Madam Speaker, I appreciate that because I think that my message is one that has not been discussed enough in the House of Commons, and hopefully it will resonate outside of this chamber, and even more so. I believe, again, that it is not just about the individual families who do not have a connection.
I look to Windsor where we have the Costello family. People need to understand how draconian the system is. This is in Windsor where they asked to go to hospice to visit a dying mother, Diane. She has passed away, and my go condolences to the Costello family today. I thank all their family for fighting for this.
They did not have to stop anywhere. They were going from the border eight kilometres to a hospice, and it was originally denied by the government. There would be no interaction anywhere else. Meanwhile, we can drive across British Columbia to Alaska and then head into Alaska and come back, stopping several places, and that is okay, but they could not get permission. We finally did get it, and I thank the government for allowing permission for the family to be together for her dying days, but this should not be a fight. This should be a planning process.
The government needs to wake up to it and acknowledge that this could go on for a long period of time. COVID-19 is going to continue to plague us as citizens, but we cannot fall into always saying no and not doing the hard work necessary to reunite families, whether they be loved ones, fiancés, brothers or sisters. All those types of relationships that are out there, that are connected, can be scrutinized.
There has been a tremendous amount of work done, so nobody is asking for somebody to come willy-nilly into this country and get a free pass. They are actually putting forward their families' high expectations, ensuring coverage, ensuring a plan, ensuring there is going to be follow through and quarantining, all those things. Right now, the government is just saying no, a blanket no. That is not acceptable because this is going to continue to go on. This hurts not only the people directly involved but also our entire community. That is what I am trying to impress upon the system right now.
We saw the one case I referenced, the Costello family. At that time, I pointed out that a billionaire got into this country, to Toronto, and got through the system. The government's response was to blame CBSA. That is not acceptable. It is not acceptable for our workers to be put on that mantle and have it said that they are the problem. The CBSA workers are actually our front-line heroes. They deal every day with people coming back and forth on the land border, and they also deal with the air and other things. They need direction and support from the government. They just cannot be doing it by themselves.
What we are calling for is a fully accountable process that has been presented to the government. The government is potentially responding now, because it is feeling the pressure. It should not be political pressure.
One case is enough, and it is not acceptable for us to continue to put people in pain by their not knowing their future. It is not good for mental health. It is not good for the workforce. It is not good for the families. All of those are reasons why we can do better.
That is where we are at. We cannot change the past right now. We cannot undo the damage that has been done. What we can do is bring in a fully accountable, credible process for families to be reunited that ensures safety for the public. Surely we can do that. We have to do better. COVID-19 may not be going away for a long period of time. We have direct testing now available. The time has come for us to change, for the government to change, and to reunite families.