Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I kind of thought the House leader of the official opposition had some kind of special privilege in the House to identify there were not that many around on the other side to listen to the fact that Bill C-63 was supposed to be an important bill.
Getting back to the difficulties I am having with this contradiction of the Liberals, so to speak, on one side we are funding through government dollars, through legal aid, to keep criminals in the country, as well as allowing advertising inviting criminals to the country. On the other side they are saying that they are opening up the legislation for citizenship.
We only have to listen to a few stories like the 80-plus Honduran gang in Vancouver that has been openly selling drugs to our kids on the street. Not too long ago the police in Vancouver arrested these thugs and yet not one of them has been deported. They will very likely be staying in this country and will ultimately become citizens.
We have cases upon cases of individuals who are basically undesirable in our country wreaking havoc among our citizenry, selling drugs and whatnot. Yet the Liberals are hell bent on determining that we should improve the system of citizenship to make sure some of these people stay. That is wrong.
The Citizenship Act provides now for immigrants to come into the country and be citizens. We are happy for that, but the front end take of the immigration system is flawed. The patronage appointment system to the refugee board and the immigration board is flawed. I know members opposite do not want to hear this but it is flawed. I have been through that more than anybody in the House.
I wonder why, for instance, the refugee system is currently entertaining an application from an American. Why is it that we are entertaining a refugee application from an American? I tried to be an intervener in that process and was cut off. The individual applicant basically said “It is a matter of my privacy and you cannot come in”. Now I have to fight that, get on the inside and find out what the problem is.
A fellow by the name of Montenegro, a Honduran drug dealer with numerous trafficking charges, has claimed refugee status. Why? To beat a deportation certificate. I applied to attend the refugee hearing but as soon as the refugee board got my application as an intervener it gave him a hearing because it did not want the spotlight on this individual. I told the board to make its decision and let me know what it did with him. The board said “No, that is privacy and we will not tell you what we did with him”. I happen to know that individual is still in the country and will ultimately perhaps become a citizen.
What is this citizenship legislation that so few Liberals want to listen to? The front end of our citizenship program in this country has to be immigration and the immigration system cannot be flawed. My message to the Liberals is to concentrate on what has to be changed, and that is a very flawed immigration-refugee system.