Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It's true and it is very sad that the situation in Sri Lanka is devastating, there is no doubt. It's also true that criminals should be in jail. But I believe there is a procedure such that you cannot keep anyone, for any indicted offence, in jail for their whole lifetime. The offender has to come out of jail.
What Mr. Calandra is suggesting—I believe he is trying to convince the committee—is that the last motion we passed simply says that no one should be deported. It does not address the issue of criminality at all. He's trying to convince the committee that we should fix our mistake, if we have made one.
I would say that under no circumstances will Canadians allow us as their representatives, as parliamentarians, to allow criminals to roam around on the street. We need to have our Canadian streets safe and secure. As Mr. Calandra mentioned, criminals with offences such as stabbing or killing someone.... Under the Immigration Act there is a procedure. If someone is convicted for an indictable offence, the IRB takes a position and they commence the proceedings for deportation. Just by passing the motion previously that no one should be deported, basically we are sending the message to the IRB that notwithstanding the criminality, notwithstanding the jail time, we should not be deporting anyone.
Thank you.