Mr. Speaker, a ministerial permit is a tool that is used by officials across the country and internationally to try to assist individuals in various situations.
Almost 7,000 ministerial permits were granted last year. Nine individuals received ministerial permits who were members of organizations that are automatically excluded from Canada. These individuals came here for periods of two days to a few weeks.
An example is an individual from Rwanda who was invited by the standing committee on human rights. Another individual was from the Middle East and was involved with foreign affairs in multilateral peace discussions. Another individual from an organization that has been defunct since 1970 came to give testimony on the human rights situation in Central America.
It would be very irresponsible for the member to try to intimate that these individuals were here and had gone underground, had asked for asylum or permanent residency. These individuals were allowed to come here for a short while and there was nothing untoward to the Canadian community.