Denis Coderre

[Citizenship and Immigration, February 28th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the illegal forms were the Canadian Alliance cards in the riding of Gaspé.

I would like to mention that we made decisions. We took action and when there were problems regarding the IMM 1000, we conducted audits. This is why I announced this week that we would be implementing Bill C-11 and the regulations, and that we were replacing the IMM 1000 with the maple leaf card to prevent this fraud. We are very much aware of the problem.

[Citizenship and Immigration, February 28th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I find the hon. member's statements unacceptable. They are all the more so, given what we saw happen this morning. When asked, “Did you have any independent audits done regarding these allegations?”, the former Prime Minister replied, “No, Mr. Speaker, I believed what was written in the newspapers”.

We invested more than $600 million over six years. We increased security and we took the required measures. This government is serious when it comes to matters of security.

[Citizenship and Immigration, February 28th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, of course we take the issue of security extremely seriously. When we heard that documents had been stolen, we looked into it and we increased our document security. We are taking the matter extremely seriously.

However, it is also important to mention that when there are serious allegations regarding criminal offences, we call in the RCMP. That is what we did.

[Immigration, February 27th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I hope that the hon. member does not believe that anyone here is in favour of treating people's security lightly. In my opinion, the new law is a good one, and the regulations are well done also. I know that there is no political partisanship behind his question. Everyone shares the same opinion: we must ensure our society is safe, and that is what we are going to do.

[Immigration, February 27th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, of course I will not comment on personal cases, but I am very troubled about those kinds of situations. That is why, through Bill C-11 and regulations, we will have better tools to prevent those kinds of situations.

[Immigration, February 26th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I confirm today in the House the government's decision to have the new immigration act and regulations take effect on June 28 of this year.

Regarding the skilled workers who apply before December 17, there are three decisions. First, they will be evaluated with the old grid until January 1, 2003. Second, after that date their passage mark will remain at 70 points. Third, those who withdraw their application before paper screening qualify for a refund.

For the future grid and passage mark, I will wait for the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.

[Immigration, February 21st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, that was it. I do not answer a specific case.

[Immigration, February 21st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I will not answer a specific question.

[Immigration, February 21st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, no matter how many cheap political points my colleague wants to score here, first of all I will say that we have a process and this process is based on competence. Everybody has to pass an oral test and a written test. We pick it up from there. Competence is the name of the game.

[Immigration, February 21st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, a stupid question does not deserve an answer.