Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with my colleague from South Surrey—White Rock—Langley.
It is a pleasure for me to rise and speak to the public safety bill. This is a bill that takes into consideration what happened on September 11. Naturally Canadians desire the assurance that their borders are safe and that law enforcement agencies have the powers, the means and the ability to ensure that our security is taken care of.
The problem with the bill is that too many provisions and other acts have been put in one bill. It does not allow us to break it down to ensure that the rights of Canadians and safety are maintained.
The most important aspect of the bill is the immigration section. We have heard time after time about the need to ensure that we have an immigration system that reflects the needs of Canada and takes into account that security is not breached if there is a slack system. If due diligence is not done there is a possibility, and I refer to those who do not subscribe to a lawful means or do not subscribe to coming through the legal means and misuse the system, that some individuals will sneak through. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that it does not happen.
A disturbing feature has come out in the last two days. It may be the government's lack of security or an extra desire by the authorities in the United States, who have started profiling certain individuals with certain backgrounds coming into this part of the world, especially those who are Canadians and living in Canada, to fingerprint and single out certain individuals.
The United States is a sovereign state. We enjoy good relations with the U.S. Canada does not want to have two classes of citizens in this country. The responsibility for this lies over there with the government to ensure that the integrity of our immigration system is not compromised, so that people who come to Canada from any part of the world are properly screened and can live with dignity in this country, and travel anywhere around the world with a Canadian passport without having to rebut the actions of the U.S.A.
The U.S.A. is going overboard in this respect. We must tell them that Canadians, from all parts of the world, have gone through our system. It is also important that the government have a system and an immigration policy in place that ensures that we do not have people slipping in. This is important and once that is done I am sure that the U.S.A. would have confidence and it would not create this type of a law which we all do not like. I do not wish to go to the U.S.A. and be fingerprinted just because I am of a different colour, absolutely not.
There are two ways of approaching the problem. On the one hand the United States has gone overboard, but on the other hand, we do not have full confidence in our own system. Whose responsibility is that? The responsibility lies on both sides, including the Government of Canada to ensure that this does not happen.
The reports today talk about the number of people that were not eligible to come into Canada but did so through a ministerial permit. If there is a good reason, let us have that reason. Let it become transparent. Let people know who comes into the country and why. We have genuine, legitimate refugees coming into Canada, but we also have numerous reports of people slipping through because of a lack of resources. I agree that we have laws that should take care of the cracks in the system.