Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, imagine being a doctor and being asked to accept 10 patients, but instead being sent 20. That is ridiculous, and that is the situation Quebec families find themselves in. What I am hearing from the Bloc Québécois is contempt for Quebec families. What do they say to Quebeckers who want to be reunited with their loved ones from abroad?

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to answer the question when the member across the way assures me that she has read the Canada-Quebec accord.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the member opposite. What does she have to say to Quebec families who are waiting to be reunited with their loved ones?

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, it will perhaps be cold comfort for the member opposite to find out that we are indeed increasing the number of people who will be eligible to come out of Gaza. There are a number of matters beyond our control, notably the ability to extract people from the Rafah gate.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, no country in the world, no federal government would give all immigration powers to a federated state. The fact remains that with Quebec, we have a very important agreement, the Canada-Quebec accord, which gives a lot of powers to Quebec. There are responsibilities on both sides, Canada's and Quebec's.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I wonder what $5.2 billion means to the member across the way. Since 2015, our government has maintained good relations under the Canada-Quebec accord and that will continue. It was a good meeting with Premier Legault. The member across the way refuses to admit it, but it is clear that there is work to do with our two governments.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, as the member well knows, the pathway for people fleeing war in Sudan opens today. We worked with a number of Sudanese umbrella organizations on this important measure so that Canadians are really showing that they are opening their doors to people fleeing war. I am always ready to be more flexible as we see the situation evolve.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I think that it is fair to talk about reality. Imagine if I send someone a bill for $500, we talk and the next day I hold a press conference to double the bill without justification. That is kind of what we are dealing with here. We are responsible governments. For my part, I talk to the people in my riding, in downtown Montreal, who are welcoming asylum seekers.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the member is partly right. It is true that there has been a historic influx of asylum seekers in Canada and that those numbers have gone up by about 50% to 60%. There is more work to be done, but it does not involve sending money to Quebec because Quebec does not spend that money on asylum seekers.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, as the member knows full well, since 2015, we have paid Quebec $5.2 billion under the arrangement we have with the Government of Quebec, the Canada-Quebec accord. We are prepared to do more. We are prepared to sit down and work with Quebec. Ideally, we do not do that in public.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, guess who is not at the negotiating table and never will be? It is the Bloc Québécois. It is strange to hear such a statement. We met with officials from Quebec the very Monday that this statement was made. We are talking. We are discussing. We are negotiating. It is important that both sides work together to know who is doing what.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, it is very nice of the member to say I am six feet, three inches tall when I am actually only six feet, one inch and a hair. Given his line of questioning, it seems to me that the Bloc Québécois is still looking to pick a fight with the federal government. However, that is not enough for it.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to point out that we are already transferring $5.2 billion to the Quebec government, partly for French-language instruction. I hope the member opposite is not saying that he wants to deport people who do not speak French in Canada. That would be an illegal, immoral and inhumane thing to do.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, obviously all of our initiatives to send asylum seekers to other provinces need to be done humanely and consensually. The language criterion is one of many, but should not be the main criterion. We all need to make an extra effort. The federal government has a role to play; Ontario, Quebec and all the provinces do as well.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, it is inaccurate that we have been able to extract people from Gaza in 2024. We have a unique program, unique in the world, to get family members of Canadians out from Gaza. It has of yet been unsuccessful because of unco-operative local authorities at the Rafah gates.