Costas Menegakis

[Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, May 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Liberal Party is clearly in over his head. We know he does not want Canadians to have a say in who represents them in the Senate because the Liberal leader thinks that “...an elected Senate is a terrible idea”.

Instead of working with our government to bring greater accountability and transparency to the Senate, the Liberal leader champions the Senate's status quo, this time because it is to Quebec's advantage, as he says.

These divisive comments are not surprising. They are consistent with the Liberal leader's poor judgment and lack of respect for Canadians from all regions of our country.

Our government is focused on delivering meaningful reform to the Senate, including elections, term limits and tough spending oversight.

The Liberal leader is defending the status quo in the Senate because it benefits one region at the expense of others. It is time the Liberal leader and his Liberal senators stopped defending the Senate status quo.

[Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada, May 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, for 17 years, the NDP leader has known about corruption in Quebec, but kept it all to himself.

In 1994, the NDP leader met with the former mayor of Laval, who offered him help in the form of an envelope stuffed with cash.

Today, media are reporting that after the former mayor of Laval tried to bribe the NDP leader, the NDP leader had the gall to thank him and shake his hand. That does not sound like someone outraged by being witness to criminal activity.

Let us recap what we know. The NDP leader was silent about the criminal activity of the former mayor of Laval for 17 years. Then he was untruthful about it when he said he was never offered any money. Then he did not seem that upset about it.

The NDP leader has some explaining to do.

[Business of Supply, May 9th, 2013]

Why not?

[Doncrest Public School, May 9th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to welcome to Parliament Hill today the grade eight students and teachers from Doncrest Public School.

Doncrest is a remarkable centre for learning in my riding of Richmond Hill. What truly sets it apart is the dedication of its staff and administration. In addition to its focus on the important academic skills, the school has developed a tremendous eco, arts and global citizenship focus. Students graduating from Doncrest Public School do so as well-rounded young adults, positioned for success in their secondary school careers and beyond.

This week's visit to Ottawa is providing these students with exposure to an immense wealth of knowledge about our country's parliamentary process and history.

I commend the Doncrest Public School community for giving these young people, Canada's future leaders, such an enriching experience at this important stage of their lives.

[Science and Technology, May 8th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the Montreal Science Centre at the Old Port of Montreal is a leader in science, education, entertainment and tourism.

Can the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, who is also the minister responsible for Canada Lands, tell the House about the new developments regarding the Montreal Science Centre?

[Situation in Syria, May 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for her question and her concern. It is always good to look internally and believe that we can be doing more. This is something on which we are very, very focused. It is a priority for us. We know we are dealing with real people here in very difficult situations. I can appreciate and attest to some of the comments that the hon. member made, but it is something that is, as I stated previously, of primary concern to our government and we are focusing on it on a full-time basis.

[Situation in Syria, May 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I will just respond to the question because I am not going to engage in this kind of childish behaviour with the hon. member opposite.

I did not refer to the skilled worker program. I was referring to those families who actually are in need. We have increased staffing capacity in both Beirut and Amman. We are processing applications as fast as we can to try to reunify those families. It is a very difficult situation. As members can well appreciate, there are tens of thousands of people who have lost their lives. It is a very sensitive situation. We are very aware of that. We are working very closely with our officials on the ground and under the leadership of our Minister of Foreign Affairs and our Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. This is a situation that is of priority for us.

[Situation in Syria, May 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, notwithstanding the heckling by the hon. member for Scarborough—Agincourt when I was presenting my speech in the House, I respected the rules of the House and did not heckle when he was asking his very verbose question, with whose premise I completely disagree. I did not refer in my comments or in my speech—

[Situation in Syria, May 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the simple answer to her question is that the processing capacity was increased in the region to compensate for the fact that the office in Damascus was closed, with the offices in Beirut and Amman becoming full-service offices. I can appreciate the anxiety and concern Canadians have for their friends and families in Syria. Officials are working to process family class and privately sponsored refugee applications from Syria as quickly as possible given the difficult operational environment.

Having said that, I am happy to say that almost all spousal sponsorships that were pending have been finalized. For family class cases with compelling circumstances, visa officers are issuing temporary resident visas to allow applicants to come to Canada while their applications are being processed, and permanent resident applications are being processed as expeditiously as possible, while ensuring, of course, security and admissibility checks are performed.

