Evidence of meeting #45 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was changes.
A recording is available from Parliament.
5 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
If the parliamentary secretary wants to go into debate, by all means.
5 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
You're misrepresenting the legislation. That's not proper.
5 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
You also misrepresented the legislation before, and he let you go.
5 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
So get your facts straight. You don't even know how many processing centres there are in Canada.
5 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Komarnicki Conservative Souris—Moose Mountain, SK
You're misrepresenting the legislation, and that's a fact.
5 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Norman Doyle
Order.
It is not a point of order, I have to say. As I told Mr. Karygiannis on the last point of order he brought up, it wasn't a point of order. It's a difference of opinion between two people. I think if we restrain ourselves, we can have a bit of respect for each other's time here and continue, please.
Now, what was the question again?
5 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
The question is very simple, sir.
Once we move into Bill C-50, parental sponsorships will go by the way of the dodo bird.
5 p.m.
Director, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
I do not believe I have seen anything that has led me to believe that. What I have seen is an effort to segregate different classes, but there is nothing I have seen that would suggest the family class would take a back seat.
5 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Mr. Khurana, the emphasis will be given on skilled workers. The minister will be able to data-mine the older applications, and she will give instructions as to which people come in first or not. Do you think for 30 seconds, sir, as an individual who has been through the system and has worked through the system, that the minister is going to give instructions to the officials abroad to expedite parental class applications?
5 p.m.
Director, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
That's a point of speculation from my perspective. I do not believe I am in a position to decide what the minister may or may not do in the future. However, what I am able to say is that any changes to the system that I have seen, that are proposed, are all positive changes.
5 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
So you're supporting the minister having the power to arbitrarily decide who comes in?
5 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Let me finish, sir.
You're supporting the fact that we're going to put emphasis away from family class? I'm talking about parentals. You're supporting the fact that the minister, without any jurisprudence or any oversight from this committee and/or Parliament, can decide where we're going? That's what you're supporting?
5 p.m.
Director, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
I haven't seen anything of that sort, so I can't say whether I'm supporting it or not.
5 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Mr. Ben-Ami, you also stated you're supporting this legislation.
5 p.m.
Liberal
Jim Karygiannis Liberal Scarborough—Agincourt, ON
Can you give me one or two good things that you're seeing in this bill that you're supporting?
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President, Canadian Centre for Policy Studies
I actually think that the department—and I believe in ministerial responsibility, so obviously that means the minister—should have the power to determine or to give instructions to departmental officials to process applications, or somehow weigh applications of people who have skill sets that are needed in Canada. I don't think, if I could be a little provocative, that if we need nurses in Canada, that somehow or other someone who gets an application approved who happens to be a trained nurse should go to the back of the queue and wait five years to come into Canada, but exotic dancers should get in, because it happened—