moved for leave to introduce Bill C-315, an act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (deportation of refugee claimants).
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce my private member's bill to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. It proposes to give senior immigration officers the authority to deport refugees who obviously do not meet the definition of the Geneva Convention.
Canada is well regarded for its reputation as a compassionate country that supports people fleeing oppressive regimes. Nothing in the bill would change that. The bill would empower senior immigration staff to deport those cases which are obviously false, based on very narrowly defined criteria. Obviously refugees have to meet a prima facie case. That would include those who admit they are coming to this country as economic refugees, who are identified members of a criminal or terrorist organization, or who are arriving from a safe haven country which is not a recognized source of refugees.
The bill would free up the resources wasted on those trying to queue jump the regular immigration system. Those resources could then be used to clear out our backlog and help bona fide refugees who actually should be coming to this country.
Today we have someone from the United States who is claiming refugee status and who admits in his own words that his own case is preposterous, but it will take 30 months to put him through the system and he can drain our resources in the process.
Therefore, I would encourage all members to support this great initiative to clean up our immigration and refugee process.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)