In 2006 the Lebanese-Israeli conflict became a hot war and some 15,000 Canadian nationals who had naturalized Canadian citizenship—they weren't born in Canada but they had acquired Canadian citizenship—were airlifted out of Lebanon at a cost of almost $100 million. They were Canadian citizens. The government correctly felt a responsibility to try to offer them refuge and protection and commenced the airlift, which was a very complicated operation. We can see that just in terms of the cost attached to the effort.
Within three months, more than half of them had returned to Lebanon. So the question that I think comes forward is, what actually is their connection to Canada other than a safe haven to be used when circumstances are such that they don't feel comfortable where they're living?
But there are more egregious examples than that. There was a country—and for the moment I can't recall the country but I'll look in my notes because it's here somewhere—where an individual, who was associated with a despotic regime in the course of the Arab Spring and had been convicted subsequently of crimes against humanity, had already acquired permanent residency here in Canada for both himself and his family, even though he wasn't living here.
In order to escape justice in the Middle East, he sought to seek refuge in Canada—not because he had an intention of establishing a life and family and home over here—but rather as a way of circumventing having to be accountable for the crimes he had allegedly committed.
I'm not sure, under those circumstances, it's appropriate for us to be extending that kind of protection.