Mr. Speaker, the true Liberal position on refugees has now been exposed. It is not pretty and it has inflicted untold damage on Canada's international humanitarian reputation.
On Monday, the government unilaterally dropped the vital refugee appeal provisions in the new Immigration Act, leaving refugee claimants worse off and at greater risk than under the old act. Next, it was totally ineffective in defending refugees from being equated with terrorism, allowing them to be scapegoated for its own incompetence in running our immigration program.
Government cuts and understaffing, not refugees, are responsible for backlogs and enforcement problems, but the scapegoating did not end there. Instead of showing that a hearing is the only fair way to determine if a refugee claim is valid, the Liberals joined the Alliance chorus to turn refugees away point blank as queue jumping opportunists, an unpardonable smear against all those refugees who have fled here and need our protection.
The Liberal government apparently prefers to join with the Alliance in a frenzy of refugee bashing instead of owning up to its own incompetence. Liberals like to talk the talk. It is time for them to walk the walk.