Madam Speaker, I often hear government members say that Canada is the best country in the world. I am not disputing it, I am simply urging more caution. There are 1,500,000 Canadians who are unemployed and four million living under the poverty line.
We are struggling with enormous problems. Unemployment is high in Montreal. In the riding of the hon. member for Saint-Denis alone, 20 per cent of the population is either on UI or on welfare.
Each year, 80,000 persons leave Canada. Why? When we travelled to Cyprus together-a very pleasant trip-many Canadian Cypriots told us they had returned to their country because of the problems we are having here. I think we should be more careful.
As for Bill C-44 not violating the Geneva Convention on refugees, the Canadian Council has testified that certain clauses are in violation of the Geneva Convention. Not one of the major organizations that the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration has heard supported this bill. Every organization and individual who testified before the committee criticized it, some going as far as asking for its withdrawal. The Canadian Bar Association, a most respectable organization, criticized the substance of the bill. When I asked the Canadian Ethnocultural Council if any cultural community organization in Canada supported this bill, the answer was "no".
So, I wonder if the hon. member for Saint-Denis could tell me why no organization supports Bill C-44.