I would submit to you that there are other words that can be used. I worry about a situation, with all due respect, that inflames a situation. I am from London, Ontario, and we had an incident you might have seen online that went viral.
These words create a certain perception of what are almost always very desperate people fleeing desperate circumstances.
As a matter of fact, in your presentation, you used the word “choices”. Today we heard from lawyers and experts in refugee law that the federal government is in fact legally obligated to ensure that asylum claimants get a hearing to determine if they meet the definition of a refugee. You call it a choice, but a legal obligation is a certain kind of choice.
I wonder, as the minister responsible for refugee issues in the Province of Ontario, whether you are familiar with the 1985 Singh decision of the Supreme Court and whether you recognize its binding legal implications.