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Crucial Fact

  • Her favourite word was seniors.

Last in Parliament October 2015, as NDP MP for Pierrefonds—Dollard (Québec)

Lost her last election, in 2015, with 16% of the vote.

Statements in the House

The Budget October 28th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, the minister needs to stop hiding behind the provinces and face the potential consequences of his own decisions.

He cannot deny that the government decided to bury a private member's bill in the middle of this omnibus budget implementation bill, in the middle of these 478 pages. The bill was controversial because it allows the provinces to take away refugees' welfare benefits. The minister cannot allow the provinces or anyone else to target refugees and their children like this.

He must take these inhumane measures out of the omnibus bill. Is he willing to do that?

The Budget October 27th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives are using a budget implementation bill to sneak in some contentious measures.

This time they are attacking asylum seekers. Surreptitiously and without any debate, the Conservatives are proposing to allow the provinces to restrict access to social assistance.

A number of local and national organizations are already speaking out against this inhumane and degrading measure. Will the minister remove it from the omnibus bill?

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns September 15th, 2014

With regard to the government’s announcement, in July 2013, to provide an additional 1300 places for the resettlement of those displaced by the Syrian Civil War by the end of 2014: for fiscal years 2010-2011 to 2013-2014 inclusive, (a) how many Syrian nationals whose refugee claims stem from the Syrian Civil War have been resettled in Canada, broken down by (i) fiscal year, (ii) country of residence at time of application, (iii) type of sponsorship (government or private) (iv) current place of residence in Canada; (b) how many applications for resettlement have been denied, broken down by reason for denial; (c) for both categories of sponsorship ,government and private, for Syrian nationals, beginning from the date that the case was referred to the Canadian Embassy by either the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) or the sponsoring organization, what was the average wait time for processing applications, broken down by (i) fiscal year for 2010-2011 to 2013-2014, (ii) country of residence at time of the submission of resettlement claim, (iii) type of sponsorship; (d) what was the average wait time for resettlement of approved resettlement applications for both categories of sponsorship, government and private, for Syrian nationals, broken down by (i) fiscal year for 2010-2011 to 2013-2014, (ii) country of residence at time of the submission of resettlement claim, (iii) type of sponsorship; (e) what is the total number of government-sponsored resettlement applications for Syrian nationals submitted by the UNHCR to Canada since 2011, broken down by (i) fiscal year for 2011 to 2014, (ii) current country of residence or country of residence at time of application, (iii) due cause for resettlement as defined by the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Additional Protocols; (f) what criteria is used by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to prioritize the claims referred to in (e); (g) how many of the cases referred to in (e) did Canada request from UNHCR in 2013-2014 and how many cases was UNHCR able to refer; (h) how many of the cases referred to in (e) does the government plan to request in 2014-2015; (i) how many of the cases referred to in (e) does the government anticipate will come from UNHCR;(j) what is the total number of pending applications or applications under review for resettlement of Syrian nationals submitted by private sponsorship Agreement Holders, Groups of Five, Community sponsors, or individual private sponsors, broken down by (i) year for 2010-2011 to 2013-2014, (ii) type of sponsor, (iii) geographical location of sponsor in Canada, (iv) due cause for resettlement as defined by the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Additional Protocols, (v) current country of residence of candidates for resettlement; (k) how many Full Time Equivalent staff was allocated within CIC for processing of the government’s announced additional places for Syrian nationals in fiscal years 2011 to 2014 inclusive, for all categories of sponsorship (government or private), and what was the geographical distribution of these allocations; (l) what was the budget for processing all categories of resettlement claims for Syrian nationals from 2011 to 2014, broken down by (i) fiscal year for 2010-2011 to 2013-2014, (ii) processing centre; (m) how does CIC allocate applications for resettlement of Syrian nationals given the announced 1300 additional places for those displaced as a result of the Syrian Civil War; (n) how many places are prioritized for private sponsorship and for government sponsorship; (o) has the Office of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration or CIC made any arrangements with (i) non-UNHCR partners,i.e. non-governmental organizations, including, but not limited to, the Norwegian Refugee Council and the Jesuit Refugee Services, (ii) international governmental organizations, including but not limited to, the International Society for the Red Cross/Red Crescent and the International Organization for Migration, (iii) with on the ground capacity in Syria or any other regional states including but not limited to Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey, to help identify resettlement candidates or conduct Refugee Status Determination procedures for Syrian nationals for resettlement to Canada under the government’s announced 1300 additional places; (p) how were thespartners in (o) identified, (ii) what are the terms of reference for these partnerships; (q) are there any plans to expand to additional on- the- ground partners; and (r) has the Minister’s Office or the CIC began engage in three-way partnerships among the government of Canada, the UNHCR, and private sponsors who are sponsorship Agreement Holders (SAHs) to facilitate the arrival of Syrian refugees and is the government of Canada prepared to provide up to six months of income support through the Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP)?

