Mr. Chair, I don't think this is quite willy-nilly. The committee has been around and has heard many witnesses on this issue. You see how the issue of undocumented workers has really moved up on the priority list on the agenda.
One of the things I mentioned when we were debating this in committee is that we have probably 2,000 to 3,000 people who have fairly serious criminal records that fall into that category on whom our resources should really be focused in terms of apprehension and deportation, versus undocumented workers who are contributing to the economy. The minister said that when he was in front of us, recognizing that these undocumented workers are making a substantial contribution.
The two previous ministers had indicated that they wanted to deal with this issue. The last minister we had before the government fell, Minister Volpe, tabled a work plan with this committee. His number one priority was undocumented workers. It didn't just start from there. It was built upon by what was done by Minister Sgro prior to that.
The reality is that we've had numbers of incidents pertaining to this issue. I must say, the government actually did the right thing, and I say that very sincerely, as it pertained to the situation in schools where officials for security were going in and using kids as bait to get their hard-working parents--which has been documented.
Again, there was a report on the news last night where an undocumented worker came forward and reported a crime, which helped to put a pedophile behind bars. The Conservative government did the right thing on that--they landed her--because there was this whole policy issue about whether we were going to punish good Samaritans.
But the fact of the matter is that this is not a new issue. This is an issue that has been around. It might be new to the parliamentary secretary, and I understand that, because the parliamentary secretary hasn't served on this committee before. I dare say, if you go through the witnesses we have heard, you'll see that quite a bit of work has been done and we have heard from witnesses on this.
It just doesn't intuitively make any sense--it's a high priority for the committee, and I'm sure it must be a priority for the department, and I hope it is--that you would be spending resources on going after undocumented workers who are making a contribution to the Canadian economy. Essentially, I don't see any problem in dealing with this at this time. I'm very sincerely hoping that the government will put their focus on those criminals who we all agree should be put out of this country, instead of going after somebody who's making a contribution to the Canadian economy on an issue that we are dealing with.
So we will be supporting this motion that is before us, and I very sincerely hope the government acts on it in good faith.