Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
I want to thank you for your presentations and for the contribution you've made to the study of Bill C-50.
I do want to get a sense from you. When you look at this bill, here is a government that wants to essentially speed this bill through the entire parliamentary process. I could understand that if it were a brilliant idea. I could understand that if this was such a great thing that we would have to rally the country just to make it happen because it's just the idea that will fix the immigration system.
The reality is that after listening to so many presentations, one thing is certain. This is by far a lousy idea. It hasn't really addressed anything they originally stated that it would when you're talking about the backlog.
When you look at this bill as a demonstration of how to be undemocratic, it's certainly one of the best I've seen in 20 years here. There's been no real consultation with people. The concentration of power in the minister's hands has been criticized extensively. You have a misinformation campaign. You have advertisements being purchased before the bill actually even becomes law. And it doesn't address the original intent of the backlog of 925,000.
Then there are the inconsistencies of values, and this is what really bothers me. The Conservative government wants us to believe that it's all about skilled labour, it's about understanding the economy, and it's about structuring the economy and addressing the human resources consequences of not acting on this issue. When it comes to the economy, the credibility is obvious, right? These are the same people who left us with a $42-billion deficit, so it's very hard for me to believe that they actually have the answers to what the economy needs.
Having said that, what would be your recommendation to the minister? Would it be simply to go back to the drawing board, to open up the process, to scrap this bill and start anew? What is it that you would like to see from your government?