Thank you, Mrs. Grewal.
I'll just dive right in here. I agree with Mr. Telegdi that a robust immigration strategy is essential for this country. We are facing a labour shortage like nothing we've seen before, and it creates some great challenges.
I just want to ask you a few questions about a case that presented itself in my office, in my constituency. Granted, this was pre-9/11, so the world has changed an awful lot since then. My understanding is that this was fairly common pre-9/11. This individual came to Toronto from Iran, from a flight from Tehran. In any event, he came to Canada on a fraudulent passport, using someone else's passport. The customs officials recognized right off the bat that this gentleman was not the gentleman he said he was on the passport.
I realize you'd have to know the specifics of the case. But in general, why would that individual, or individuals like that, not immediately be put on the next plane back to Tehran and just dispatched out of the country? This individual was allowed to stay in Canada. My memory is failing me. I'm not sure if he applied as a refugee, but he didn't originally come in applying for refugee status. He came in on a falsified passport and was allowed to stay in Canada and was granted a temporary work permit. He fell in love with a girl in Canada and she then had his baby, and the story goes on and on. Now my office has the nightmare of this individual really wanting to come to Canada because this woman has his baby, and the story is, understandably, “No, you tried to get in the first time using a fraudulent passport”.
So that's my question to wrap up the time. An individual like that gets off a plane...and maybe you could comment on how it was handled then and if it would be handled differently now. In the same scenario right now, if that happened, would the person be put on the next plane back to Tehran or wherever they came from if they used a fraudulent passport?
Thank you.