Citizenship and Immigration Committee on June 19th, 2007

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Mr. Telegdi.

[Andrew Telegdi, Liberal, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

I think we could do a week and a half. We don't necessarily have to do everything in one week, because then we really get rushed. I think we want to see what's happening up at Whistler, so if we're going to do Vancouver, then we're going to need another half day for Whistler, because you just can't do a half day in Vancouver and then run up to Whistler, so I think probably a week and a half would be good.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Yes. We don't need to do it at a leisurely pace, but it shouldn't be a gruelling thing where we have to cram it all in over one week. I think we should take a little bit of time to relax a little bit as well.

[Andrew Telegdi, Liberal, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

I think symbolically as well it's important for us to touch down in the Maritimes. And the reason I say that is that normally when you looked at the Maritimes, you never thought they wanted immigration, but the fact is that they very much do, and if we touch down someplace, maybe we can bring other people from the Maritimes to that place. I think you'll find you get a good response.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Newfoundland, for instance, has just come up with a new immigration policy and a new immigration study that they want to pursue, so it's likely an idea to drop down there and meet with some of the government ministers who are pushing it. I would be happy to do that.

Mr. Karygiannis.

[Jim Karygiannis, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

Covering as many bases as we can would be great, it's important, but if we're going to travel to all these cities, you might want to expand and have one-hour hearings on undocumented workers and then you might want to invite other people. For example, if we were to go to Montreal, there are people there who are affected by the Iraqi refugees and there could be people affected by these foreign credentials. So you might want to invite other people. If you're going to be there for the morning, you can stagger the meetings: an hour and a half on undocumented workers, half an hour on something else, and then an hour on something else.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

The steering committee decided to separate the two. You'll see that on the following page, Jim.

In relation to the study on Iraqi refugees, the standing committee would travel to Toronto on Monday, November 19, and invite the organization's representatives to appear before the committee in Ottawa.

[Jim Karygiannis, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

The only thing I'm saying, Chair, is that there are Iraqi refugees in Montreal as well as out west. We might want to take this into consideration and, instead of sitting for two hours, we might want to sit for two and a half hours; and if other people are there, we can invite them to come and give testimony on those subjects.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Two hours? Yes.

Go ahead, Andrew.

[Andrew Telegdi, Liberal, Kitchener—Waterloo, ON]

When we sit as a committee, we pretty well sit most of the day when we go someplace. We'll be there before lunch, after lunch.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Mr. Wilson.

[Blair Wilson, Liberal, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

I tend to agree with what Mr. Batters had to say. Coming from the west, I do the gruelling flight on a regular basis.

If we could separate and possibly do four days in the west, hit Vancouver, Calgary, Fort McMurray, and Whistler in four days and then do it on a weekend, so we do it Tuesday to Friday and then fly back on Friday, then people can choose if they want to stay over on Saturday or Sunday—it's their own time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

That's pretty well acceptable to everyone, I think. We'll let the clerk figure that out.

[Blair Wilson, Liberal, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

And then the following week, or some other time, do three days in the centre or the east, do Toronto, Montreal, and the Maritimes. It would be the same thing: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday; Friday in St. John's or wherever it is, and then people travel back on the Friday or the Saturday, and it's not going to affect their schedules.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

What were you going to say, Mr. Clerk?

[The Clerk of the Committee, Mr. Samy Agha]

I was just going to say that from what I'm hearing from the committee members, you want to go to Vaudreuil-Dorion instead of Montreal; St. John's, Newfoundland; Whistler, B.C.; and to extend the trip from October 22 to October 31.

That's what I'm hearing.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Now, who did I have that I didn't hear?

Ms. Siksay.

[Bill Siksay, NDP, Burnaby—Douglas, BC]

Mr. Chair, I was essentially going to make an amendment. Is that the appropriate way—to propose an amendment?

It would read that in relation to its study on undocumented and temporary foreign workers, the points system, Iraqi refugees, and immigration consultants—so all of the issues that we have coming up that we've agreed to—we travel to Vancouver, British Columbia; Whistler, British Columbia. We'd add in the Montreal area, Quebec, something like that, and then add “plus Atlantic Canada”, so that we leave it open. And we'd make the dates from October 15 to October 26—so a two-week period to fit all of that in.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

That sounds good.

Okay, I have to go to Dave first, Jim, because he had his hand up. Is it something in relation to...?

[Dave Batters, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

I don't think it matters whether you go the week before or the week after, as was suggested by the clerk. You could extend it to October 31. You could start the trip on a Tuesday, do it in whichever order you want. You could do Calgary, then Fort McMurray, and then Vancouver on a Thursday, Whistler on a Friday, and then for those who choose to stay in the beautiful location of Whistler for the weekend, that would be fabulous. For those who choose to travel home to their ridings and then resume the study the following week in Toronto, that would be great too. That would be a great plan.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

I'll go to Jim, but the clerk will try to figure all this out.

First I want to hear from Mr. Karygiannis.

[Jim Karygiannis, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

I think we have to do justice to the western provinces. I could be wrong, but I don't see anything here about touching down in Winnipeg and/or Regina or Saskatoon. I mean, Winnipeg certainly is an area where you have a lot of undocumented workers as well as other interested individuals.

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

It's going to be hard to touch all these. I mean, we are going to have House duties as well.

Before we recap what we're doing here and what direction we might be giving the clerk....

Mr. Alghabra.

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Mississauga—Erindale, ON]

In the spirit of things, I was going to suggest that Mississauga is the sixth largest city in the country, and we have a lot of issues. In fact, the mayor herself has spoken to me about the issues of undocumented workers and immigration settlement. Fifty percent of Mississauga's population was born outside of Canada. Why wouldn't we stop there when we're in Toronto?

[The Chair, Conservative, Norman Doyle]

Okay, we're really expanding now. The next thing, of course, is we're going to have every city in Canada covered.

But that's a good point, Omar. We'll try to accommodate you.