Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on
Foreign Affairs
Issue 9 - Appendix A
COMMENTS MADE BY
PROFESSOR VLADIMIR POPOV
AT COMMITTEE MEETING, MARCH 13, 2001
(excerpt from Foreign Affairs, Issue No. 1)
Senator Corbin: Professor Popov, part of our mandate is to examine
Canada's policy and interests in the region. Would you be critical of the way in
which Canada currently deals with Russia?
Mr. Popov: I am not sure that I can be helpful in that respect because I
do not know much about Canada-Russia relations. If you were to ask what is the
single most important measure Canada could implement to improve its image in
Russian eyes, I would tell you to put a couple of immigration officers into the
Canadian embassy. I am a Russian citizen and I know what I am talking about. I
have taught in Canada for about 10 years. Every second year, I come for two
terms. I get Canadian visas and work permits virtually every year, and I am
sorry to say that the process is becoming more difficult, probably because of a
lack of personnel. It is as simple as that. Two more immigration officers would
probably deal with all the issues.
Unfortunately, there is a list of embassies in Moscow that are not doing well in
terms of service: Canada is one of the three worst. The Czech Republic, which
recently introduced visa requirements, is another. The third may be Germany, but
that may be because there are so many people going to Germany. However, the
Canadian embassy was on that list at one point.
While that matter is not exactly on point, it immediately came to mind when you
asked for criticism against Canada. It is not the most important issue, of
course. Speaking of trade relations and investments, I want to point out a
couple of issues, again with the reservation that I am not really knowledgeable
in this regard.
QUESTION ASKED IN THE SENATE CHAMBER
(excerpt from Debates of the Senate, March 22, 2001)
Foreign Affairs
Russia-Services at Moscow Embassy
Hon. Eymard G. Corbin: Honourable senators, as we are on the topic of
foreign affairs, I take the liberty of raising a matter that was brought to our
attention in the Standing Senate Com mittee on Foreign Affairs recently. We had
as a witness an emi nent Russian economist, Mr. Vladimir Popov. He complained
about the poor services at the Canadian embassy in Moscow. He said that it is
extremely painful, if not outright frustrating, for people from Russia wanting
to come to this country on a pass port or a visa to get speedy and competent
service. He went so far as to state that the services at the Canadian embassy
were one of the three worst in Moscow and suggested that, surely, the addition
of several competent persons to the passport and visa office would improve
matters tremendously. Would the minister bring this matter to the attention of
the Minister of Foreign Af fairs?
Hon. Sharon Carstairs (Leader of the Government):Honourable senators, I
thank the honourable senator for hisquestion. Clearly, our reputation in any
foreign country is de pendent on the service that we provide to not only to
Canadians who are in that country, but to those who wish to come to our country
for a variety of purposes.
Honourable senators, I would be delighted to raise thisspecific issue of the
Moscow office, and in particular the pass port section, with the Minister of
Foreign Affairs within a very few days.
ANSWER GIVEN IN THE SENATE CHAMBER
(Excerpt from Debates of the Senate, April 25, 2001)
Russia-Services at Moscow Embassy
Hon. Eymard G. Corbin: Honourable senators, as provided by the rules,
could I ask the Deputy Leader of the Government to give me the answer verbally?
Hon. Fernand Robichaud (Deputy Leader of the Govern ment): Honourable
senators, as Senator Corbin has asked, this is the answer:
Due to privacy laws, the details of individual cases cannot be publicly
discussed. Visa
officers in the Moscow office offer competent, quality
service under sometimes trying circumstances, serving a large geographic area.
The visa section in Moscow is currently the only office providing visa services
for a very large territory, namely, Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Our Moscow office has a significant workload. The number of visitor applications
received has increased from 14,433 in 1997 to 15,906 in 2000. Immigrant
applications rose from 2,459 in 1997 to 3,242 in 2000.
Another very complicating factor is complex case processing due to potential
fraud. For instance, in January and February 2001, our Moscow office quality
controlled the documents submitted by applicants and found that28 per cent were
fraudulent.
Five support staff have been hired for years 2000/2001. For years 2001/2002, we
have also assigned an extra Canadian officer, plus five support staff to offer
even better service to clients.
A temporary annex to the embassy is under construction, until a new permanent
building is built. This extra space will provide a better quality of service to
our clients (waiting room, et cetera). Given that Russia is a highly populated
country, a new visa office in St. Petersburg will open in August 2001, with one
Canadian officer and two support staff. The new office will alleviate some of
Moscow's workload.
