Mr. Speaker, on March 1, in a question to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, I objected to the $975 fee announced in the budget that will be charged to anyone who wishes to immigrate to Canada, in addition to the $500 they have to pay to have their file processed by immigration officers.
Canada is now one of the most expensive immigration countries. This unfair and unacceptable decision adds to the incredible increase in all fees connected with immigration and citizenship. By the same token, I want to condemn office closures and personnel cuts at the Department of Citizenship and Immigration and the drastic reduction in the number of IRB commissioners.
These exorbitant fees are the equivalent of several months or even a year's wages for immigrants from poor countries. Refugees could not even afford to pay $500, so how could they pay an additional $975? Most of them arrive in Canada without any money. Sometimes they lost everything they had in their country of origin. When they arrive here, they have to get winter clothes, food and accommodation for their families. This tax is cruel and inhumane.
With this measure, how can Canada claim to honour this country's humanitarian tradition with respect to displaced or persecuted persons, as specified in the Immigration Act? Furthermore, the vast majority of refugees throughout the world are women and children. This measure will make sponsorship and family reunification even more difficult.
I want to take this opportunity to condemn the treatment of refugees scheduled for deportation at the Malton detention centre near the airport in Toronto. Last Wednesday, a citizen of Uruguay who was to be deported had to be taken to hospital after he tried to commit suicide. I mentioned the case of twelve people of Hispanic origin who were ill treated.
I again want to ask the minister to investigate these allegations and to deal with those who are responsible for this very serious and unacceptable situation.