Rick Dykstra

[Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act, June 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary hosted a town hall meeting in his riding on this very issue. Being from British Columbia, he can speak with great knowledge, because that is where the Sun Sea and the Ocean Lady arrived. In his community there was quite a reaction when both of those ships arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia.

With respect to the work that he did in terms of the town hall meeting and the input he sought from his constituents, have we listened and included that within the context of the bill and addressing the issue of human smuggling?

[Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act, June 8th, 2012]

Yes, we're getting there.

Mr. Speaker, he does, I think, in his heart of hearts, want to stand up to support the legislation. His leader may be telling him he has to vote against, but I am hearing from him that there is room to say that this bill would be better for Canadians, it would be better for refugees.

I want to give him one more opportunity to stand in his place to say he is going to do the right thing: support the bill and help refugees from around the world when they come here to this country.

[Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act, June 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I am hearing from the member--

[Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act, June 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the member and I usually have pretty close views on a number of issues in this country. I am a little surprised. He is saying that the bill is, from his perspective, going to hurt refugees. I am not quite sure why. In the current system, it takes an average of over 1,000 days, over three years, for a refugee fleeing persecution from his or country to achieve refugee status here in Canada. This piece of legislation would mean that some will receive that application and approval within 45 days, others within no more than 246 days.

While he says he is on the side of refugees, by not supporting the legislation, the member is actually telling all legitimate refugees in the world who have been approved to come to Canada that they are going to have to continue to wait upwards of three years to achieve the status of refugee here.

I am asking him, I am imploring him, to support the bill. Help refugees in this country who are trying to stay here in Canada and achieve that status. Vote in favour of the bill. It is much better than keeping the current status. I would like the member to try to explain how on earth he could imagine that the system we have now is better than the one we would have under Bill C-31.

[Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act, June 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for his speech. On a number of occasions, I do not even mind saying I agree with him on some of his issues that he brings forward. Obviously, today, he is in the wrong. He and his party's non-support for the bill will in fact do nothing to change the system we have. It is a system that is abused around the world by individuals, especially human smugglers who traffic in getting individuals to pay huge amounts of money to get onto an unsafe vessel to come here to Canada. That is the way it still is under the current legislation. He and his party believe it is okay to have that happen. We on this side of the House do not believe that. That is why we are moving to ensure that human smugglers pay a significant price. We are seeing them being charged already.

My question is, why on earth would they not want to pass a piece of legislation that is going to go after and detain human smugglers under the Criminal Code and just keep it as it is now? It just makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

[Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act, June 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I want to go back to the designated safe country issue. The member continues to say that the only place in the world that a designated safe country will exist in its refugee legislation is Canada. The United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Finland, just to state a few, are countries that have implemented designated safe country status. We have moved it from outside of the bill, in terms of where it was before in regulation, into legislation. It is a two-step process, one that will require additional departmental officials to determine the outcomes as to how and when a country will be designated.

Why in the world would she and her party not support legislation that designates safe countries? They are happening and have happened all over the world. We are simply catching up.

[Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act, June 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly respect the member's position and her speech this morning on Bill C-31. Of course, I disagree with just about everything she had in there.

However, there were two amendments that the government moved, and I would thank her and the other members on the committee from the NDP and from the Liberal Party for agreeing and voting unanimously in favour of both amendments that the government passed. While we heard a lot of opposition to the bill today, there was a faint hope within the context of the bill, and we did see some support.

This leads me to believe that once the bill is passed and we have moved forward, a number of members from both the Liberal Party and the NDP who will see the light of day and see that this is in fact the right bill. Bill C-31 is the right legislation in terms of reforming our refugee system.

The member spoke for a couple of moments on designated safe countries. It should be made very clear that the transparency about the method and scope of how safe countries would be designated is now in the bill. It was not in the prvious bill, Bill C-11, but it is in the current bill now.

Most importantly, the member spoke at great length about the issue of children and that a decision would be made for those under 16 years of age. That is an addition to the bill that did not exist under Bill C-11. I know she was not here back when we were talking about this issue, but when the government passed legislation on the issue of sexual consent of a minor, we moved the age from 14 to 16. I would like the member to comment on why her party argued so vehemently against raising the age of consent to 16, yet today she says that 16-year-olds are not in a position to make the types of decisions that she is talking about.

[Citizenship and Immigration, June 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Mississauga South for her question and for her efforts on the bill in her own riding.

If the bill does not pass, there will be no crackdown on abuse by bogus refugees. There will be no crackdown on human smuggling. There will be no ability to offer refugee status more quickly to those who truly deserve it in our country. There will be no protection for Canadians from irregular arrivals whose identity we have not been able to determine. There will be no cost savings of somewhere between $1.5 billion and $1.65 billion over the next five years to the provinces and territories across the country.

What I do know is going to happen on Monday when the bill is voted on is it will pass because of this government.

[Ducks Unlimited Canada, June 8th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, in 2013 Ducks Unlimited Canada will celebrate 75 years of conservation excellence, and I would like to congratulate it on this upcoming milestone.

Ducks Unlimited has worked with government on conservation programs for 25 years and has delivered measurable results, conserving millions of acres of Canadian wetlands while preserving outdoor and hunting traditions. It is also a key partner in the highly successful North American waterfowl management plan, which helped fund thousands of projects to preserve over 25 million acres across North America.

Some of the most important waterfowl migration habitats are located in southern Ontario along the Great Lakes, and the efforts of Ducks Unlimited volunteers in Ontario are appreciated in the Niagara region.

Ducks Unlimited is also part of the government's new hunting and angling advisory panel, which will help ensure our government continues to make decisions based on sound scientific advice.

Our government believes in both economic growth and environmental protection and looks forward to working with Ducks Unlimited to preserve the environment for future generations.

It is about the economy and it is about the environment. Ducks Unlimited is helping us get it right.

[Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act, June 8th, 2012]

To the contrary, Mr. Speaker, and I wish the member had listened to the speech. It indicates how we treat those who come to this country is going to be enhanced. Refugees will actually have a better opportunity under this process to be determined whether they are true refugees and become permanent residents and Canadian citizens much quicker than under the current system.

I will add that the only class of importance that we have in this country is the class of becoming or being a Canadian citizen. That is what this bill is all about, the importance of acknowledging fairness in a process. Whether it be immigration or anything else that we are responsible for in this country, fairness is what Canadians expect and anticipate. It is why most Canadians support this piece of legislation. They understand it is fair to the refugees coming to our country who, if in fact they are true refugees, will be able to seek and be granted asylum here. Canadians understand that this process upon which one achieves refugee status is going to be fair for them as well.