Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, after six years of repeatedly asking for Roxham Road to be closed, after repeating hundreds of times that asylum seekers should not be greeted by RCMP officers, after saying over and over again that the influx far exceeds Quebec's capacity, we see that Roxham Road is finally closed.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Indeed, Mr. Speaker, I was here for the President's speech. We understand that the Liberals are proud of their accomplishment and that they are happy. We are happy, too. However, there are still many unanswered questions, and many people are wondering, starting, I imagine, with Mr.

Committees of the House  Madam Speaker, I was going to ask a question about my Conservative colleague's speech, but there was a question a moment ago from a Liberal member about my Conservative colleague's speech. I must admit that, as a good Quebecker, I was “flabbergasté”. I know Kenny Chiu. I worked with him.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  What a surprise, Mr. Speaker. We are not asking the minister what the results were in Washington. We already know. There were none at all. We saw it from the first second that he showed up alone to the scrum yesterday without an American representative by his side. That must have been embarrassing.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, at last, there was light. At last, after six years of inaction on Roxham Road, the federal government sent the Minister of Immigration to the United States to renegotiate the safe third country agreement. I have a very simple question for him, but it is a question to which nobody has ever received an answer.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister made a rather unexpected comment as the House was rising for a two-week recess. He said that we all want Roxham Road to close. That was news to us. For years we have been asking the government to close Roxham Road, explaining that Quebec has exceeded its capacity, that it is not safe and that it is creating an illegal human smuggling industry.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister also said that simplistic solutions will not be how it is done. We agree on that. Speaking of simplistic solutions, there are just 17 days left before the Conservative leader's ultimatum expires, but we will come back to that. We have a simple solution, not a simplistic one.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, it is nice to hear the Bloc Québécois's work on the refugee file being recognized, for once. This government just admitted how hard we are working and how much we care about the future of migrants and of Quebec. I thank my colleague. Now, that does not change the facts.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, for six years now the federal government has repeatedly said that it is negotiating with the Americans on Roxham Road, but no one has heard anything about it. Who is negotiating on behalf of Canada and with whom? What are the objectives of the negotiation? How often are discussions held?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I really appreciated my hon. colleague's speech. I agree with him. The Liberals are putting more money into the oil and gas industry than the Conservatives did before them. I believe that is unheard of in Canadian history. The oil industry has never had so many subsidies.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, authorities are concerned about an 846% increase in irregular border crossings. Border services are worried, saying, “it is extremely dangerous, particularly in inclement weather, which our Swanton Sector has in incredible abundance”. It is not the federal government saying so, it is the Americans.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, not only is that our view as well but we hold the same positions as migrants who are calling for the suspension of the safe third country agreement. That is the crux of the impasse at Roxham Road. Migrants are being exploited. Children are crossing alone in winter.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the government is making up scandals when it comes to Roxham Road, but the real scandal is that Roxham Road has become a network for the exploitation of asylum seekers, in cahoots with the American authorities. The real scandal is that U.S. customs officers have become smugglers, right under the government's nose.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, right now at Roxham Road, there are smugglers who are peddling illusions to migrants to exploit them. There are unaccompanied children in the woods in the middle of winter, and there are people being detained indefinitely. That is what is happening at Roxham Road.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, let us hear what the people who advocate on behalf of asylum seekers have to say. Frantz André of the Non-Status Action Committee said that the government must begin by suspending the safe third country agreement if it wants to demonstrate that Canada is not the 51st state of the United States when it comes to accepting refugees.