Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank you both for your presentations this morning. As a New Democrat and as a Christian, it's great to be reminded of the justice requirements of our faith. I think you've put that very clearly. I've always believed that the hospitality requirements, the justice requirements that it involves have been a key element of Christian practice. I want to thank you for making that very clear this morning.
Also, I did write to you at the time this document was distributed, to express my appreciation for it. I think it's a very important document. It outlines the issues facing refugees very clearly. Again, it's an excellent piece of work and a very helpful one.
I also want to thank you for your very strong language this morning and for the clarity of that language on the issues that you enumerated. I think it's been very helpful to us to hear that and to have such very clear recommendations around abrogating the safe third country agreement, around the refugee appeal division, and around the private sponsorship program. I think you'll find sympathy in most quarters around this table on those issues.
I want to ask you two specific things.
You also distributed a letter that was sent to President Bush back in the summer. I'm wondering if you could tell us a bit more about it. I know you mentioned it in your presentation, Archbishop O'Brien, but could you tell us a bit more about how that came about and about the concerns in there? It is a very powerful letter, a very strong letter, and I think it backs up your concerns about Canada's participation in the safe third country agreement.