House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 56% of the vote.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship March 7th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, it is a bit much. It leaves me a little speechless.
We are not conducting a war on history. We may put in a little less than is the Conservative vision of history, but we are a party of history. We are a party of evidence, a party of science, and one of the worst things that party did was to abolish the long-form census. I think its view of history is in the same pattern.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship March 7th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, the member might understand that the reason the report is a little late is because something called an election happened. That caused the delay. I can assure the House that this report will be tabled within the prescribed time.
While I cannot comment on the numbers yet, the report will produce a large number of additional refugees—I think we all know that—but it will also do justice to caregivers, to economic immigrants, and to the family class, all of which need our support.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship March 7th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I can assure my colleague that the caregiver program, as it is now called because the people are no longer obliged to live in, is an integral part of our immigration program. It provides extensive and much-needed care, not only for seniors but also for young children. The House can be assured that this program will remain an important part of what we do in terms of immigration.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship February 26th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, as I said before, I basically agree with the propositions of the hon. member. I would point out that in our platform we committed to double, from 5,000 to 10,000, the number of parents and grandparents who could apply every year. That has been done. We have promised to increase the budget for family class unification. That may well be done in the budget to come.
We are on track on this, but we appreciate the urgency that the member conveyed. I can promise that we will move as quickly as possible to achieve these—
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship February 26th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question. I am entirely in agreement with her that the current situation is a mess when families' waiting times have ballooned and mushroomed over the last decade. It is my single top priority to bring those processing times down sharply over the coming years. The House and Canadians will hear that we will have a concrete, specific plan with specific targets to get this job done as quickly as possible.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship February 24th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, the member should check his facts. Yesterday I said that more than half had gone to permanent housing, not less than half. I think he should get his facts right.
It is a bit much for the Conservative side to be saying that Liberals do not treat refugees as people. I am the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, thanks to our Prime Minister's concern, and we are committed to bringing 25,000 people, who are refugees, to live and thrive in this country, by the end of the month—
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship February 23rd, 2016
Mr. Speaker, that is a misguided question. When we went to bring the refugees from these countries, we took the lists provided by the United Nations, which were lists of the most vulnerable people in the region. We contacted those people and many of them, thankfully, are now in Canada.
We never said that they were from camps. In Jordan, for example, some 75% of the refugees are outside camps. They are from the region. They are the most vulnerable. I, for one, am very proud that almost 25,000 of them are now in Canada.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship February 23rd, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for that good question.
We have restored the refugee health care program that the Conservatives did away with. The courts ruled that cutting this program was cruel and unusual. It was a good program for refugees and a good public health program. Restoring the program is simply the right thing to do.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship February 3rd, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to say that we have a real plan, and it is evolving as it ought to evolve. We are now at close to 16,000 refugees. We will hit our target of 25,000 refugees by the end of February. The refugees are settling across the country.
I just a read a story about a wonderful case of two Syrian refugees working in a New Brunswick restaurant where the owner had not been able to find anyone who could cook Middle-Eastern food, and they are doing fantastically well in New Brunswick with a job already.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship February 3rd, 2016
Mr. Speaker, as my colleague across the aisle probably knows, the removal of the visa was in our platform. This is a major step in improving Canada–Mexico relations. I have been in consultation with my department on the issues involved in this, we have been studying it carefully, and I am pleased to report that the Minister of Foreign Affairs had a very positive meeting recently with his Mexican and American counterparts.