Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal Recipient  Mr. Speaker, I want to spotlight a constituent of Orléans and recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal, Kevin Frost. Kevin is a multisport world champion who has competed against able-bodied persons in all disciplines, and he has the gold medals and world records to prove it.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I commend the member for Kitchener Centre for his advocacy. We are taking measures to reduce wait times and we will be doing more to tackle the backlog in the short term, while making our system more sustainable in the long term. We are doing that by hiring up to 1,250 new employees to increase our processing capacity by the end of fall.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, first, on behalf of all members of the House, I would like to welcome U.S. Secretary of State Blinken, who is meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs here in Canada. Second, as we have said many times, we are committed to modernizing the agreement between our two countries.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, our system for asylum seekers must be robust and humane. There is no magic solution. Asking to close Roxham Road or suspend the agreement is not the answer. What the government needs to do, and what we are doing, is to modernize the agreement.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, listen, we remain firm on our commitment to resettle at least 40,000 Afghan nationals to Canada and to do this as quickly and safely as possible. We are processing applications day and night for Afghan refugees, and we have mobilized our entire workforce in helping.

Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Awards  Mr. Speaker, on October 1, I was pleased to hold an awards ceremony to present Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee awards at École Béatrice-Desloges in Orléans. During the event, I had the honour to recognize 113 citizens of Orléans from all walks of life for their exceptional contributions to our community, and their contributions beyond its boundaries.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the rental agreements were negotiated based on fair market value to arrive at a competitive price. Given the location of the land and its proximity to the border, this was an ideal location for CBSA. Our government is delivering open, fair and transparent procurement processes, while obtaining the best value for Canadians.

Canada-U.S. Relations  Mr. Speaker, let us be clear. Closing Roxham Road or suspending the agreement is not a solution. That would not solve the problem. As the member opposite knows, Canada shares the longest demilitarized border in the country. Roxham Road gives officials an opportunity to obtain identification documents from these asylum claimants and prevent dangerous crossings.

Border Security  Mr. Speaker, we make it our duty to protect Canadians and secure our borders. At the same time, asylum seekers must be treated with compassion, and they have a right to due process. The safe third country agreement is an important bilateral tool for handling asylum claims at Canada's land border.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, our system for asylum seekers must be robust and humane. There really is no magic solution. Calling for the closure of Roxham Road or the suspension of the agreement would likely have the opposite effect. As we have repeatedly stated, this agreement needs to be modernized.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Madam Speaker, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has been working hard to improve processing times for all applications since the beginning of the pandemic. We have hired more staff and implemented new systems to process applications more quickly. We will have hired 1,250 people by the end of the year to process more applications for temporary and permanent residence.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Madam Speaker, I am happy about the questions, because I hope they are going to help my hon. colleague to maybe answer some of his constituents and give me the chance to talk here about the accomplishments the government has achieved to strengthen and expand our immigration and refugee system.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about some of the investments we are making. We have taken measures to reduce the wait time. We are doing more to tackle the backlog in the short term, while making our system more sustainable in the long term. We are doing this by hiring 1,250 more staff members.

Public Services and Procurement  Mr. Speaker, I am really proud of my colleague's question because it gives me the chance to talk about what we are doing and the agreements we are working with. I think the member from the Bloc Québécois also mentioned it earlier. I want to be very clear. Our system for asylum seekers must be robust and humane.

An Act respecting the French language  Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to speak to the House about Bill C‑238 regarding the French language. Everyone in Canada cares about protecting the French language. The latest census data show that French is in decline in Quebec and the rest of Canada. We must act swiftly and collectively.