Madam Speaker, on November 17, I asked the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration about the measures she intended to take to fight the extremely serious problem of the arrival in Canada of a number of war criminals, people who are guilty of crimes in their country and who have applied under Canadian law for refugee status.
The issue is of concern, because according to an internal study by Randy Gordon in the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, we learned that, since his first report in February 1997, the total number of cases of all kinds had increased. He reported that the total was now over 300 cases, and including the new files to be considered soon for refugee status, the total would no doubt increase significantly in 1997-98. According to Mr. Gordon, if only 1% of the 38,000 new claims pending processing involved war crimes, the total number of files to process would almost double in very short order.
You must know that in Canada there are nearly 300 people who are guilty or could be considered guilty by the war crimes refugee status commission. There is one thing of considerable concern. Internationally, Canada has the reputation of giving a special welcome to war criminals. In saying that, I know the government is just as concerned as I am about this situation.
I know the Minister of Immigration and Citizenship is not pleased to discover that we are a preferred haven for war criminals. However, for more than 20 years we have known that all sorts of mechanisms have permitted war criminals to come to Canada. Despite all, we must acknowledge that little has been done.
You will recall that, in 1985, there was a commission of inquiry, the Deschênes commission, which looked particularly at Nazi war criminals. It suggested a number of courses of action, including amending the Criminal Code, passing tighter measures on extradition and, of course, the main measure of ensuring that, when someone applied, it would be possible to identify whether they were guilty of war crimes. The moment an individual was identified as a war criminal, without the need for an exhaustive investigation as is presently the case, expulsion and deportation measures were to be taken.
What I hope in raising this question is to offer the government and the Minister of Immigration and Immigration my full support, my participation and my energy so that we may work together, outside party lines, because we all know there can be no justice. We will be able to send a clear message around the world that Canada will not tolerate war criminals on its soil. A clear message will thoroughly discourage regimes guilty of such crimes.
I close by saying that currently under the Immigration Act, specifically subsection 19(1)—