Mr. Speaker, I think the folks at home should listen very carefully. It is interesting to see how those individuals across the way start to detract from the main issue of terrorism and some of the problems that are not even addressed in the terrorism legislation and degrade the discussion by something that they are doing.
I want to address some facts of which these individuals across the way are probably not aware. I am the only individual in the House who has actually been an intervener in as many as maybe eight or nine deportations of criminals from this country. I will go through seven cases for those at home and those listening in the House.
They are not terrorists but they very well could have been terrorists. The same applies to terrorists except that the rules I am about to go through are not being changed as far as the government is concerned. I will go through this case by case.
At the end I would like the government to ask itself if it is really addressing the real problems inherent in our system as far as criminals are concerned, whether they be criminals moving from north or south of our border, whether they be terrorists in the definition of terrorist today or whether they be people who should not be in our country for whatever reason.
I have to give a brief description of it because I do not enough time. I want to briefly talk about an individual from El Salvador who came into our country, raped a woman and had nine or ten extra convictions while here. He raped a second woman. That lady agreed to stay the charges if he were deported.
The government then escorted and deported the person to El Salvador. It was while the lady was getting gas for her car in my community that she found out he was back in the country within six months claiming refugee status. We have physically deported somebody. He came back into the country and was given a refugee hearing. It took me two years to get rid of this fellow again. He knew it was a haven here. He knew he could stay and would have stayed had I not been an intervener in that case.
This condition still exists today, whether a person is a terrorist or any other kind of criminal. That condition has not been changed by any legislation.
Let me describe another case of an individual from Laos. He was involved in a murder. He went to prison. He applied for refugee status while in prison and after a one hour hearing it was granted. It took me two years as an intervener to get this fellow deported. He would have stayed here had I not been an intervener.
He could have been a terrorist. He was a murderer, not a terrorist. The condition still exists today where a terrorist can be in a prison in Canada, apply for refugee status and receive it while in prison.
Let me describe another case of an individual who came in on a visitor's visa. This is the same thing that a terrorist can do, although this fellow was not a terrorist. He was charged with assault almost immediately. When he heard I was after him for deportation he was advised to apply for refugee status.
He applied for refugee status. I applied as an intervener. As all refugee applicants can do, he applied through the refugee board to exclude me from the hearing. I had to fight that and I won. Just before we had him ordered deported, he abandoned his claim. Everything stopped and he disappeared.
About eight months later I found out he was applying for refugee status for a second time in Calgary. I went to Calgary and applied as an intervener. He kicked me out. I applied to fight that and won for a second time. This time we won the case. His refugee claim is disallowed.
I told the refugee board to hold him because he was a jumper, that he would leave, that he would disappear in Canada. It would not do it. He has disappeared and we hear he is in Winnipeg now waiting to apply again.
This happens today whether the individual is a terrorist, a murderer or a rapist. It does not matter. Those are the kinds of issues that are not being addressed in the House. Those are the issues that the Americans are concerned about.
Speaking about the Americans, I just had a case of an individual from Cuba. He came into Canada. He hooked up with a young, 15 year old kid. The parents came to me and wanted me to do something. I went after him. He applied for refugee status. In the refugee hearing, after he excluded me and I won the right to stay in the hearing again, I was passed a document that said he was wanted in the United States. He had been there for four years. He was not a refugee from Cuba. He was a refugee from prosecution in the United States.
This guy could have been a terrorist. If he were a terrorist the same rules apply today as they did then. I told the police and the refugee board to hold this fellow, that he was a skipper, that he jumps. He jumped from the United States to avoid prosecution. They would not do it. He is gone with the kid. I hear he is in Edmonton. This is the identical rule under which a terrorist would operate.
There is an individual in prison in my community who has been deported from this country over 20 times. One has to work at that. That is a problem. He is an American.
I had a call a couple of weeks ago from fellow who said he was from Oklahoma and was in my community. He wanted me to pay for a few nights at the Travelodge. He said he was a refugee from Oklahoma. I said there is no such thing as a refugee from Oklahoma. He told me he was avoiding political persecution. I asked what were the charges. He is not avoiding political persecution. He is avoiding prosecution.
These individuals in the United States will move to Canada as a terrorist would under the same rules and apply for refugee status. That is wrong.
Christopher Dawson is a dangerous sex offender. I have been working on this case for a long time. To be labelled a dangerous sex offender in this country is a serious charge. He got a passport from Canada while in prison. This is serious. The same rules apply today. That can happen.
Where I come from, if he gets a passport and lives on the border he is going to go to the United States to get some child and run back to Canada to avoid prosecution. These rules exist today whether or not someone is a sex offender, a murderer or a terrorist. I have been saying this in the House for eight years. This is serious and it is not being addressed.
There is only one other thing I want to say about the money that the government is spending on some of these projects. We have a commitment from the government to develop a national sex offender registry. It will not live up to its commitment that would have been about $5 million or maybe a little more. In times of crisis I am perplexed as to why a government says it is throwing money into all of this and will work it out later. The country has been begging for a national sex offender registry. It is the same thing I am talking about. They are different priorities.
It is a priority the government does not seem to understand. I do not know what to say except that these are actual cases. I do them all the time. I am very familiar with them. I could tell the House of 10 or 12 more. The problem is the government is not addressing these circumstances at all in this legislation.