Thank you.
I'd like to start where you took us, Ms. Stalker.
Everybody in this room is on the side of people who are persecuted around the world. I just want to say that this is a government that has taken the case of people like Aung San Suu Kyi, a personal hero of mine, to new heights; this is a department that is led by perhaps one of the most ardent advocates for human rights that our government has ever seen in this portfolio; and I personally am the founder of the Canadian Constitution Foundation. I think we'd be on the same page in many areas. I walk shoulder to shoulder with MPs throughout the House in that area.
So when I hear something such you said, Chantal, calling us a nation of human rights abusers, I take great exception. As my colleague Ms. James said, we have to balance. We have to care for people who come to our country like you, Ms. Rico, and we do; but we also have to care for the safety and security of our nation.
Going back to the Constitution, that's why there's a reasonable limits clause in section 1. It says, as you know: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.
Sure, Ms. Shermarke, we can take the case of an individual and say, this person will be discriminated against in an unfair way. But we have to look at the overall system. We need to preserve our refugee system and make sure that we can identify the 41 persons mentioned by Mr. Menegakis and keep our Canadian society safe. If we fail in that important mission, Canadians will rebuke the whole refugee program, and we as parliamentarians will not be able to stand in front of them and say, yes, we want to continue to welcome refugees to our shores.
So we have to do the balancing act. Please don't demonize those who want to make sure there's security for Canadians and say that they are anti-refugee.