Denis Coderre

[Citizenship and Immigration, February 1st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the style of my hon. colleague's questions is extremely dangerous. I trust that he is not generalizing, but I am pleased to announce to this House that at 3 p.m., after meeting with Dorval immigration officers, I shall be holding a press conference to release the results of the investigation.

[Citizenship and Immigration, February 1st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I think we must take care not to confuse two things. There is the work of the customs officers and then there is the work of the immigration officers.

Since September 11, I believe we have made substantial resources available. There is new legislation in place and new regulations which make it possible for them to do a proper job. I am very proud of our front line workers.

[Immigration, January 31st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I need your advice. I just received a letter stating “I am writing with urgency to support an application for permanent residence”. It is signed by the Leader of the Opposition.

[Immigration, January 31st, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I am somewhat disturbed by the style of the question.

I am for immigration.

As immigration minister, I have the prerogative to issue special permits. I believe all hon. members are honest and honourable. Each time a case is submitted to me, I take it as a recommendation and I make the final decision. That is what I have done, moreover, with several Canadian Alliance MPs.

[Immigration, January 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell the member that I will not use that kind of water to make that kind of cleaning.

The one thing that is clear is that we have improved the system. We made sure that we put in more resources. However, I will not make any statement after reading a piece of paper like they are doing when they are preparing for question period. When I am ready I will give the facts .

[Immigration, January 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, let me be clear. I am the minister for immigration not minister of immigration. What we have to send as a message here is that before saying anything I will check the facts. I asked my deputy minister to give me some facts, some reports. When the facts are ready, do not worry, I will tell the House what happened.

[Immigration, January 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I am very disappointed. What kind of state does he want to live in? Does he want a police state? Does he want us to follow everybody? I think we have acted in good faith.

What the member should do is make sure that when people are here they are welcomed. We are putting in place some resources to make sure that everything is kosher.

I will not accept that statement saying that everybody is coming in and maybe some terrorists. It is a disgrace to say that kind of thing.

[Immigration, January 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. As I said yesterday, I have requested a report from the deputy minister.

This being said, the hon. member should know that the project in question was launched in early 1999 and ended on August 31, 2000. Therefore, this project no longer exists.

[Immigration, January 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, in light of the current situation, this being a sensitive issue involving individuals and our relations with Zimbabwe, I have asked my department to conduct an indepth review of the situation.

For that reason, I wish to inform the House that any procedure involving a person who should be returned to Zimbabwe is temporarily suspended until I get more information on the situation.

[Immigration, January 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, let me say to the rooky critic that before saying anything we have to look at the facts. We did not wait to act. After September 11 we gave more tools to our agents. We gave more resources in the last budget so we are doing our job, but I am not going to comment without having any facts.