Mr. Speaker, since taking over the job the immigration minister has boasted about his new process for hiring Immigration and Refugee Board members. However, it is time that the boasting stopped and accountability began.
Since this minister began making appointments, the acceptance rate for refugee claimants has skyrocketed. The definition of refugee has been expanded well beyond anything the United Nations intended. Canadians are all too clearly seeing the pattern of the IRB when it comes to overturning deportations.
The minister of immigration has heard the calls from across the country that the refugee board represent a real cross-section of Canadians. Instead, the minister has stacked his board with immigration lawyers and refugee advocates. It is time for a public scrutiny of the minister's appointments.
I call on the minister to have all prospective appointees screened before the standing committee on immigration. If there is a bias, let us get rid of it; if there is an agenda, let us expose it.
Canadians want a real balance and that means balancing the needs of migrants against the need for integrity of our borders. Let us start by ensuring that the right people guard the gates.