Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, these are troubled times. There are troubling situations in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Mexico and just about everywhere on the planet. Add to that global warming, institutionalized violence and war, and these are troubled times indeed. It is easy to understand why people from around the world are seeking refuge.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for his very fair question. It is true that Canada, like many other countries, is facing a record number of asylum claims. This year is another one for the record books. That does not mean we are not taking things seriously. On the contrary, we are stepping up our efforts to ensure that the people who come here, fleeing war and violence, are well received and properly supported.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, there is a cost related to asylum seekers. There is also a responsibility. We have to house them, care for them, educate them and provide them with French classes. We have to allow them to work, something that Ottawa is incapable of doing. Asylum seekers currently represent 20% of social assistance recipients in Quebec.

Finance committee  My previous comment was unclear, and I apologize for that. These clauses concern amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Some witnesses told the committee that there were some serious deficiencies here. My colleague Alexis Brunelle‑Duceppe, who sits on the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and is the Bloc Québécois' immigration critic, told me that this division was very poorly drafted and that the government had made a bad job of it.

Finance committee  There are a number of provisions, which concern the changes to the immigration and refugee provisions, that we would like to vote against. I'll read off the sections. I think they may have been covered, Mr. Chair, but stop me if you exempted them. I have clauses 391, 397, 400, 401, 403, 404, 405, 408, 411, 422, 427, 433, 434 through to 437, 439 and 440.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada sets the average processing times for applications. However, here is the reality. One of my constituents was begging my office to check the status of his visitor record application, which was submitted on March 4.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I will be pleased to pass it on to my colleague, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, so that he can answer our colleague.

Pandemic Prevention and Preparedness Act  The management of temporary foreign workers during the pandemic was another disaster. Inspections were rushed and the immigration and refugee protection regulations were breached several times. Even after numerous warnings from the Auditor General, the situation did not improve and the department did not honour its commitments.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, again, he is going to blame immigrants for rising food prices. Come on, we have to be reasonable. It is clear that Canada is going to play a role, and it must bear some responsibility in all this. That is why we are working closely with Quebec to send asylum seekers to other provinces.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, it has been nine years of the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister, and Canadians are fleeing Canada and moving south in record numbers. Tens of thousands, the highest number in 10 years, are escaping the Prime Minister's economic ruin, fleeing so they can afford to live, afford to buy a home and stop paying for the government's bloat.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, there it is. I wondered, as they continually put down our country, who they want us to be and what they want to emulate. Now we know that they prefer to have a United States model, for example, of health care. I was down south a couple of months ago with my partner, and an individual fell over.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, their plan is driving Canadians out of this country in droves. More than 126,000 Canadians left to go stateside in 2022. That is a 71% increase from the year before. It is doctors, nurses, mechanics and young Canadians with university degrees. Do the Liberals not get why they are leaving?

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, families like mine chose to come to Canada from places that were difficult and where there were challenges. Canadians are proud of the country we have. Conservatives keep talking this country down, but there are people around the world who would choose to come to this country and who are choosing to come to this country every single day for freedom and for the capacity to be who they are, to love who they love and to be proud of their traditions.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister, Canadians know how unaffordable life has become, and the facts speak for themselves. They are so glaringly obvious that even the CBC of all places is covering the record surge of Canadians moving to the United States.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, while we are talking about the United States, let us just take a moment to reflect on what women in that country are going through: a lack of access to reproductive choice. I read an article in The New York Times yesterday about the number of women who are dying because they cannot access abortion care in their states.