a system that has been allowed to drift out of balance. (Martin)
• February 5, 2026 – Debates: Gave three reasons why the party supports the bill. It introduces tools to address inefficiencies in the asylum system and thus helps preserve adjudicative capacity for claims that genuinely require full hearings. It strengthens tools to combat organized crime and fentanyl trafficking. It will modernize the sex offender registry. (Martin)
• December 4, 2025 – Debates: Voiced concerns that there are over 700 foreign criminals at large in Canada and over 33,000 individuals under removal orders. (Housakos)
• November 27, 2025 – Debates: Criticized IRCC for promoting Canada’s “free health care” system as part of its communications strategy to attract newcomers. (Martin)
• November 20, 2025 – Debates: Noted that most highly skilled immigrants, such as health care providers, scientists and engineers, leave Canada five years after receiving their residency status. (Housakos)

The following are important interventions by CPC members in the House of Commons on Bill C-12 that may be relevant:

• October 22, 2025 – Debates: Noted that Bill C-12 does not fix issues with the TFWP, and alleged that asylum claims are now at 296,000 compared to 10,000 in 2015. (Berthold)
• October 22, 2025 – Debates: Argued that Bill C-12 would only “pretend” to address the issues, including that temporary residents make up 7% of Canada’s population, and that there are 500,000 undocumented people and 300,000 asylum claims. (Ho)
• October 22, 2025 – Debates: Emphasized that the CPC would carefully scrutinize Bill C-12 at committee stage to ensure that personal liberties and privacy are respected. (Falk)
• October 22, 2025 – Debates: Remarked that Bill C-12 is comprised of “the parts of Bill C-2 that had to be salvaged from the flaming dumpster fire of that original piece of legislation,” and framed the bill as “authoritarian” generally. (Strauss)
• October 20, 2025 – Debates: Alleged that Bill C-12’s introduction resulted from CPC pressure preventing the passage of Bill C-2. (Kaputo)

Progressive Senate Group

Andrew Cardozo
Ontario
Member

Katherine Hay
Ontario
Member

Judy A. White
Newfoundland and Labrador
Member

Top Party Issues

The Progressive Senate Group (PSG) does not function as a conventional political party; rather, it governs itself through a set of guiding principles and invites like-minded senators to join under its banner.

The PSG formed in 2019 as a more progressive, unstructured offshoot of the ISG. The group does not whip votes.

The PSG believes that Canadians share a responsibility to advance the public good, including advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. The group views government as a positive force in advancing the public interest.

Recent Party Activity

• December 10, 2025 – Debates: Noted multiple Human Rights non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International are denouncing the measures in Bill C-12 that aim to reduce the number of asylum seekers allowed to remain in Canada (Miville-Dechêne).
• November 26, 2025 – Debates: Asked why the federal government is not looking to link federal transfers to measurable results on credential recognition with the current lack of economic immigrants in Canada (Henkel).
• October 20, 2025 – SECD: Raised concerns over Canada becoming a police state in respect of Bill C-12 (Hay).
• December 5, 2024 – SOCI: Voiced concern about the impact of the bill on adopted children (Muggli).
• December 5, 2024 – SOCI: Inquired if the government had conducted a Gender-based Analysis Plus analysis on Bill C-71 (Bernard).
• December 4, 2024 – SOCI: Raised the concern that Bill C-71 discriminates against internationally adopted children due to birth, nationality and country origin (Bernard).
• December 4, 2024 – SOCI: Noted that there should be an “attachment to Canada” test (Harder).
• December 4, 2024 – SOCI: Inquired how Bill C-71 would impact different identity groups and various intersections of race, gender, age, religion and 2SLGBTQQIA+ (Bernard).

Canadian Senators Group

Mohammad Al Zaibak
Ontario
Deputy Chair of SECD

Tony Ince
Nova Scotia
Member

Top Party Issues

The Canadian Senators Group (CSG) was founded in November 2019 by 11 senators who shared an interest in furthering the modernization and independence of the Senate, while actively representing regional interests in the Senate Chamber and in committees.

CSG members act and vote independently. There is no requirement or expectation for members to agree on all issues or to vote as a bloc. Each member works with all senators on legislation and important issues to Canadians. 

CSG senators are committed to maintaining openness and transparency, engaging in solid research and robust debate, and preserving the highest level of decorum in the Senate Chamber.

Recent Party Activity

• November 6, 2025 – Debates: Inquired on security status and security checks of the extra-generation Canadians coming to Canada (Downe).
• June 19, 2025 – Debates: Mentioned Bill C-71, now Bill C-3, which proposes to restore citizenship to “Lost Canadians” by fixing the “second-generation cut-off” (Prosper).
• December 5, 2024 – SOCI: Inquired if the government would commit to serious consideration of the witness testimony heard at committee and make necessary changes to Bill C-71 (Osler).
• December 5, 2024 – SOCI: Voiced concerns on how the Citizenship Act would affect Indigenous families, adopted children, and other groups (Osler).
• December 4, 2024 – SOCI: Asked about the steps the federal government should take to effectively reach out and inform individuals of their citizenship status (Osler).
• March 21, 2024 – SOCI: Asked how the process of grants rather than automatic citizenship would address the situation of young adults without citizenship once they enter the legal system (Osler).