Mr. Chair, the whole motion plus the amendment makes a lot of sense.
We have to be mindful of the fact that we have a backlog of about a million people. Really, we have to look to the department to start streamlining their operations. I'd much rather have them utilize their time by working on the backlog than by making work for themselves. This makes a whole lot of sense.
In terms of the amendment to allow them to have a work permit, I have an example right now in my riding. We had a couple who got married. The wife, who actually went to Wilfrid Laurier University and then went back to Guyana, is back here now. She isn't going to be able to work even though her skills are in great demand, which doesn't make any sense.
We need all the workers we can possibly get. Having people in a position of being able to work and wanting to work and having a bureaucratic rule that's stopping them from working is very counterproductive. It's unjustifiable to anybody.
I think both the motion and the amendment would assist in streamlining the process and would result in less bureaucratic time spent on it. It would assist the Canadian economy, because obviously we'd have people working and contributing to the economy. We have a shortage of workers everywhere across this country.