Ahmed Hussen

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, April 30th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite wants to convince Canadians that Conservatives are serious about the border, when they cut $400 million from CBSA. The party opposite wants to pretend that it cares about immigration processing. What was its record under its system? Wait lines ballooned with spouses, with travellers, with visa applicants, with refugees, and with the live-in caregiver program. We have done so much to reinvest in those programs to make sure that wait times come down, and we have reinvested in border security.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, April 30th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, it is very rich for that member to talk about compassion and refugees when Conservatives only had a target of 4,500 in the privately sponsored refugee program. We more than quadrupled that program to 18,000. That member should never talk about settlement and integration, because they slashed settlement and integration money for newcomers. We are investing more than $1 billion in settlement and integration for newcomers. Last but not least, they should never talk about immigration processing, because under that party, when it was in government, wait times for legitimate immigrants ballooned.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, April 30th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, we commend the City of Toronto, as well as the Province of Ontario, the Province of Quebec, and all Canadians, on their generosity toward newcomers. That is something this country is proud of, and we will always be proud of our tradition.

In terms of asylum processing, making sure that there are minimal impacts on provincial social services, we have provided $74 million to make sure that the Immigration and Refugee Board does its work so that legitimate claimants can move on with their lives and those who do not have legitimate claims can be removed from Canada.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, April 27th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, the Conservatives showed contempt for legitimate immigrants. Live-in caregivers provide a valuable service to Canadians. How long did they have to wait in line to rejoin their families under that party? It was five years. Spouses had to wait almost three years under that party.

The Conservatives have no credibility on this issue. We have increased and improved processing for legitimate claimants and we have also invested in border security operations and the Immigration and Refugee Board.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, April 27th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, the member opposite is a classic example of that party's efforts to pit one group of immigrants against another. That is exactly what the Conservatives are doing.

The member opposite knows full well that refugees and asylum seekers are processed by the Immigration and Refugee Board, while other immigrants and resettled refugees, as well as family class immigrants, go through the regular immigration stream. To pit those two groups against each other is irresponsible and inflammatory, and that is precisely what they are doing.

Even when it comes to immigration processing—

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, April 27th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, the party opposite has no credibility on this issue. We have invested $117 million for more border security operations and we made a $74 million investment in the Immigration and Refugee Board for faster processing of asylum claims. The party opposite has absolutely no credibility on this issue.

What have the Conservatives proposed? They have proposed turning the entire 9,000-kilometre border into an official port of entry without extra resources. They have even suggested that we commandeer a barn at a port of entry. They are not serious.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, April 27th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, the member opposite should not speak about courage and border security in the same sentence, because the Conservatives cut $400 million from border security. They did not respond to refugees and asylum seekers when they were in power. They did not invest in processing immigration cases. Families and spouses and children had to wait in line for years under the previous government.

It is very rich for the member and that party to talk about border security and immigration processing when they left us with an abysmal record in both those categories.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, April 27th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, Canada is an open and welcoming country to those in need of protection, but our government is committed to orderly migration.

We are working very closely with the Province of Quebec to address the real pressures Quebec is facing with respect to the increased number of asylum seekers going through Quebec. We have invested $112 million more in settlement and integration in Quebec, and we have given Quebec an extra $82 million as part of the Canada social transfer.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, April 27th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, we have invested in the Immigration and Refugee Board to make sure that asylum claims are processed faster. That is good for asylum seekers. It is good for provinces, and it is good for Canada, because the faster asylum seekers get decisions on their claims, the faster they can move on with their lives.

With respect to investments in the border ports of entry, I would point the member opposite to the UNHCR head, who said that Canada has adapted very well to the congestion at the border ports of entry.

[Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees, April 26th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will be happy to know that we are continuing to work with Quebec and Ontario to put together a triage system. Some asylum seekers who received work permits have indicated a desire to live in other parts of Quebec. Others are going to Ontario. We are working on those plans. We have meetings and calls in place to ensure that this plan works through all eventualities. We will continue to be engaged in this issue. We have invested in border security operations and the Immigration and Refugee Board.