Questions on the Order Paper September 15th, 2014

With regard to refugees: (a) as of June 11, 2014, how many of the 200 Syrian refugees the government committed to resettle were in Canada; (b) what was the average processing time in 2014 for applications for privately sponsored refugees; and (c) what was the average processing time in 2014 for applications for privately sponsored refugees from Syria?

Instruction to the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs June 19th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech.

In his speech, he mentioned Ste. Anne's Hospital. We have worked together on matters related to this hospital. This is a very important hospital, located on the West Island of Montreal, between his riding and mine.

Last weekend, I met with an employee of the hospital. The employees are very concerned about the situation. This is a clear illustration of the government's lack of respect for veterans. Veterans are not being accepted at this hospital, even though we are told that the hospital will shut down services because there are not enough clients. People who would like to have access to the hospital deplore the situation, just as current veterans do. Our veterans are afraid of losing the services they are entitled to.

I thank my colleague for showing his solidarity with the employees and users of Ste. Anne's Hospital.

Citizenship and Immigration June 17th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, the minister can pretend not to understand the question and throw all these grand figures at us, out of context, but that does not change the fact that we still do not know the number of refugees.

It is simple. The Syrian Canadian Council tells us that in fact, the government will probably not reach its targets. We want proof that these 200 refugees that the government promised to sponsor will be here, if not yesterday, then today or tomorrow. Can the minister tell us how many of the 200 refugees he promised to sponsor are here in Canada right now?

Citizenship and Immigration June 16th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, we still do not have any figures on the number of government-sponsored refugees.

In addition to the confusion over the issue of Syrian refugees and a reform that denies pregnant women and children the health care that they desperately need, the minister wants to pass his citizenship bill, which attacks the fundamental rights of Canadians. A growing number of experts say that the bill could end up in court because it does not comply with the Constitution.

Why does the minister want to rush through a bill that will inevitably end up in court instead of truly addressing the problems with our immigration and citizenship system?

Citizenship and Immigration June 16th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, once again, the minister is choosing to create confusion rather than to provide a clear answer to a simple question.

Perhaps he is not aware of his own figures or perhaps he is not very proud of them and so he would prefer not to share them. Either way, it is not very reassuring.

The civil war in Syria continues to wreak havoc. Canadians want Canada to meet its international commitments.

We do not want to know how many refugees have received Canada's protection. What we want to know is exactly how many of the 200 refugees that the government promised to sponsor last year are actually in Canada. How many of those 200 refugees are in Canada?

Citizenship and Immigration June 12th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, this year, the United Nations has called on Canada to take in more Syrian refugees. Despite this request, the minister has not done anything and refuses to give an answer to the United Nations.

Does the minister refuse to respond to the UN because he is already unable to resettle the 200 refugees he promised to take in last year?

Citizenship and Immigration June 12th, 2014

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, during an interview, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration was trying to give the impression that his government is doing more than it promised.

We are going to welcome 4,000 Iraqi refugees by 2015, for a total of 20,000. We are going to welcome 1,000 refugees from Bhutan by 2015, for a total of 6,500. We can and should do more for Syrian refugees.

Why is the minister not capable of welcoming these 200 government-assisted Syrian refugees as promised and why can we not welcome even more?