For the benefit of my colleagues who have missed the last 27 months of sound government, I wanted to point out that we are the only country in the G7 currently running fiscal surpluses while paying down debt. We have the hottest economy in the G7. We've created over 800,000 jobs in this country. We have year-over-year increases in employment income of 4.5%. By virtually any measure, this government's financial record is outstanding. So I'm not sure what the members opposite are discussing right now. Certainly Canada is in good hands.
Ms. Zerehi, just so you know, my grandparents immigrated to Canada. I'm very sensitive to immigration issues. I work on a number of immigration issues. I asked a number of questions to the assistant deputy minister on concerns that I had. My first question to her was:
Could you elaborate on how the proposed changes will ensure that there is no discrimination based on race, ethnicity, place of origin, and so forth?
Her response was:
As I mentioned in response to one of the other questions, one of the important considerations we will need to take into account as we develop the instructions is our range of obligations and commitments internationally and domestically. Domestically, we have the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and the objectives in it require us to ensure an appropriate balance among the various programs. We also have our obligations under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that ensure we apply the law and exercise all authority in full conformity with those rights and obligations, which explicitly prohibit any form of discrimination.
Secondly, you talked about people who fall through the cracks. I work a lot with people who have fallen through the cracks. People fall through the cracks because they get frustrated sitting in the queue. We have a 6.5-year to 8-year waiting list, so they jump the queue. They wind up coming to Canada undocumented. What I asked her is:
There are various methods in trying to end-run the system. It's because the system is grinding to a halt. It's because it's taking so long. I support these amendments, which are aimed at speeding up the system. Can you elaborate on those people who have applied, the current applications? Can you talk about how those applications will be dealt with, how the old system will be transformed, and how those people can rest assured that their place in the queue won't simply be forgotten?
Her response:
The amendments contain some transition provisions that deal with applications, both pre- and post-February 27. For those who are in the backlog, that is, the pre-February 27 backlog, the minister's obligation and undertaking is to bring that number down as quickly as possible, because it is that enormous amount that is constricting the overall system. By way of the budgetary amounts that were accorded to the department, we will undertake a number of activities such as letter-writing campaigns to confirm people's interest in some of the administrative efficiency measures that the minister talked about. There is the resource issue in terms of addressing resources in some of the higher volume missions such as Manila and Delhi, which is to make sure they have some of the tools to chew through the backlog as quickly as they can.
I also asked her if she could confirm to me whether the current system—