Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his remarks. He made a few references to the situation in Quebec. We are very proud, in Quebec, of having a Department of Cultural Communities and Immigration, something you will not find anywhere else in Canada.
I do not understand why there is no department of immigration in Ontario, with the most immigrants, or in British Columbia, the province with the most immigrants in Canada on a per capita basis.
Quebec signed agreements with the federal government and receives transfer payments, because Quebec subsidizes COFIs, which offer French courses to new arrivals and help them get settled, find work, housing and so on.
The federal government and the provinces share jurisdiction for immigration. But English speaking provinces are at fault for never taking on any responsibility for immigration. Why? The constitution is very clear on this point: the jurisdiction is shared.
Quebec is expecting 40,000 immigrants this year; 42,000, next year; 44,000 the following year, because we have the power to decide on and set our own immigration quotas. I invite people from the English speaking provinces to put pressure on their individual governments to sign agreements with the federal government. This way, some of the problems can be resolved.