[Situation in Syria, May 7th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to this very important issue and to respond to some of the irresponsible and misleading claims being made by the opposition.

I understand the anxiety that Syrian-Canadians must be feeling right now about their loved ones. That is why we have been meeting with the Syrian-Canadian community regularly. The Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism has met and spoken with Syrian-Canadians on many occasions, and across the country, including Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver. I know the Minister of Foreign Affairs has also met with the community on several occasions to discuss the situation in Syria.

We will continue to meet with the Syrian-Canadian community, to hear their concerns and keep them informed about what our government is doing. Both ministers have also visited refugee camps, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism in Turkey, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Jordan, to get a better understanding of the situation first-hand.

I must say that I find it somewhat hypocritical that the NDP and the Liberals are constantly claiming that the government needs to work more closely with international organizations like the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, yet they stand in this House and ask our government to completely ignore, if not deny, the direction provided by that very same organization with respect to this issue.

The UNHCR is not currently referring Syrian refugees for resettlement. Due to the enormity of the situation and the number of people flowing into refugee camps, it has asked countries to place their immediate focus on humanitarian assistance so that it can provide the food, water and medical care required. Our government is respecting the international consensus and expert advice of the UNHCR, and is working co-operatively with our partners. I am disappointed that the opposition is acting in direct contrast to the direction of the UNHCR on this very important issue.

Canada has provided over $80 million in humanitarian assistance to date. Just this past January, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism was in Turkey, where he met with representatives from the UNHCR and the Turkish Red Crescent, and visited displaced Syrians in makeshift camps. While there, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism announced $1.5 million for the Red Cross to help provide food, water, shelter, hygiene kits, blankets, heaters and clothing for up to 170,000 displaced Syrians. Canada is playing its part to help deal with the humanitarian situation, and we have provided significant funds.

The opposition also likes to conveniently ignore the efforts we have made to help relieve some of the pressure on these refugee camps. The fact is that there were already thousands upon thousands of refugees in many of these refugee camps before the Syrian crisis.

We are delivering on our commitment to resettle 20,000 Iraqi refugees, which will help to relieve some of the pressure in these neighbouring countries. Canada has the most fair and generous refugee system in the world. We welcome one in ten of all resettled refugees, more than any other country. I would note that while the UNHCR is not referring any refugees for resettlement at this time, our government has been actively working on options that will allow us to act if the UN does at some point in the future recommend resettlement of these refugees.

When the international community is in a position to change its focus from providing immediate and life-saving humanitarian aid to beginning the job of resettling persons, Canada will be there to help. We continue to encourage Syrian-Canadians who are in contact with their family members in Syria to advise them to reach the UNHCR site and register as refugees in order to be processed.

In addition to the refugee situation, we have made real progress on immigration applications. The visa office in Damascus was understandably closed due to the continuing violence. As a result, processing capacity in the region was increased to compensate, with more staff and processing capacity in both Beirut and Amman.

Immigration officials have been working very hard to process family class and privately sponsored refugee applications from Syria as quickly as possible despite the difficult operational environment that is presented to them on the ground in the region. Instead of criticizing them, the opposition should be commending them for the hard work Canadian officials have been doing to process applications from Syria.

I am pleased to inform the House that almost all of the family class sponsorship for spouses and dependent children have been finalized. For family class cases with compelling circumstances, visa officers have been issuing temporary resident visas to allow applicants to come to Canada while their applications are being processed, and they are processing existing permanent resident applications as expeditiously as possible, while still ensuring that security and admissibility checks are performed. Our government has listened to the Syrian Canadian community and we are taking responsible actions to deal with this very important issue.

I would like to conclude my remarks by reading a quote from Antonio Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, who said in a statement last year:

We must recognize that there is no humanitarian solution to the Syrian crisis. Only through a political solution leading to peace can the humanitarian emergency be brought to a conclusion.

The enormity and scale of the situation means that the piecemeal approach proposed by the opposition is just that, piecemeal. Our government will continue to work collaboratively with the UNHCR and other nations to ensure that our response to the situation in Syria is effective and appropriate. We will continue to press for a political solution to end the violence and the humanitarian crisis. Instead of misleading and fearmongering, I urge the opposition to work with our government to work toward a resolution that is lasting.

Let me close by saying that our thoughts and prayers are with the Syrian people and their families.