Mr. Chair, it's a fairly lengthy amendment, so people should take the opportunity to turn to the page with it.
The essence is that it deals with the five-year ban that applies to designated irregular arrivals being able to apply for permanent resident status.
Again, it reinforces whether one believes in having one refugee policy or a two-tier refugee policy. If you happen to be a refugee who comes to Canada and you're deemed as an irregular, to then say to that person you cannot even apply for permanent resident status so you can sponsor your children or your spouse abroad is just wrong. It's clearly in violation of the 1951 UN Convention, and we've had presentations on this particular issue.
I would suggest that it is an amendment that is worthy of passage. Hopefully the government will see the wisdom in it and allow refugees, even if they are in mandatory detention centres, the ability to gain their permanent resident status sooner.