Chris Alexander

[Citizenship and Immigration, September 15th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has the most fair and generous immigration system in the world, the most fair and generous asylum system in the world, but Canadians have no tolerance for those who would abuse our generosity and take unfair advantage of that undoubted world-class generosity.

By making changes to the system, our government is ensuring immigration is protected from those who seek to abuse taxpayer-funded health care, welfare and other social benefits. We have done this in reforming our immigration system in the past. We will continue to look at legislation in this place from the government, from private members, that goes in that direction to ensure a generous system gives value for taxpayer dollars.

[Human Rights, June 18th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, all of us on this side of the House, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Minister of Transport and myself are committed to making this conference a success. We have made progress on the issuance of visas. We are working closely with the organizers to make sure those attending the conference enter Canada smoothly. We trust it will be a great success for Toronto, for Ontario, and for Canada as a whole.

[Respect for Communities Act, June 17th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, has the NDP given up entirely on combatting the presence of illegal drugs?

Our forces spent 12 years in Afghanistan, fighting the Taliban, a terrorist group that was partly funded by an illegal drug trade. Yes, there has been progress made in Colombia, even in many parts of Afghanistan, against this trade. It does not have to be that way. It does not always have to be there. It would not be inevitable that illegal drugs like heroin result in addiction around the world on the scale they do. If human beings, with Canada central to the effort, would only come together we could do something about it.

Why does the member opposite want to give heroin free to people in downtown Vancouver? Why does he think it is acceptable to have prostitution, crime, poverty, all of the phenomena that the members on that side have admitted are there on this scale, with a drug addiction problem at the centre? Could we not do better? Could we not do better for the people of East Hastings, the way we do for almost every other community in our country?

[Respect for Communities Act, June 17th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the last two speeches with interest.

I have the following question for my colleague. The hon. member who delivered the previous speech and a number of NDP members this evening described InSite as a perfect and splendid model. How does my hon. colleague really see the situation?

Yes, there is this centre. However, we all know where the product that is distributed there, heroine, comes from. For the most part, it comes from Afghanistan, a country at war in part because of this illegal trafficking. The centre is also surrounded by a neighbourhood where prostitution is rampant, where crime is off the charts and where theft and drug and alcohol addiction are beyond the norm and sometimes extremely so compared to almost any other urban centre in Canada.

What does my hon. colleague truly think of that area and this situation? Is it really the perfect model?

[Citizenship and Immigration, June 17th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, why do our hon. colleagues insist on focusing on such a small number when there are already 1,150 Syrian refugees in Canada? Why does the opposition not talk about the more than 18,000 Iraqis--almost 20,000, in fact--who have settled in Canada since the conflict in Iraq in 2003? Several thousand of them began as refugees in Syria and are now in Canada.

Countries like Sweden, Germany, and our European and United Nations partners know that Canada is a world leader in this regard.

[Citizenship and Immigration, June 17th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, once again that member is misinforming the House; his question is completely wrong.

I met with a senior German official today who confirmed to us that the large number of Syrians that Germany is taking are going to be there on a temporary basis. Canada has accepted 1,150 Syrian refugees since the beginning of the crisis. They are all here in Canada, and we are prepared to do much more, building on our very strong credentials as the fourth-largest donor to the humanitarian response to the Syrian crisis and the country that refugees around the world rely on to resettle one out of ten—

[Agricultural Growth Act, June 16th, 2014]

Hand delivered.

[Agricultural Growth Act, June 16th, 2014]

How do you feel about GMOs?

[Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act, June 16th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canada was among the foremost countries advocating a ban on the use of gas on battlefields, while Syria used it last year.

Canada was at the forefront of nuclear disarmament efforts. Canada does not have nuclear weapons, but these weapons still exist. Canada championed the ban on land mines, but these mines still exist.

Is the member across the way telling us that banning cluster munitions will not be a major step forward in strengthening international security and protecting civilians caught in conflicts?

Does the member believe in our alliances at all? Does he believe that we must remain an important ally among NATO countries? Does he think that the United States must remain our ally, yes or no?

[Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act, June 16th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think any of us on this side have ever heard a speech by the NDP opposing an arms control measure with such an unbelievable claim attached to it. The member opposite claims that by passing the bill, we will be killing civilians. Could we on this side of the House register our incredulity, our absolute disbelief, at the absurdity of that claim?

The anti-personnel land mines convention, championed by Lloyd Axworthy, did not lead to the United States abandoning the use of anti-personnel mines. This convention will not, in the short term, lead to the abandonment by the United States, and others around the world, of using cluster munitions. However, Canada should do it. It should stand on principle and should have the member's support in doing so.

My question is the following. Will the member opposite, who talked about the deaths of children and civilians in Afghanistan due to American cluster munitions, acknowledge who killed the most civilians in Afghanistan? Will she stand in the House and tell us whether she even knows what has been happening over the past 12 years to the civilians of Afghanistan and who is responsible? I would like to ask the member opposite, who is the main belligerent responsible?