Marc Miller

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, October 9th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows well that this plan was devised with community members and community organizations, and we worked hand in hand with them to put out this program to get 8,000 Sudanese people fleeing war. We plan to make sure these people get here, hopefully by the end of the year, with more next year. I will constantly be working with community members, who I will be meeting with as early as tomorrow, to evolve the program if need be.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, October 8th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the shortage of teachers in Quebec and across Canada is nothing new. Although the member opposite wants to blame asylum seekers, they are not the reason why there is a shortage of teachers in Quebec.

It is clear that we have more work to do, but it seems to me that the member missed the past six months. If he had read the letter that I sent to the Premier of Quebec and to Jean-François Roberge, he would have seen that progress has been made. There is no denying it.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, October 8th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the member is right. This is a shared responsibility with the federal government. We must do our work in collaboration with the provinces that are on side for welcoming asylum seekers. We are asking all the provinces to do their part. I am prepared to work with the provinces that are willing. We will continue to do that because it is very important to continue to work with compassion, without bashing asylum seekers.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, September 26th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I think we can all agree as a House that the best way to make sure that Gazans are safe is to make sure there is a ceasefire, so we can continue to work with people to get people here who have connections to family members and who are looking to be reunited with them. We will continue, as a government, to work with the authorities on the ground, whether we agree with their positions or not, to make sure those people are kept safe, and we will continue to work to make sure those people get to Canada in an expeditious fashion.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, September 23rd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it takes only 60 days to get a work permit. The Minister of Public Safety and I will be meeting with Quebec's new immigration minister, Jean‑François Roberge, tomorrow. We are expecting to see some progress as well.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, September 23rd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I am being showered with compliments today.

I would simply like to remind the member opposite that this is the same Quebec government that tripled the number of temporary residents in Quebec under its jurisdiction.

We always have a duty to make adjustments. That is what we are doing, and we will continue to do so.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, September 23rd, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I almost heard my hon. colleague pay me a compliment.

From now on, I expect the Bloc Québécois to support our reduction measures, which, as announced, will achieve our objective of lowering the temporary immigration level from 7% to 5%, I hope.

Furthermore, my colleague himself had a hand in that. The last time he contacted my office, it was to increase the number of temporary workers in Quebec, and rightly so. I would point out, however, that it was his request.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, September 19th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it is everyone's responsibility to adopt a humanitarian approach to asylum seekers. The provinces have to be on board. If some provinces attempt to gain political advantage at the expense of asylum seekers, that will get complicated.

These conversations will be ongoing. We will keep working with the provinces to make sure they are doing their fair share. The burden is obviously greatest for Quebec and Ontario, but we are working to achieve a more even distribution.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, September 19th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I listened very closely to the question and I would say that there is no smoke without fire.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, September 17th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, without further comment, it is certainly dangerous to see politicians scoring points on the backs of asylum seekers.