Thank you, Madam Chair.
I will begin by saying that I was extremely surprised by Ms. Zahid's earlier question. I have never heard anyone sitting on the opposition benches, regardless of party affiliation, make comments of this nature about francophone economic immigration. I am very curious to hear the basis for this question, because if it is true and indeed well founded, it is scandalous and unacceptable.
That said, obviously, I am here to stand in for my colleague Alexis Deschênes, who tabled a notice of motion on Friday. I would like to move this motion for debate today.
I will read the motion:
That, whereas Quebec and Ontario receive a disproportionate share of asylum seekers in Canada, while efforts to relocate them to other provinces remain minimal, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the committee undertake a study specifically on; a) the impacts of this inequitable distribution on the provinces' public services and public finances; b) ways to make the system more equitable; c) practices in other countries and groups of countries, such as the European Union, for distributing asylum seekers; that the committee invite experts, lawyers specializing in immigration and constitutional law, representatives of organizations working with asylum seekers, and any other witnesses deemed relevant to appear before it; that the committee formulate recommendations aimed at making the asylum seeker system more equitable; that the committee devote a minimum of three meetings to this study; and that, pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a full response to its report.