Mr. Chair, I would like to address the issue of the credibility of estimates, because I think it is no surprise that the department has been under a cloud of suspicion since the last minister left. There were a lot of problems leading up to her resignation.
Currently we have a minister who in my opinion has deliberately taken steps to hurt the ethnic communities and individuals of those communities since becoming the immigration minister. I will give some examples.
On March 13, he warned members of the Sikh community in Toronto not to criticize the Liberal government. He said, “Keep it inside the family”. He attacked the Jewish publisher of the Western Standard magazine for publishing a satirical poster comparing the Liberal Party to criminals. He then went on to accuse the Conservative Party of being Ku Klux Klan related. He made deliberate comments about an MP from Newton—North Delta who happens to be a Conservative MP and Sikh. Then, last Friday, there was information leaked from his department that directly is an abuse of his own role in violation of the Privacy Act.
With these numerous instances, all of which should have led to his resignation or the Prime Minister firing him, how are Canadians supposed to trust him on these estimates?