House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 56% of the vote.
Official Languages September 28th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, accessibility and equality among our two official languages are extremely important to us. We received yesterday's report and will give it very serious consideration. We have already taken action in favour of francophones outside Quebec through our francophone significant benefit program, and I can assure the House that we will be doing more, such as taking this report into consideration.
Government Expenditures September 28th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I will not claim a perfect memory either, but I would certainly say it is entirely appropriate that when one hires a staff person or a consultant and the person is in Thailand, yes the government pays for the transport of that individual to Ottawa and for the relevant hotel expenses. That is precisely what we did and precisely what we disclosed to the public nine months ago. To say that we were hiding anything is entirely ridiculous.
Government Expenditures September 28th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, we did make a commitment to Canadians to be open and transparent. Quite the opposite of what the member just said, it was nine long months ago that we recorded this expense through proactive disclosure. I discovered only yesterday that we had entered the expense under the wrong column. I immediately corrected that point in the House, and I immediately supplied a new answer to the question. We disclosed that expenditure nine months ago. Nothing at all was ever hidden from Canadians.
Questions on the Order Paper September 27th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I would like to table, in both official languages, a supplementary answer to Order Paper Question No. 258
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship September 27th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, Bill C-6 adheres to our fundamental election commitment that a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian, and it revokes citizenship revocation for criminal acts applied to dual citizens alone. That was the central focus of the bill. It has now passed through the House of Commons and will be considered in the Senate.
Citizenship revocation for misrepresentation is under consideration and we are considering further lines of appeal.
Government Expenditures September 27th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, we made a commitment to Canadians to be open and transparent.
These expenses were entered under proactive disclosure nine months ago, but it turns out they were entered under the wrong column. I realized this earlier today and just over an hour ago I recorded this point in the House of Commons. I will be resubmitting the answer to the Order Paper question as soon as possible.
Official Report September 27th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct the record in response to Order Paper Question No. 258, where I stated that, “Insofar as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is concerned: IRCC did not pay any costs for relocation services and hotel stays related to exempt staff moving to Ottawa since October 19, 2015.”
Today I have received new information that indicates that relocation costs were incurred during the period and the total is $9,692.50. I am correcting the record at the earliest opportunity and I also intend to file a supplementary response in the House at the earliest possible opportunity.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship September 23rd, 2016
Mr. Speaker, we have already taken the initiative.
I held a press conference with my Quebec counterpart in the Haitian community a few months ago. We encouraged them to come forward, and we were ready to accept all Haitians who had the proper documents. We did everything we could to welcome those Haitians.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship September 23rd, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her good question and congratulate her on her motion regarding a study on immigration that is now before the House.
Over the summer, I found that the Atlantic provinces were particularly enthusiastic about increased immigration for demographic reasons and because they know that immigration helps to create jobs. That is why we created a pilot project to welcome more immigrants to the Atlantic region and to encourage them to stay.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship June 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, to say one can do something with one stroke of a pen is a bit far-fetched, when the individuals are in an extremely dangerous territory that it difficult to arrive at.
We take this situation very seriously. We are studying it, we are welcoming a number of Yazidis into Canada in coming weeks, and we will work very hard to do more, not just for Yazidis but for other endangered groups in difficult-to-reach territories of the world.