What Will Be in Final Special Select Committee Report on Immigration?
Aldo Salazar
The public hearings of the Senate Special Select Committee on Immigration concluded last December after thirteen months of witness testimony interspersed with lots of drama and theatre. Now, the hard work of compiling its results into a comprehensive report with recommendations to the Immigration Department and others begins. We got an idea of what to expect from Committee chairman Aldo Salazar after today’s Senate meeting.
Aldo Salazar, Chair, Senate Special Select Committee
“We met, I think, probably two weeks ago – I can’t remember the exact date. We met to consider our way forward. We are presently working on an outline of what Senators feel should be in there. We are to meet on the fourteenth of February to discuss that outline and the way forward.”
Aaron Humes
“From what it seems, reading between the lines there, it seems this will be one report from all six members. Is there anything that would suggest dissent at this stage?”
Aldo Salazar
“No. I can’t say that there will be one report. What the process is right now is that all of us have agreed that we need to put an outline and we need to suggest what we want in there. When we have that outline, more than likely there will be disagreement – hopefully not; we can hope for the best but we’ll see. At that point, then we are going to decide what the majority decides should be in there and if there is a minority that does not agree with that view, then that person or persons have a right to write their own minority report and to indicate what they disagree with.”
Aaron Humes
“I don’t think you were here for the last couple of sessions, two or three of them and there were other things; but what was your overall view of the result of this Committee and what do you expect to influence what ultimately comes out?”
Aldo Salazar
“I felt that it took longer than it should; that has been my view from the beginning, I have taken some criticism for it, but that I maintain firmly, it is still my view. I feel that it could have been wrapped up a bit quicker. But that is the situation [and] we cannot lament over that anymore. I feel that it was still a necessary process and I do feel that some good – a lot of people are still skeptical – but I feel there is some good that will come out of the report. It can be used by the D.P.P., it can be used by the Auditor General; it can stand as an example to other Ministries, so I think it was a useful process.”
When the report is completed it will be tabled before the Senate and discussed. As for the final cost of the Committee’s work, the chair could not give a precise figure but at last report the tab ran to near four hundred thousand dollars.
