Cyprus  Andreas Jacovides, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus, to our country and to our capital city. I take this opportunity on behalf of 200,000 Cypriots who to this day find themselves refugees in their own country and on behalf of 1,619 persons who to this day are still missing and unaccounted for to denounce the July 1974 brutal invasion of Cyprus by Turkish forces. Twenty-one years later and despite various resolutions from the United Nations, the Commonwealth heads of governments and the European community condemning this brutal invasion, the Turkish regime refuses to come to the table and negotiate a peaceful and just solution for the island of Cyprus.

Criminal Code  One of the Jewish activists in my community, Mona Zetner, had her house burned down. She had to go into hiding. As a person who came to this country as a refugee having grown up in war torn Europe, I can appreciate what hatred has done. I would suggest to members of the House that perhaps they might think about that, look around at the problems in this world.

Immigration  Speaker, it was reported yesterday that the minister of immigration is considering granting minister's permits to up to 17,000 refugees who cannot be given permanent residency in Canada. They cannot get permanent residency because they came to Canada with no identity documents and we have no idea who they are or what crimes they may have committed.

Criminal Code  Canada was the first country to recognize gender based persecution, and women who fear genital mutilation have been granted refugee status. Experts say over 100 million women have been subjected to genital mutilation-what horror. In Montreal, the Human Rights Commission is threatening legal action against anyone performing such an abomination on young girls.

Criminal Code  There is also the resolution passed by the international conference on population development, which I attended, and the Canadian Council on Refugees; also the resolution passed by the International Federation of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and by the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs. The following organizations have also spoken out in favour of legislation: the Association of Country Women of the World, the Commission des droits de la personne du Québec, the Quebec Minister of Justice, the Conseil multiculturel des femmes professionnelles, the Service d'information en contraception et sexualité du Québec, the Cercle des fermières du Québec, Violence Info, the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Rights Associaton, the Mouvement des femmes chrétiennes, Quest for the Eradication of Female Genital Mutilation and the Réseau des femmes noires francophones de Toronto.

Immigration  Why is the minister limiting his promise of compassion to queue jumpers and foreign criminals and not extending that compassion to those who really suffer under Canada's immigration laws: law-abiding Canadians, overseas refugees and people who want to visit Canada?

Immigration Enforcement Improvement Act  We also want to ensure that the humanitarian concerns, which are an important part of the immigration system, are consistently applied to all persons subject to removal orders. Bill C-44 seeks to remove all appeal rights from the Immigration and Refugee Board by dangerous criminals hoping to delay or prevent their removal from Canada. It also would prevent the release of unescorted convicted criminals under deportation order from Canadian prisons until they can be removed from Canada.

Immigration Enforcement Improvement Act  Deporting an individual requires a decision by an arbitrator. This decision may be appealed before the Immigration and Refugee Board. This bill also addresses the issue of transferring criminals from Canada to other countries. True, some bilateral treaties now in effect allow such a transfer if requested by the offender; if there is a bilateral agreement, these people are sent back to their countries of origin.

Immigration Enforcement Improvement Act  Our policy for non-citizen criminals would not result from bargaining with special interests or with refugee lawyers but from consulting with our members, our constituents and with the people of Canada. I am sure my hon. colleague, the sponsor of the bill, understands what the people are saying on immigration matters.

Immigration  What I would suggest to the hon. member, however, is that to utilize a visitor visa program for any one country is not the solution and it would jeopardize our visitor visa program internationally. There is a way to deal with refugee crises. There is a way to deal with how to utilize a country's forces to address a destabilized area. That solution, however, does not lie in a visitor visa program.

B'Nai Brith Canada  A grassroots membership organization, it has served the Jewish community and Canada with distinction on issues such as immigration and refugee policy, law enforcement, international human rights, the treatment of Jewish communities overseas, intergroup relations in Canada, as well as a host of charitable activities and voluntary action.

Immigration  How can the minister persist in denying the adverse effect of such a tax, given that, in two thirds of the cases, his department rejects loan applications from immigrants and refugees, on the grounds that they are insolvent?

Hate Propaganda Via Electronic Highway  Canada has long had a reputation as a tolerant and compassionate nation, accepting with open arms immigrants and refugees from all over the world. Many of these people have fled their homelands to escape persecution. Many were being persecuted on the basis of their race alone. They have come to this great country believing that at long last they will be free to live their lives in peace.

Questions On The Order Paper  What were the acceptance versus rejection rates of each of the Immigration and Refugee Board regional hearing offices in December 1994 and January 1995 versus the same period a year earlier?

Immigration  Speaker, the minister of immigration has announced a number of reforms to the immigration system. We have announced a number of changes to the Immigration and Refugee Board. It is a shame that the hon. member cannot see his way clear from time to time to support these changes and reforms, as well as to support such bills as Bill C-41.