Rick Dykstra

[Citizenship and Immigration, November 28th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I want to point out that our government recognizes these brave and courageous Afghans. They made a significant contribution to our mission and saved Canadian lives.

That is why we introduced the special visa program: to help former translators facing exceptional risk or serious injuries to bring their families to Canada. That program allowed for 450 interpreters and their families, but we have expanded it by almost 20%. Now 550 Afghan interpreters and their families are able to come to this country to find safety, security and a new life in our country.

[Taxation, November 24th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad I am following the godfather of the carbon tax.

The Liberal member for Vancouver Quadra wants to punish the Canadian economy with a tax on everything. She is not alone.

The member for Saint-Laurent—Cartierville has called for a global carbon tax. Families would pay more for gas, more for electricity, and more for everything else. That is the Liberal vision for Canada. A Liberal carbon tax on everything would hurt Canadian families and job creators.

The interim Liberal leader called for the end of tax credits for children, transit users and workers. The Liberals continue to call for higher taxes on job creators. These are reminders of the Liberals' hidden agenda of imposing a massive new tax on everything if they ever get the chance.

Just like its NDP friend, the Liberal Party has no new ideas other than high taxes for Canadian families. When the Liberal member for Avalon had a moment of clarity on the issue in 2008, he said, “Liberals should not kid themselves. It's going to be a tough sell”.

[Niagara Region, November 22nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad I have a chance to respond to the positive aspects of Niagara versus what my colleague from Welland mentioned earlier in his statement.

While Canada's economic recovery is the strongest among G8 nations, we remain vulnerable to an unpredictable global economy. In the past, this meant St. Catharines and the Niagara region would be the heaviest hit by job losses. However, under our government, the unemployment rate in St. Catharines and Niagara has declined each and every month so far in 2011. This is a direct result of our government's economic investment strategy in St. Catharines and Niagara. With previous governments, St. Catharines and Niagara was not a priority. However, with this government, we have seen targeted investments in job-creating building projects like the replacement of the Burgoyne Bridge and the widening of the QEW.

With Brock University's Health and Bioscience Research Complex ready to go, we are acting in Niagara and we are responding to the needs of the community.

[Citizenship and Immigration, October 21st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, there is not an immigration minister on this side of the House who has not stood up and ensured that we are up and working hard for seniors in this country. When we look at the averages over the last number of years, we are accepting new Canadians whether they are young or old.

What I would appreciate, while we are working through this process at the citizenship and immigration committee and while the minister is making the determination on how we deal with backlogs, that members would participate in a way that is meaningful and is helpful, rather than just sitting on the other side of the House and criticizing.

[Citizenship and Immigration, October 21st, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's question, but it is a little premature at this point. A study is taking place at citizenship and immigration and it will take place over the next number of weeks. We are looking at all options, bringing in a number of witnesses.

In this country, over the last six years in government, we have averaged 254,000 new immigrants coming to this country to be settled. That is 14% higher than the previous administration. I do not think we need to take any advice, or at least any lectures, from the opposition on what it is to become a Canadian.

[Citizenship and Immigration, October 4th, 2011]

Madam Speaker, we will do just that.

In fact, as my hon. colleague knows, for the next four to five weeks we as a committee will be studying the backlog. We will be looking at and determining issues we can present to the government to work through that backlog as hard as we can to eliminate it.

However, the decisions that are going to have to be made are not going to be easy ones, so I trust in the words I have heard from my colleague that we will indeed do our best to work together in an attempt to work through the issues, whether those be family reunification, foreign credential recognition, issues with respect to temporary foreign workers, or the issue that we have worked so hard on, and so successfully, on this side of the House with respect to highly skilled foreign workers. Put forward in the proper way, I think that is just one example that will lead to success in the backlog issue that we face.

[Citizenship and Immigration, October 4th, 2011]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's comments. They are a little more wide-ranging than I anticipated. When I was asked to be here this evening, it was going to be a discussion on Prince Edward Island.

He obviously understands that the matter is under investigation and knows that I cannot comment on it, but I certainly want to comment that it is a little surprising to see that he wants us to get politically involved. I think that if we did that, he would be asking the exact same question as to why we are politically motivated to be involved in an issue that is in fact not being investigated by the government presently.

These are the facts. Individuals provided department officials at Citizenship and Immigration with new allegations and information regarding the provincial nominee program in Prince Edward Island. Department officials acted appropriately and responsibly and have forwarded those allegations to the RCMP. It is now up to the RCMP to look at the allegations and proceed accordingly.

As the RCMP is currently investigating this issue, it would certainly be inappropriate for me to comment further, and it would be irresponsible, quite frankly, to prejudge or interfere with that investigation.

I would like to remind my colleague that the government has acted on the provincial nominee program in Prince Edward Island in the past. If he recalls, in 2008 the government made changes to clearly forbid a passive investment program, and the immigrant partners program in P.E.I. was shut down.

P.E.I. introduced a new program in March of 2011 that complies with the federal immigration laws and its regulations. In order to qualify, applicants have to show that they will have an active role in the day-to-day management or operations of the business in which they are investing. The government has been clear that we will not tolerate another passive investment program, and any such applications will be denied. The focus of the provincial nominee program must be on bringing people with needed skills and entrepreneurship to the province and to our country.

As I have already said, the new allegations were provided to the department and forwarded to the RCMP. I hope the member will allow the RCMP to do the job that it is required to do.

[Canada-Israel Relations, September 30th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, it is very disappointing that not one member of the NDP actually chose to attend this event and that only three Liberal members attended.

Whether it is our refusal to participate in the Durban II and III conferences, standing up for a negotiated two-party solution between Israel and Palestine, supporting a national task force on Holocaust research, or becoming the first country to sign the Ottawa protocol, our government's record of taking a principled stand against anti-Semitism and standing up for the Jewish community is clear.

[Citizenship and Immigration, September 30th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the louder the member yells does not necessarily mean it is going to bring more people into this country.

I can tell the member one thing: when we took over government, we were left with a mess from the previous Liberal government in terms of backlogs, in terms of its fear of making decisions with respect to immigration, its fear of increasing the number of people who could come to this country to start a new life.

That fear is gone. This government understands where it is going on immigration. It understands why it is doing it. Families across this country understand what this government is doing.

[Global Centre for Pluralism, September 28th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the Global Centre for Pluralism's annual report for 2010 and its corporate plan summary for 2011.