Thank you, Mr. Chair.
This is not the first time that the committee has dealt with this motion. My colleague's premise is that these people are in Canada illegally. True, their documents are not in order. But, in reality, if a number of them had access to a more helpful program that would allow them to renew their work permits, among other things, without having to leave the country, they would perhaps have chosen that solution in order to remain in good standing.
We are told that these people are all in Canada illegally. Their documents are not in order, no question. On the other hand, from a practical standpoint, employers are presently begging us to make the process of work permit renewal easier so that their employees, people they really need, can stay in the country and keep working.
Sometimes employers are prepared to do anything to protect their employees so that they can stay in Canada. There have been several cases in Montreal in the past few years. We cannot take it for granted that these people all came here illegally. Most of them arrived with work permits, or as visitors, and they found the country to their liking. Yet none of our rules allowed a transition when they got the guarantee of a job.
The points system has also been modified to favour better-educated people. At the moment, we need the people who are subject to rules designed to expel them. Last session, to help the committee in its work, we asked the department for briefing notes to show us the amount of money and effort expended from 2004 to the present on expelling people, precisely to find out if there have been more expulsions in recent years.
I feel that there are more cases, because the problem is much more glaring. Employers are begging us to come to grips with the matter, but I am not ready to say that there are more expulsions. I will say that, since 2004 as a member of Parliament and beforehand as a volunteer working with immigrants, I have been in a position to see that there were a lot of unjustified expulsions. We could have regularized the situation of these people quickly. These were workers we needed, with families who were integrated, and who spoke French.
In Quebec, we have a special situation. When an immigrant speaks French, it is more difficult to send a little family away. The way in which we forced people to leave the country was also unacceptable. Using children as bait to lure their illegal parents into the open seems unreasonable, certainly in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
I think the committee must address this question. We have already asked the department to provide us with detailed information. The matter will be debated in the House. I am inclined to accept Bill's request to put off study on the motion until later. I believe that the committee is aware of the importance of the matter, but if we deal with the motion after the debate in the House, after hearing the evidence from the people from the department, we will be in a better position as a committee to make an enlightened decision.