Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I want to welcome you back, Mr. Grubel. It's always nice to have a former parliamentarian come back to see us.
I want to also welcome our renowned researchers and members of academia who are presenting before us today. Thank you for joining us.
I have a number of questions. Hopefully I'll be able to get them out in the seven minutes, or the six and a half that I have left.
Specifically addressing Bill C-31, particularly in light of the testimony that we heard this morning, the new measures in Bill C-31 would see us finalize a refugee claim in about 45 days, from the current 1,038 days, for claimants from designated countries of origin, or 216 days for all other claimants.
Taking into consideration the compassionate and humanitarian aspect, for somebody who is a legitimate bona fide refugee seeking refuge from persecution, torture, or possible death in the country they're coming from, surely it is advantageous to them to be processed into the country in 20% of the time that it currently takes.
We cannot entertain the possibility of allowing everybody who shows up through what would otherwise be deemed illegal means automatically into the country without doing the proper checks and balances to ensure the security and safety of Canadians. We heard the Sun Sea reference this morning. From the Sun Sea and the Ocean Lady, 23 people were deemed security risks, and 18 were found to have perpetrated war crimes in their country, for a total of about 41 people that were questionable.