I'd like to go back prior to 9/11. I never would have imagined that my husband would be murdered by terrorists. But prior to that I was an Air Canada flight attendant. It was my experience as a flight attendant—and I had over thirty years of it—first of all seeing the maple leaf on the tail of the airplane when I was overseas in another country and thinking, “I'm going back home”, and also personally observing many immigrants who were landing in Toronto for the first time. Again, this is an observation. The majority of immigrants saw this as a true blessing, and as you mentioned, that it was a gift, that they were coming to the promised land.
There were, unfortunately, other observations that I had. Some, fortunately a minority, were already calculating how they could flush their passports down the toilet and seek the benefits of Canadian citizenship, have their English language rights and their OHIP card—I live in Ontario—and all these things. Again, thankfully it was a minority.
That's what I believe this bill addresses, shall we say. Not the immigrants who come and contribute to our Canadian society, but, as it's been mentioned, the “convenient Canadians”.
I hear this word “punishment”. I don't think of it in terms of punishment. I think it's more a message of our Canadian values. What message are we giving to the global community if we're saying that someone convicted of terrorism—they’re convicted, you know? They’ve had a rightful trial. We believe in the rule of law. I'm not a lawyer, but certainly I would like to see safeguards that there was a proper conviction.
What message do we give the global community if somebody has been convicted of terrorism in another country and we say, “Welcome to Canada”? I don't understand this. From my lens, it's not good.