That's a difficult question to answer, Mr. Chairman. We're generally viewed today as a country to which it is exceedingly easy to apply for refugee status. I think if Mr. St-Cyr's bill is approved, that is not fundamentally going to change. The way the law is currently set out, all you have to do is to touch Canada and you can apply for refugee status. We believe that the addition of the refugee appeal division will lengthen the process and will mean that more people potentially will apply because they will have a longer period of time in Canada before their cases are resolved. The longer they stay in Canada, the greater are the chances that they will be granted humanitarian and compassionate status, despite the fact they're not real refugees.
On May 7th, 2009. See this statement in context.