Mr. Speaker, on February 8 I raised the matter of illegal immigration with the minister in question period. My constituents had serious concerns about our current Immigration Act and whether it was as effective as it could be to both welcome legitimate refugees and immigrants and prevent those who would abuse the system from entering our country.
Three separate events in and around my riding serve to highlight people's concerns. In Windsor, Sarnia and Wallaceburg several people were captured by police as they entered or were already in Canada illegally. It was proof that our immigration policies had come under assault as some sought to jump the queue, mere pawns in the hands of Chinese criminal organizations.
My constituents urged me to take their message of fairness to the minister. People need to have confidence that our refugee system is working as well as it should be.
The system is now plagued by people who use phoney travel documents or destroy them on route to this country. Once here they certainly have the right to make a refugee claim but immigration officials are then hard pressed to positively identify them or assess their criminal backgrounds.
Alarmed with the prospect of Sarnia becoming a major jumping off point for illegal immigrants to try sneaking into the U.S., many have called for improvements to our laws for people who enter North America illegally.
As the daughter of an immigrant myself, Canada and its citizens can be justifiably proud of our compassionate and humanitarian nature. However we must not, we cannot, allow our nation to be taken advantage of by those who would disrupt and disturb our borders.
We should not be a haven for illegal immigrants. The criminal snake head organizations in China and others who would exploit the poor have to be dealt with in the harshest manner. They are not here to embrace our nation but to exploit it. The terrible plight foisted upon the young Chinese dropped in my riding comes from the multimillionaire crooks at the top using them for their own personal ends. I am pleased that the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration went to China last month to express Canada's views forcefully and convincingly.
The minister's recent update to the Immigration Act is a significant step in the right direction. We tell the world that we welcome them and their families but do not manipulate the system and do not confuse our time honoured Canadian compassion with an acceptance of breaking the rules.