Mr. Chair, I would move that Bill C-31 in clause 25 be amended by adding after line 38 on page 13 the following:
(4) Subsection (1) does not apply to a designated foreign national who is accompanied by his or her child who is 18 years of age or younger.
Again, I would emphasize that the current system works, Mr. Chairperson. In essence, this motion, if passed, would help keep families together.
We heard from presenter after presenter how important it is to keep families together. I think the worst thing we could be telling a refugee who arrives with a 10-year-old child is that you, as the parent, are going to be going into a detention centre. We know that quite often it is a provincial jail. You can take your 10-year-old child with you or you can have your 10-year-old go into some form of child foster home or something of that nature. I think that would be a cruel decision to force a parent to make.
This amendment, if passed, would help deal with that particular issue. I would encourage all members to support this amendment.
(Amendment negatived)