—for clarification for our committee members, because often what happens is that this occurs and then we don't get to ask questions.
All right. On the amendment to the motion, and then the motion as well, I would speak to both of those items briefly.
I generally would support this approach, for the committee to engage in a study on this critical issue. In fact, on Tuesday when we had committee, I actually wanted a couple of minutes of the committee's time to put notice of a motion on the floor. One of those motions was in fact that, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study examining the ongoing influx of irregular border crossing and asylum seekers continuing to enter Canada through the southern border; that the study examine the impact of the safe third country agreement on the situation; that the study examine the impact of the increase in asylum claims on the RCMP, CBSA, IRCC, the IRB, and NGOs and provinces that provide settlement services in areas where these crossings are more frequent; that this study be comprised of no fewer than five meetings; that the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and IRCC department officials be in attendance for at least one of the meetings; that the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and Public Safety Canada department officials be in attendance for at least one of the meetings; that officials from the IRB, CBSA, and RCMP be in attendance for at least one of the meetings; that the committee report its findings to the House; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the government table a comprehensive response thereto.
Unfortunately, as you know, on Tuesday I was prevented from providing this notice of motion at the committee. In that context, I have a similar motion, that I would like to proceed with this study. I do think this is important. We know that from 2017, the number of irregular asylum seekers increased. In fact, in 2017, those numbers were at 20,593. Right now, at this stage in 2018, the RCMP so far has intercepted—