I want to thank all of our witnesses for appearing before the citizenship and immigration committee. It is always a challenge in itself I've found. We do thank you for taking time out and coming to share your perspective with us. Thanks for your testimony.
We do share a number of concerns with the legislation before us, particularly the increased power that will be concentrated in the hands of the minister without any checks and balances. We also have been very clear that we're willing to work with the government to make sure non-citizens who commit serious and often violent crimes can be removed quickly. I think I heard you say that as well. There are ways that can be expedited.
We believe that if you look closely at the sensational cases put forward by my colleagues across the way and the minister, what comes to our attention is that the real problem appears to be a lack of training, coordination, resources, and border security.
In today's Toronto Star, there is a case of a Chinese national who was able to enter and stay in Canada despite being wanted for a grisly murder. This was not due to a lack of legislative tools to deport him; it was because of a breakdown in border security.
There is another case, which mentioned as well, that of Clinton Gayle. He brutally murdered Constable Todd Baylis. Our hearts go out to the family of Todd Baylis and to all the police in Toronto. Once again, a federal inquiry into the case revealed that serious errors led to the delay in removing this serious criminal. A former associate deputy minister even admitted that the department's priority at the time was to target unsuccessful refugee claimants who were on the run rather than criminals, because that way the deportation numbers were going to be higher. It all depends on what the goal is.
We believe the government needs to go back to the drawing board and address the lack of training, resources, and integration of information and monitoring technologies within the responsible public service agencies we currently have.
I'm going to address my first question to Michael and Kerri. In your brief to the committee, you conclude that many of the proposed amendments are both unnecessary and unjustified. With a mind to some of the sensational cases I just mentioned, could you talk about how the current system could be improved without eliminating the right to due process proposed in this bill?