Thank you, Chair.
I just want to quote from an editorial. It's not common that national editorial boards make the kind of statement that we've seen from that of the National Post, but this is just one from a year ago:
Not one of these moves is anti-immigrant.
It is referring to Minister Kenney's long line of changes that have resulted, among other things, to the reduction of the backlog.
Indeed, during Mr. Kenney’s time as Immigration minister, Canada’s annual intake of immigrants has risen by over 15%. What Mr. Kenney’s changes have done—
In this case, we're talking about the changes to the refugee program.
—by removing fraudulent and meaningless claims for asylum and by placing an onus on newcomers to adapt to Canadian society—is restore the value of Canadian citizenship.
That's the type of statement that has been made by many objective observers who might have tended to be critical. With that context, Minister, we thank you again for being here, and for your hard work that has received acknowledgement from all around the House on many occasions.
I'd like to refer to another quote. This is from a university professor, who said that he would like to take a year off, but unfortunately for him, and I'm paraphrasing, he says every time he goes down to his basement to get something he comes back up and a new change is announced in your ministry, Mr. Minister.
Your changes have been transformational and comprehensive. I know that at one point you actually placed on your website a summary of them so that we could keep up with what has happened.
What are you hearing from the experts? What would be your comment in terms of what the immigrant communities are saying about these transformational changes?