House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2019, with 47% of the vote.
Citizenship and Immigration April 7th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, we are tackling the backlog and we will get it done because we are putting more resources into it: $22 million over the new two years and then $37 million a year after that. We are also going to do things better and smarter so that we can process each application faster, get rid of the backlog and achieve our goal of getting more immigrants here and getting them here sooner.
Points of Order April 4th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, during question period, in response to a question from the member for Vaughan, I said that we had welcomed 430,000 Canadians last year. I would like to correct the record on that. We actually welcomed 430,000 newcomers.
Citizenship and Immigration April 4th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, how very typical, and we have seen so many examples of this lately. When the Liberals cannot stand on their own record they go to the fear and smear tactics that they use so often.
We are trying to get more people here and we are trying to get them here faster. We are trying to get families reunited faster and skilled workers here sooner.
If we were to listen to the Liberals, we would think that the proposals to get people here faster are at the end of the world. They are so against this that they are supporting it.
Citizenship and Immigration April 4th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, Canada is a wonderful country and that is why the number of applications for people to come here each year exceeds the capacity we have to process and welcome them.
We know that the previous prime minister from the other side had 54 top priorities. We will narrow that list down so that we can actually tackle the backlog mess, which the Liberals created, by identifying categories that best meet the needs of Canadians and the Canadian industry.
I do not know why the Liberal Party wants to keep people waiting 10 years to come to this country.
Citizenship and Immigration April 4th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, let us face it. It was the Liberals who shut the door on immigration when they allowed the backlog to balloon so that it takes up to six years for people to get here. I would call that slamming the door pretty hard on immigrants.
Because of what they did, we have had to expand the temporary foreign worker program to allow business to get the talent it needs from overseas. That is why we were able to welcome 430,000 new Canadians last year to this country, the highest in over 100 years.
The Liberals are doing nothing but spreading fear. They should be ashamed of themselves.
Citizenship and Immigration April 4th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, previously, the Liberal Party was suggesting that we just throw more money at it, which it failed to do.
We are putting additional resources toward tackling the backlog and toward processing new applications but we are also trying to do things smarter and better. We are introducing new administrative procedures that will allow us to process things faster and more efficiently because, if we can reduce the time it takes to process each application, we can process more applications in the same period of time.
Citizenship and Immigration April 3rd, 2008
Mr. Speaker, the real question is, why, once again, are the Liberals deliberately misrepresenting the facts to immigrants? Why are they the ones who are fearing and smearing when they cannot deal with policies? Because they have none.
I will quote from the Globe and Mail. It states:
—the Tories surely anticipated how their opponents would misrepresent their policies. That they are pressing on regardless shows a strong commitment to this country's interests.
We are getting the job done.
Citizenship and Immigration April 3rd, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I really do not understand how the hon. member opposite can think that we are trying to sneak anything through when all day this issue is being debated in the House.
It will go through committee where it will get full discussion. The hon. member is welcome to participate in that discussion if her colleagues will let her.
Quite frankly, we are looking for an open, honest discussion on this but we need to do it quickly. Immigrants and industry cannot afford to wait while the opposition parties delay another bill, as they did our violent crime bills. We need to get this done and we need to get it done now.
Citizenship and Immigration April 3rd, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I already assured this House last week that we were in discussions with the representatives of Quebec. We have assured them that there would be no repercussions for the Canada-Quebec immigration accord.
That will continue as it is now. We are going to abide by that agreement, despite the Liberals’ efforts.
Citizenship and Immigration April 3rd, 2008
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should read the facts. In reality, the minister would have the power to determine how many people in a class may apply to enter Canada in a year. This affects only one class, and not all individuals, as she would like you to believe.
The Canadian Bar Association said:
...it's the start of creating a fairer system, because the government will be more forthcoming about what types of immigrants the country needs instead of giving people false hopes.