Thanks very much, Mr. Chair.
Congratulations, Minister Blair, and welcome to the committee.
Welcome, Minister Goodale and your officials.
The safe third country agreement came into force in 2004. As we heard, in 2001 approximately 45,000 asylum seekers came to Canada. I think that was the peak, actually. In 2000 that was the second highest, when our numbers were at approximately 38,000. The third-highest peak was in 2008, at around 37,000.
By way of comparison, could we look at before the safe third country agreement came into force and effect? Could you and perhaps your officials give us the background on how that was managed and how that compares with the situation we are faced with today, when the safe third country agreement is in place?