We expect very soon, as early as possibly tomorrow, that there will be a release of the 2017 immigration levels plan. It could come tomorrow, or it could come next week, but we expect it's imminent.
I don't know whether all of you read The Hill Times. Most of us here do, but you probably don't. There were some interesting quotes by Honourable John McCallum, the Minister of Immigration, that were reported in The Hill Times yesterday. I want to read these quotes to you, because it may give a hint as to where he's going with the immigration levels plan. Then I would like to hear what your comments are, starting perhaps with Professor Sweetman.
There were two quotes. He said, “A big influx of immigrants would be too expensive to Canada in the short term”. He also said, “If we have a large increase in immigration, it's a large increase in the cost. Because, I don't think Canadians want to bring in immigrants without settling them properly, without integrating them into Canadian life. And that costs a lot of money.”
One can say that they don't know what that means, but it may give a hint as to what the levels plan is going to be.
Professor Sweetman, could you perhaps give us your comments? Of course, we're crystal ball gazing as to what these level plans are going to be, but to me, those statements give us a hint.