Chris Alexander

[Citizenship and Immigration, May 28th, 2014]

It is astonishing, Mr. Speaker, that former ministers would stand in this place and ask the Minister of Immigration to give a decision in this place about individual immigration cases. That member knows very well that the authority is delegated to highly trained professionals around the world. She knew that when her party was in government. It is not a surprise that her party is not in government now, given that those members deny these things.

We will continue to stand up for human rights around the world. We will continue to insist that governments in Uganda and elsewhere respect human rights regardless of sexual orientation. We will use our immigration laws to make this conference a success.

[Citizenship and Immigration, May 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is absolutely wrong.

Our citizenship and immigration bill will strengthen the value of Canadian citizenship by tightening requirements. This means that new Canadians must reside in Canada, fulfill the citizenship criteria and live in accordance with Canada's values and laws.

[Employment, May 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite knows perfectly well that there are employers on the list who do not have access to the program. He knows that there are further investigations under way, and he also knows that there was no list in their time in government, because they were indifferent to abuse. They brought exotic dancers to this country in the hundreds and thousands, without any scrutiny of what happened to them. It was atrocious, and we are going to continue cleaning up that mess.

[Employment, May 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is plain wrong. There are employers on the list. Both departments are taking action to ensure that LMOs are denied to those employers. There are new investigations under way. There is a moratorium in place for a large number of LMOs under the low-skilled class, and we are proud of that record, because we take the rules seriously. We are cleaning up the Liberal mess started by them in 2002 when there was not even any ability to inquire or--

[Employment, May 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as soon as an employer ends up on the list, it no longer has access to the temporary foreign worker program. It is as simple as that.

The department of employment established this list in 2011 and began adding employers to it in December 2013. There are investigations currently under way. There is a moratorium, and we are taking measures to ensure that employers that end up on the list no longer receive labour market opinions.

[Citizenship and Immigration, May 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am very disappointed to see an honourable colleague deny the generosity of the Canadian people and of our immigration programs.

Canadians were extraordinarily generous, and our government matched their donations. This is unprecedented in our relations with the Philippines.

Furthermore, we have processed and approved the applications of more than 1,000 Filipinos who wanted to come to Canada. Canada responded generously to this catastrophe.

[Citizenship and Immigration, May 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of Canada's leadership in response to Typhoon Haiyan. The generosity of Canadians was extraordinary, and we are very proud, as a government, to have matched those funds, over $160 million, earning the thanks of the President of the Philippines and the people of the Philippines. We were among the very few countries, probably the only country, to have opened its doors to urgent immigration cases. Well over 1,000 Filipinos benefited from approvals in those cases.

We will continue to work to make our visa relations with the Philippines one of the best in the world.

[Human Rights, May 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I will personally commit to use Canada's immigration system to make this conference a success, as we have used it to help settle gay refugees from Iran, as we have used it to speak out against the oppression of the LGBT community in many countries the world, things that party never did.

Every time we get up to talk about it, the Liberals shout us down and heckle, because they are not really interested in the fate of repressed LGBT community members around the world. They are interested in listening to themselves, and that is unacceptable.

[Human Rights, May 26th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our government is proud of our record of standing up for those facing oppression around the world. We have resettled refugees from countries like Uganda, from Russia, from Iran, and many other countries around the world.

We have also spoken out when there has been state-sponsored oppression of LGBT communities in Russia and many countries of Africa. We have worked tirelessly with the organizers of this conference from the beginning. We are grateful to the member for Toronto—Danforth for his collaboration on this issue, and we will do everything we can to make this conference a success under Canada's immigration laws.

[Citizenship and Immigration, May 15th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Saskatoon—Humboldt.

The NDP members love to act self-righteously, but reality always catches up to them, and very quickly, at that. The hon. member for Acadie—Bathurst falsely claimed that this year we had reduced services to francophones provided by MAGMA, the Multicultural Association of the Greater Moncton Area. Not only is that incorrect, but in fact we have increased services to francophones. Through our roadmap, the organization can provide training in French adapted to the business community, as well as talking circles in French for new immigrants.

The hon. member for Acadie—Bathurst—