Chris Alexander

[National Defence, October 10th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely clear what the direction is. Under the leadership of President Obama, 60 countries have joined a coalition to oppose ISIL, and Canada is determined to do its part to stop this terrorist organization of extreme views, unlike any we have seen before, from continuing its rampage against civilians, from continuing to kill civilians without discrimination.

That includes a military component. That includes the Royal Canadian Air Force, and we are proud of the part that they are preparing to play.

[Citizenship and Immigration, October 8th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, that is not true.

On the contrary, our office in Mississauga has made very significant progress on citizenship cases. The staff there have processed a record number of cases this year, and the same is true of family cases and economic immigration cases.

We have made huge progress in reducing the backlog that we inherited from the Liberal Party in 2006.

[Citizenship and Immigration, October 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the fact remains that asylum seekers are in a different category than resettled refugees. In Canada, we have already resettled more than 20,000 Iraqi and Syrian refugees. That is more than any other country.

The real sorry spectacle here is that of the NDP, which is not prepared to support any military measures whatsoever to help millions of refugees in Iraq and neighbouring countries, who need and have asked for our help.

[Citizenship and Immigration, October 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our objective was 1,300 refugees. We already have 1,645 refugees in Canada. In speaking of her sons, Souhad Al Dandashi said, “Now I look ahead and I see, God willing, a future as I dreamed for them”. These are real results.

The Dandashi family's case was brought to our attention in January. They arrived in Montreal in January.

[Citizenship and Immigration, October 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, 1,645 refugees have all arrived from Syria since 2011. The member opposite should get his facts right. On a per capita basis, 18,600 is the largest number resettled from Iraq by any country. These are real actions that speak for themselves, as will be Canada's military contribution, which will help millions more.

[Citizenship and Immigration, October 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the report to which the member is referring is way out of date. We have given significant new resources to the processing centre in Winnipeg and across our network to speed the processing of refugees. There are 1,645 Syrians in this country since the beginning of that crisis in 2011. There are more than 18,600 Iraqis in this country.

The real question is this. Why is the NDP voting against international action coordinated by President Obama in the United States to ensure military tactics are used to protect refugees on the ground? There are millions of them.

[Citizenship and Immigration, October 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the member is so confused that he cannot even come up with the right term. They are government-assisted refugees. We have actually exceeded our goal in that regard for Syria. We have brought over 20,000 from Iraq and Syria and countries that are being discussed and debated in this House tonight. That is more than any of our allies have done and that is because of the focus of this government.

This government will continue to focus on the humanitarian needs of refugees by doing what Iraq has asked us to do and bringing military means to bear, the use of fighter aircraft—

[Citizenship and Immigration, October 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the number of refugee claimants from safe countries has dropped because the government overhauled the system left behind by the Liberal government. This system was not working and did not allow us to focus our resources on the true refugees, as we are doing now. Since 2009, we have already welcomed over 20,000 refugees from Iraq and Syria.

What is scandalous is that the Liberal Party is getting ready to vote this evening against the military action requested by the Iraqis and the refugees, which will help millions of people.

[Citizenship and Immigration, October 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as the opposition already knows, there are 1,645 Syrian refugees in Canada. Those are the latest numbers.

Among them is the Dandachi family, whose case was brought to our embassy's attention in January. They arrived in Montreal in June, so processing is very fast.

Why does the opposition ask this question today and almost every day? Because the opposition members want to downplay their opposition to what Syrian refugees really need: military intervention. That is what the refugees, Iraqis and Canadians want.

[Military Contribution Against ISIL, October 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we all heard the Prime Minister say that we are going to stay there until ISIL's capacity to deliver this murderous agenda in Iraq and potentially beyond is degraded. If we can manage with our NATO and non-NATO allies, we will see that capacity utterly destroyed and removed.

This is not 2003. All of us on this side are absolutely prepared to acknowledge that Iraq in 2003 was not a headquarters for terrorist networks. This is a new phenomenon, and it needs to be addressed today.

Where is the Liberal Party, the Liberal Party that took us into the Second World War, the Liberal Party that sent the Royal Canadian Air Force to Kosovo without a UN resolution, the Liberal Party that joined us in Libya, and the Liberal Party that sent us on the longest mission in our history, the combat mission in Afghanistan? Instead what we hear from the Liberal leader is a reference to the Royal Canadian Air Force that is purely anatomical.