I'm going to speak like a machine gun.
Welcome to all the witnesses.
Also, thank you, Ms. Morrissey. First, I want to say as a recent visitor to Iraq on a human rights mission that I was at a public event last night where Minister Kenney spoke. He has heard your message, loud and clear, about the plight of people who are being discriminated against and persecuted for their sexual orientation, and he has personally intervened. I want you to know that he's a minister who cares about people in that situation, specifically in Iraq. I appreciate your making that message.
Let me switch to Mr. Thomson. When you were a senior immigration officer for Canada abroad, you were one of the first who put public information on a website to help people around the world better understand Canada's immigration policy. As everyone in the room is dedicated to the promotion of public interest, I thank you--and you continue that to this day.
Canada introduced a policy in 2002 that legally requires our government to process every application it receives. Can you please comment on that and how it affects the backlog?