Mr. Chair, I would like to address several issues.
The first is visitor visa requirements for EU member states. The European Union currently has 25 member states. This now means that citizens of Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, just to name a few, no longer require visitor visas to travel to other member states like the U.K. or Germany.
Unfortunately, citizens of seven new member countries that entered in May of last year still require visitor visas to come to Canada.
I get many calls from my constituents. Besides just tourism, their family members cannot come to Canada for weddings or in the worst case funerals. They find it especially irksome because often they are told that it is because from those countries in the past people have stayed on and worked illegally.
However, times change. At the present time because they are EU members work permits for those people are no longer required in neighbouring countries such as the U.K., Ireland or Sweden.
If they want to travel to a foreign country to work, they would probably make better wages and be a lot closer to home in countries such as the U.K.
The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration understands that the situation in Europe is in his own words constantly evolving. He is aware that Europe is expanding and with that comes new political realities. He has been reviewing this matter and it is my hope that he will announce streamlined measures for visitors from the seven new E.U. member countries such as Poland.
I was just curious at what kind of timeline we may be looking?