Madam Speaker, I am pleased to stand and support my colleague's bill. The bill is very simple. It is an effort to address a very outstanding, difficult and serious problem for many Canadians, and people who have come to Canada as new Canadians and as immigrants.
The problem is that they cannot have the pleasure and opportunity to have visits from those who are dear to them from their country of origin. My colleague has put his mind to work and has discussed this problem with a number of people. He has come up with a pretty simple solution which would allow potential visitors to have their compliance with the terms of their visitor visa be assured by the posting of a bond.
The bond could be flexible. It could be more money depending on the circumstances of the sponsoring individual and the visitor, or it could be less but it could be and would be proportionate to the ability of the visitor and the sponsor to pay.
My other colleagues in the House have pointed out how terrible, frustrating and heartbreaking it can be not to be able to share lives with family in a meaningful way. Suppose for example, that one had a new child, a little baby and there was a lot of excitement about that, but one's own parents could not come to see the little one or the time could not be shared with one's sisters or brothers.
In the case of weddings, where one wants to gather the whole family together to celebrate and support each other, visitor visas can be denied. There are so many heartbreaking stories that we as MPs hear and it is unfair. A lot of times sponsors are Canadian citizens. Why should some Canadian citizens be able to share their lives and celebrations in their lives with those who are dear to them while other Canadians are denied that opportunity? The government tells potential visitors they cannot come in and share the wedding, the celebration of the birth of a child or grieve with their Canadian family members on the death of a family member. What kind of inequality is that?
However, the Liberals defend that inequality. They defend having two classes of citizens, some who can share their lives with their friends and family, and others who are denied that opportunity. Yet, the parliamentary secretary defends that kind of inequality. Shame on the Liberals.
The Liberals say that organized crime could put up the money or the system may be abused. Well, there is a news flash for us. The system is being abused by the Liberals and they are doing precious little about it. We just had this terrible case of Mr. Singh who came in on a visitor's visa permitted by the government. It took 16.5 years to get him out of the country, even though he failed every single time on his applications and appeals.
The Liberal government has no business pretending that it is concerned about abuse of the system. My colleague has put forward a very sensible suggestion. Safeguards could easily be built around this. Bonds are provided every day for any number of activities. The parliamentary secretary got up and said that we cannot have that. That is just ridiculous. She then said the charter could protect people who come in and the government could not ensure they leave. There is another news flash for us.
Just today there was a report of a fellow where a judge ruled he could not be sent back to another country because he might be tortured. This happens every day. This is no excuse to bar the door to visitors of legitimate Canadians and permanent residents of this country. I cannot imagine how these arguments could possibly hold any water over there. It is said that it is a problem that such visitors would not be able to apply for refugee status. Maybe we need to discuss that, but is that a reason to keep people from being able to visit their families? It is not.
The government pretends to be the friend of immigrants. It is always accusing Conservatives of having some anti-immigrant agenda, quite falsely and ridiculously. Look at what it does. The Liberal government is hurting many immigrants and permanent residents and their families by the fact that it has completely and utterly mismanaged the system.
What happens when a Conservative bill comes forward to fix one of the worst problems that separates families at important times of their lives? The Liberals trash it. That is the Liberal way. Nothing else can work, but the system they are running does not work. They are the administrators of the system that does not work.
Surely there should be some openness to sensible, well thought out proposals like that put forward by my colleague to fix the problems in the system. However, the Liberals do not want the system fixed. They do not want people to have family visits in a way that satisfies the concerns about whether visitors' visas will be honoured. Yet visitors' visas are not being honoured now. Helping to fix that problem should win the approval, the support, the enthusiasm and the gratitude of the government. However, it does not.
The parliamentary secretary says that there are just too many problems. The problems are with the government and with a department that is not being managed properly. It is time now that we work together in the House. I know members from all parties support my colleague's bill because it makes sense. It is a simple, doable, reasonable proposal that would allow families to come together without jeopardizing the safety of our system and some of the rules that have been put into place for visitors.
I applaud my colleague for his initiative, his intelligence and his good judgment in coming forward with a solution. We have all wrestled with this. We have talked to our constituents. My colleague across the way says that he has a box of tissues in his office because it is so heartbreaking for constituents when they cannot get together with their families because they cannot invite them to visit from other countries. It is a terrible situation for people. To be hard-hearted enough to turn down a sensible proposal to fix this makes no sense.
I appeal to the Liberal government and the parliamentary secretary who spoke earlier to rescind this rejection of something that could benefit so many people and families. I appeal to them to work with the Conservatives and with my colleagues in the Bloc and the NDP who have supported the proposal. Let us work together to help people. Instead of just seeing problems, let us see solutions. Let us support my colleague's bill.