Diane Finley

[Questions on the Order Paper, February 13th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, insofar as Citizenship and Immigration Canada, CIC, is concerned, in response to (a), this information is not available as there is no application form for these types of requests.

In response to (b), a total of 25,911 temporary resident permits were issued from January 1, 2006 to November 30, 2007. Of this number, 490 were issued in light of ministerial instruction. Please note that the 2007 calendar year data is not yet finalized.

In response to (c), a breakdown by riding is not tracked by CIC.

In response to (d), a breakdown by federal electoral riding is not tracked by CIC.

[Citizenship and Immigration, February 12th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, given the fact that the Liberals voted against all our other efforts to help immigrants, I find that surprising.

I also find surprising that that particular member would be saying that everyone deserves the same kind of treatment. They may deserve it, but I do have in my possession a letter from an MP in this House asking for special treatment for certain people very close to him. That member is the member for Scarborough—Agincourt.

[Citizenship and Immigration, February 12th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, we are hardly going to take lessons on immigration from the Liberal Party. Let us look at the Liberals' shameful legacy: They put a $975 tax on immigrants; they ballooned the backlog from 50,000 to 800,000; they voted against $1.3 billion in settlement funding for new immigrants; they voted against our foreign credentials referrals office. When it comes to their claims, they claim to stand up for immigrants, but they actually vote against them.

[Citizenship and Immigration, February 1st, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the subcommittee, which is opposition dominated, met and mysteriously, for no apparent reason, Bill C-17 is no longer on Monday's agenda.

I think the opposition members on that committee should explain to these stakeholders, and indeed to all Canadians, why the protection of vulnerable women and children is not a priority for them. I can assure members that it is a priority for our government.

[Citizenship and Immigration, December 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to thank my colleague for his excellent question.

We have two official languages in this country and I can assure you that our government is committed to respecting them.

I am pleased to inform the House today that, after reviewing this case, I have requested that a temporary resident permit be issued enabling this individual to work as a live-in caregiver for this family.

[Citizenship and Immigration, December 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, this case has just come to my attention. I do not have any of the details yet.

I have instructed my officials to look into the matter further. I can assure Canadians that as a government we are committed to respecting both official languages in this country.

[Citizenship and Immigration, December 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, this case has just come to my attention and I do not have any of the details yet. I did, however, ask my officials to look into this right away.

I assure you that this government will respect Canada's two official languages.

[Citizenship and Immigration, December 12th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of our record on immigration, especially when we compare it to the one of the previous government. Those members left us with a bloated backlog of 800,000 people. We are working on that. In the meantime, we are delivering what they promised to deliver but did not deliver.

The Foreign Credentials Referral Office is now available in over 320 locations across Canada and three pilot projects around the world, not to mention a great website. We are getting the job done, but those members vote against every effort to do so.

[Citizenship Act, December 10th, 2007]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-37, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Citizenship and Immigration, December 6th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it is very important to this government that we maintain our reputation as a welcoming country. We have done that by raising our levels of acceptance for permanent residents to the highest in many years. We have worked to streamline our programs, so that visitors to Canada and temporary foreign workers can get here faster and easier. We have shown great progress on that as well.

First and foremost, our job is to protect the safety and security of those who are already here, so we must make sure that those who are applying to come to this country are legitimate.