I'd like to start off by saying that last Saturday I was at a local restaurant in Winnipeg north, and I had this gentleman come to me—as often happens—and tell me that he had some siblings in Winnipeg, and that he had a sister who's married, and they were trying to get her to be able to come over for a visit. Now, he had applied twice. Both times they were denied, and he asked me, “What do I do now? I have my sister in the Philippines who wants to be able to come to see her mom. Her mom is not in a condition to travel back to the Philippines.”
I often wonder if we are making some serious mistakes, and if we need to look at ways in which we should be allowing those families to be reunited. I look to you as a director general for immigration. Is the government or the department looking at other ways in which we could allow families to be reunited in situations such as this?
I have written letters. The last piece of advice I gave was to try keeping the husband there, and maybe she can come by herself this time. He has to appeal. You can appeal a decision.