Mr. Speaker, I too would like to join my hon. colleague in paying homage to this wonderful institution and the pleasure it has given me to serve here, knowing that over the next 10 years we will be anxiously waiting for it to reopen.
Canada is an open and welcoming country. Those who need protection come to our shores because they know they can find refuge here.
We have invested over $173 million to strengthen our security operations at our border, to ensure that they are fair and faster in processing asylum claims. Our government is committed to having a strong asylum system.
My hon. colleague mentioned several times in his speech that Canadians want a system that is safe, orderly and compassionate. The CBSA has been doing that for years, even before we were elected into government.
He also mentioned a lack of empathy a couple of times in his speech. I am wondering why he mentioned a lack of empathy. I do not want to question whether it was related to his previous government's position of cutting $390 million from the CBSA, or developing a massive asylum claim backlog, or cutting health care for refugees. Was he relating that lack of empathy to the previous government? It certainly is not related to ours.