House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2015, with 38% of the vote.
Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act April 23rd, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the member spoke at length and in-depth about the issue of responding quickly in terms of regulation and what the bill would do to designate safe countries. Based on the riding that he is from, I would like him to comment on the input he has received from his community on the issue of designated safe country and the response from his community in terms of its support for this bill.
Citizenship and Immigration April 2nd, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the IRB judges go through a very rigorous process. It is arm's-length, merit based and administered by professional, highly trained civil servants.
If the member is looking for numbers, there are currently 32 members in the refugee protection division; 21 are bilingual, 9 are unilingual French and 2 are unilingual English.
If the member is asking us to dispose of nine unilingual French speaking judges in Quebec, I would ask her to explain why to the House of Commons.
Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act March 15th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I am fascinated by the argument that the member presents. She complained throughout her speech that she is not being given the opportunity to debate the bill. She used the entire time not to come up with one addition, one recommendation, one supposed solution or enhancement to the bill, but in fact, she spent the whole time complaining about process.
She obviously needs to hear from her counterpart, the Liberal critic at the citizenship and immigration committee, because the last time we heard from a witness, one recommended by the Liberal Party, Mr. Cheema, he could not go on long enough to endorse 100% what we are doing with respect to this bill and what has been happening at Citizenship and Immigration. In fact, he complimented the minister on a number of occasions. It is surprising that I have heard two mistakes in the presentation this afternoon.
My question is, if there is something in the bill that the member is so against, or if there is something that would improve the bill, what is it? Let us have her get up today and make a recommendation as to how this bill could be improved from what it is right now.
Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act March 15th, 2012
No, that is not at all what he said.
Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act March 15th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the member has done a fairly good job of overviewing a number of things in the bill and I appreciate that she is questioning some of the bill's content.
One of the points she made was in reference to the applications we receive in this country from countries like Hungary. She insisted that we should be accepting all of those applications regardless of whether they are true asylum cases or actually bogus refugee claims. She mentioned a number of times in her speech the importance of Canada's acceptance of refugees and the impact they would have on our immigration system. I do not question that, but she has indicated two parallels that are running against and into each other, which is that there are bogus applicants coming from countries that have been proven to be bogus, such as Hungary, and yet she indicates that we should be assisting refugees. This bill would do that. I wonder why she would think that allowing bogus claims would somehow be good for Canada's immigration and refugee system.
Citizenship and Immigration March 14th, 2012
Madam Speaker, I find it interesting that the member for Scarborough—Rouge River has moved from her position that Ontario has been underfunded to the position that she is just not happy with settlement services and the funding it receives from the federal government across the country.
Let us focus on Ontario. Ontario received 66% of the funding while only receiving 55% of the immigrants. If she is suggesting that Ontario needs to be favoured over every other province and territory in this country, I do not understand the premise of her argument. If she is suggesting that settlement services need to be fair across this country, as a member of Parliament from the province of Ontario, I use every opportunity I have to defend and ensure that settlement services are fair in Ontario. I submit, however, that when it receives 55% of the immigrants who come to this country on a yearly basis and 66% of the funding, that is an inequity, an imbalance and unfair.
On this side of the House, we are about fairness and ensuring that the delivery of services by whatever department or ministry we are talking about is the same in Ontario as in Quebec or any other province in this country.
Citizenship and Immigration March 14th, 2012
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the effort the member for Scarborough—Rouge River has put into making her presentation this evening. It is a lot of work preparing for a late show. At the same time, a little history is important to understand why the member is off-track in terms of her statement and her understanding of the commitment that this government has made to settlement services in this country and, specifically, in Ontario.
The previous administration spent 13 years talking about settlement services. It increased investment in settlement services by zero dollars and 0% for the entire time Liberals were the government. When we took office in 2006, we tripled settlement services across the country. In particular, this had a significant impact in Ontario, going from $111 million in 2004-05, to $345 million in 2011-12.
Some would suggest that the increase by this government in 2006 was too aggressive and too quick for communities across Canada and especially in Ontario, because we deal directly with the service delivery agents, those who deliver the settlement services for us. We gave too much money too quickly. Had we spaced that out over a period of time, it probably would have been a more appropriate way to move forward. However, because of the lack of investment of the previous administration, we moved much more quickly. We did so based on percentages. At the time in 2006, close to 64% of the immigrants who came to this country settled in Ontario.
Today, there has been a significant reduction in the number of people who choose Ontario as a place to settle. If the member would like to become a defender of the Liberal premier in Ontario, I would submit that is not necessarily the right thing to do. When we look at where dollars should go, I do not think there is a member in the House of Commons who does not think that revenue and the supply of services and the direct delivery of those services is not done in a fair and appropriate way. It is done on a per capita basis.
We have seen a 12% reduction in the number of immigrants who have come to Ontario. That is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, from the perspective of the overall strength of our country, it is a very good thing. People are determining when they come to this country that Ontario does not have to be their first choice. There are so many other communities in province after province and territory where we see immigrants choosing to settle.
The settlement service funding that the member speaks so strongly about in terms of what it needs to do and where it needs to go has to follow the immigrant. It has to follow those who are settling here. It just does not get dumped into Ontario because she is a member of Parliament from Ontario. It needs to go where the services are needed, where we see individuals and families settling so they can do as she suggested and that is to settle quickly, efficiently, effectively and in a way that means a lot to them in terms of understanding our country.
Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act March 12th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I want to compliment the member for his extremely well done speech. He serves the committee well and understands the file. I wanted to ask him a question from his riding's perspective.
We can come to the House of Commons and speak to particular issues and the impacts they have across the country, but this is really one of those issues that hit home time and time again in each of our ridings. The member deals with visas and permanent residency and refugee applications in his caseload, as well as the folks who come into his office to talk about those. I am wondering if he could allude to how much this bill would assist him from a local perspective in delivering local services to his constituents.
Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act March 12th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I certainly appreciate the speech and the questions and answers between my colleagues who sit on the immigration committee. However, I want to tell members I have a completely different perspective on this, and that is the question I would like to put to the member.
We just completed a report on backlogs. One of the first things the minister did was listen to what we had said about the whole issue around super visas for parents and grandparents to come to this country in a much quicker manner. The committee made the recommendation. The committee discussed this for a number of weeks. The minister made the decision even before the committee had finished the work. There is not a minister who is listening more closely to his committee and to the reports that are coming forward than the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.
Let me also point out that there is backlog upon backlog in the refugee system, an average of 55,000 per file. I would like to know why the member and her party will not support a process that would quicken this and ensure that refugees, true refugees, come to our country in the appropriate time and appropriate manner.
Citizenship and Immigration March 8th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the member has her facts incorrect. This year, in 2012, we will increase from an average of 15,000 parents and grandparents coming to our country to be reunified with their families to 25,000.
We have a backlog to deal with. On this side of the House, whether it is family reunification, refugee responsibility or the foreign skilled worker programs, we are prepared to act. We are prepared to move because the economy depends upon it.