B.C. Premier David Eby is slamming the Senate committee studying Bill C-12 for proposing to remove several provisions of the bill that were put in place to strengthen immigration laws and “close gaps that are being exploited by organized crime groups involved in extortion.”
“I think it’s important to take a step back and recognize why these provisions are in this bill,” Eby said at an unrelated press conference in Victoria on Tuesday (Feb. 24). “In south of Fraser right now, people are living in fear around extortion. They have seen people be arrested or engaging in this activity. They have been glad to see police taking action and arresting people, but then they’ve seen those same individuals turn around and, despite being in Canada for an extended period, file a refugee claim to frustrate law enforcement processes and their removal, in this case, back to India.”
The CBSA stated in early February that nine people have a pending hearing before the Immigration and Refugee Board. The board will then decide where to issue a removal order.
A spokesperson for the CBSA noted that, “The CBSA’s decisive enforcement action is balanced with the rights of individuals under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Making a refugee claim does not exempt lawbreakers from the consequences of their actions, and the CBSA continues to aggressively pursue the removal of extortionists attempting to evade justice by abusing Canadians’ concern for genuine refugees in need of protection.”
Eby said Bill C-12 is meant to strengthen Canada’s immigration system and ensure law enforcement has the “tools they need to arrest and deport, if necessary.”
Bill C-12 made its way through the House of Commons in October and December and was sent to the Senate in early December for first reading.
The Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology (SOCI) finished a “fast-tracked study” of the bill Friday (Feb. 20), and the Senate Standing Committee on National Security, Defence and Veteran Affairs (SECD) is “tasked with actually amending the bill.”
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association noted that, normally, a legislative committee such as SOCI would be able to amend the bill itself.
”However, the government has chose to move Bill C-12 through the Senate with lightning speed, and this choice included tasking one committee (SOCI) with studying the immigration elements of the proposal while another committee (the Senate Standing Committee on National Security, Defence and Veteran Affairs (SECD)) is tasked with actually amending the bill,” noted the association in a post about Friday’s SOCI report.
A Feb. 20 SOCI meeting recommended that several parts of the bill be removed, as they “undermine rights to due process, substantive equality and privacy of migrants and refugees in Canada,” noted the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
The association says parts 5 to 8 of Bill C-12 would “deny refugee claimants access to a hearing and full appeal of their claim, allow for mass suspension or cancellation of immigration applications, and authorize broad-ranging information sharing with few safeguards.”
It also said that Part 8 of the bill is “unconstitutional” and “inconsistent with Canada’s international human rights obligations.”
Eby said, “We look to the Senate for sober second thought. I have to question whether there is thought, and frankly, whether there’s sobriety in the Senate chamber around this matter, they should be asking themselves, does this go far enough? Do we need to be adding additional provisions? And, in fact, we’re seeing the opposite.”
A February 2026 letter to the SECD from the World Sikh Organization in Canada expressed its concern for the bill.
“Bill C-12 represents a fundamental shift in Canada’s immigration and refugee protection framework by concentrating extraordinary discretionary power in the hands of the executive, weakening independent decision-making, and erecting new barriers to refugee protection,” reads the letter. ”When combined with expanded information-sharing powers and restrictions on access to the Immigration and Refugee Board, these changes create a system in which individuals may be excluded from protection, have their status terminated, or be removed from Canada without a full, fair, and independent assessment of risk.”
B.C. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Nina Krieger sent a letter to SECD and the federal Minister of Public Safety, Gary Anandasangaree, Wednesday (Feb. 25) asking for “swift action” on the bill.
“Law enforcement agencies in B.C. have encountered cases where individuals connected to extortion-related activities may possess expired visas, have pending refugee claims, or non-compliant student visas, while actively participating in or linked to violent offences. If passed, Bill C-12 would accelerate inadmissibility determinations and removals for individuals with established links to organized criminal networks. This means those responsible for extortion could be removed from Canada more quickly, and law enforcement would have the tools they need to help stop organized crime,” noted a press release from the province on Wednesday.