Thank you, Chair.
Thanks a lot, Minister. Thanks to all the officials also for joining us in the committee today.
Minister, among the many mean-spirited cuts in the last Ontario budget by the Doug Ford government, one of them was to eliminate the legal aid funding for refugees and immigration law services. The Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers warns that these abrupt changes will have dire consequences for many.
For many of us, it was reminiscent of the Harper government's decision to slash health care coverage for refugee and asylum claimants.
Could you please assure us that, with the funding provided to the department in the main estimates, our government will continue to protect the rights of vulnerable immigrants and refugees?