Citizenship and Immigration committee  Only a quick comment.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think all of the arguments that you've made about people who say we need more immigrants to make the country grow use the wrong criteria. There is no interest in having a large national income, aggregate GDP, or else China would be the best place to live in. What we need is policy set to increase the per capita income, and all these policies are not addressing that issue.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Sure. It means a transfer of income from the general taxpayer to the people whose parents are providing these services.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Why should we be subsidizing immigrants?

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I do not know.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  If they pay their way, they will pay the for health care, for the disposal of the garbage that Ben-Ami was talking about. At the moment, they don't.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No, that's not true.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It is essential to make a distinction between family members who are part of the core family: spouses, underage children. I don't think anybody has any problem with that. The issue we're facing is the one concerning parents and grandparents. If you apply the principle I think you all have a responsibility to apply, and that is let us have immigrants serve Canada, not have Canadians serve the immigrants, by that criterion the parents and grandparents certainly do not qualify.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think it would be a compromise between my radical proposal and the one that exists. But I can't stop myself from commenting on the NDP proposals. Immigrants are adding very large numbers to the people who are living in poverty in Canada. Not only are they themselves part of the poverty population, but they are causing lower wages for the people with low skills, Canadians of many generations who are poor.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes. I would like to see a clear, non-political, non-moral criterion for selecting who should come in, and as we do so it will automatically determine the numbers. I don't care what the numbers are. I'm not anti-immigrant. I'm against immigrants who are imposing significant economic and social costs on our country.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes, sir, I am on track. —but where, importantly, also the largest numbers of parliamentary seats are at stake. Through my own limited contact with immigrants, I have noticed they are very much aware, more than the average Canadian, of the cost that immigrants impose on us fiscally, through congestion and pollution, high housing costs, and other channels.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you very much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here on the other side. As you know, I spent four years as the finance critic for the Reform Party, spending many hours in this room. I'd like to note that I am both a professor of economics emeritus at Simon Fraser University and a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute.