Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, Canadians across this land are welcoming with open arms and with open hearts the Syrian refugees. They are proceeding quickly to their housing. Yes, they are spending some time in hotels. That is normal for the process. It is also the case that refugee applicants from other countries are proceeding as planned.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member and Canadians that the vast majority of refugees are super happy to be in this country, as they have expressed to the media and to me. Yes, in the course of accepting thousands of new Canadians everything will not be perfect at every instant and there are some issues in hotels, with which we are dealing.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, my colleague is absolutely right that over the last decade the processing times for family members have mushroomed to the point where the situation right now is a mess. Even for spouses the processing time is typically two years, versus four to six months in other countries.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to thank my colleague for all of her hard work in this area. I am also pleased to tell the House that, as of today, 13,800 Syrian refugees will have arrived in Canada. However, more important than the numbers, we have done this well, the world has noticed, and Canadians can take great pride in welcoming 25,000 people from a vicious civil war into our wonderful country of Canada.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I have spoken with my Quebec counterpart. We made a firm decision to allow these people to stay in Canada. That is what we decided, and that is what will happen.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe for her question. I am pleased to announce that CN and the chairman of the board, Robert Pace, have set the gold standard for corporation donations, with a $5-million donation to help house Syrian refugees. Yes, I said $5 million.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question and also his acknowledgement that it was indeed a wonderful evening last night, and it was. I neglected to mention that, in addition to my federal colleagues, Kathleen Wynn was also there, the Premier of Ontario. In answer to the question, that case is under active investigation by my department as we speak.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I was unaware of this point regarding Denis Coderre, but I will look into that immediately. I just want to say that my colleagues, the Minister of Health and the Minister of National Defence, and I were with the Prime Minister and two opposition colleagues last night.

Points of Order  Mr. Speaker, my comment was intended in a light-hearted way to celebrate the arrival of the refugees this evening, but I understand it could have been taken in a number of ways. I understand now, on reflection, that I should not have made it, so I am happy therefore to apologize for that comment to my colleague.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the answer is yes. After discussions with my colleague from Bourassa and the Quebec immigration minister, I decided that my department was going to help these Haitians to regularize their status in Canada. I am consulting with my colleague, the Minister of Public Safety, and we will provide more details about this soon.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, we are into sunny ways; I would suggest that my colleague look a little more cheerful. In answer to her question, I will give an answer. I can assure her that my department has assured me that no people have been displaced by other refugees. There will be no impact on their entry.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, this is a wonderful day, when we welcome the first plane full of 160 new Canadians. I learned from a 10-year-old girl, when I went to visit an apartment that was being made ready for refugees, how to say this in their own language. I would teach every member of the House to say Ahlan wa sahlan fi Canada.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I am not sure whether the member is talking about Syrian refugees, but I imagine she is. The number of Syrian refugees who have arrived since November 4 is 416. By the end of the year, there should be 10,000. By the end of February, the total should be 25,000.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, that is a very good question. When I was asked what our priority was, I answered that we had three: housing, housing, and housing. In one sense, that is true. However, in another sense an equally big priority is jobs, because in the short-run this is a great humanitarian gesture.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, with respect to Syrian refugees, that coverage was restored a few weeks ago, but that was not clear to all doctors in Canada, so I clarified that today. We sent messages to everyone in the health care field and to provincial ministers clearly stating that the program had been reinstated for Syrian refugees.