Mr. Speaker, I could not agree with the member more that we need to be a compassionate society. We need to be compassionate, but we do not need to be a patsy. That is the difference.
Indeed, members of the Immigration and Refugee Board have said just this year that more than 90% of the individuals who come in front of the board claiming refugee status are actually economic refugees. In fact, one of them said that less than 1% were true refugees in the sense that they are defined in international conventions.
We want to ensure a system where true refugees are indeed allowed into Canada. If we do not allow in true refugees, but we allow in economic refugees, we are actually violating our international responsibilities. We are doing an enormous injustice to the vast number of people who do need our protection, who are true refugees and must be brought into Canada.
To deal with the facts again, 40% of the individuals claiming refugee status come from the United States and have been staying there. Why are we accepting as refugees in Canada people who have been living in the United States who are not allowed to stay there any more? Does that not seem simply passing strange?
I would totally agree with the hon. member that if individuals have to come to this country and they do not have any identification papers, there are circumstances that will account for it. We are completely in accordance with that.
What we do not agree with is when people get on planes, and most of the people claiming refugee status actually come by plane through Pearson International Airport or through Vancouver, and those individuals have documentation when they enter the plane but they destroy it when they leave the plane. That is a serious problem. The vast majority of those individuals are not true refugees.
I would suggest that the member speak to the minister of immigration and to the members on the Immigration and Refugee Board. Listen to what they have to say and act upon their constructive suggestions. That will enable us to have an immigration system that allows true refugees into Canada, not false ones.