The minister has the power, I gather, in the new bill to designate countries that are safe for refugees, but even these people under the bill have the right of a hearing, and also the right to seek leave to the Federal Court. My prediction is that's going to jam up the system, which makes me feel that the new system isn't going to be much of an improvement over the old one. We're still going to get literally thousands of asylum seekers every year, most of whom are not genuine and are coming from perfectly safe countries. The front end of the system will not be able to clear them quickly enough to make a difference, so that we can give proper attention to those people who come directly from their country of persecution to Canada and get a full hearing.
So my recommendation is to give the minister the power to designate countries that are safe for refugees—all of the western European countries, the United States, and several others—and prevent people from applying for refugee status. There's no reason for them to apply. If they're sent back, they are protected by the country they've come from.