Madam Speaker, I would like to deal with the main issue raised by the member.
Obviously he made reference to a specific case which we cannot go into any detail on. However I can assure the hon. member that the processing time for applications for permanent residents is not static. They vary according to how many applications are in the process at any given time and available resources to process them.
I will give an example. In the year 2000, 50% of all the applicants who applied for permanent residence in the business immigration category took roughly 11 months to process. This means of course that some were longer than 11 months and some were shorter. However I can assure the hon. member that in this case the allegations that were brought out concerning Gaetano Amodeo were completely and utterly unfounded.
In conclusion, all members of parliament make representations to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. It is our duty to do so when our constituents ask us for some information.
Senators, members of parliament, and even our colleague from Dauphin—Swan River, I am sure, have made representations to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration on specific applications.
Last year, we received 40,000 requests for information. In the national capital region, there were in excess of 6,000 representations made, some of them by myself.
That is the role we play, our duty to our constituents, and we play it with the best intentions possible.