Business of Supply  I would like very much—but I am not seeing this—for this system to help francophone minorities outside Quebec, whether in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, British Columbia or in the Atlantic provinces. This system has to be able to help them increase the number of immigrants and help their communities continue to preserve their language and culture.

International Trade committee  But even if we cannot close it, there are so many other things we can do and should do so we're not seen as being focused only on one deal and have nothing else to do. Air services we can work on. Visas we can work on, perhaps by having more immigration staff, a more streamlined procedure, or a different way of processing visas. The British, for example, have outsourced some of the initial screening procedures for visa applications in China.

International Trade committee  I was made to understand that right now the Philippines is number three when it comes to immigration to Canada, so it's taking more time for the Canadian embassy in the Philippines to process those visas.

Business of Supply  Speaker, I very much wish the amendments would have been part of the main motion. First, it is really important what language we use when we deal with citizenship and immigration. It is okay to refer to the landing fee as a bad public policy, but we should never call it a head tax because that ends up diminishing the suffering resulting from a very racist piece of legislation.

Business of Supply  It is often the job that represents this nation to people at a very crucial point in their journey of immigration and becoming citizens in Canada. We need to ensure we have the best possible people in there. That screening process needs to be reinstituted immediately.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, it was certainly a pleasure to hear some of the meaningful and helpful suggestions put forward by the member for Burnaby—Douglas. The comments regarding private sponsorship and how highly motivated the parties are behind it is something we should encourage and move forward on.

Business of Supply  Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for giving me the opportunity to discuss a topic I did not cover in my speech. I am not sure if my colleague knows that Canada and Quebec share jurisdiction over immigration. As previous ministers acknowledged in committee, Quebec is ahead in the recognition of foreign credentials. There are also several studies that have been done by the Quebec Interprofessional Council.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I was first elected in 2004 in the riding of Burnaby--Douglas, but I worked in Burnaby--Douglas for 18 years before that, first, briefly here on the Hill, and then for 16 years in the constituency office. I did a lot of immigration casework in those days. That's where my interest in the work of this committee is based. My riding has a large immigrant population; almost 50% of the population in my riding is immigrant or visible minority.

Business of Supply  The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

Business of Supply  Second, I have no problem with telling the hon. member that if the Conservatives have no plan or vision, they should step aside. The Liberal Party is ready to take over and implement all of these plans to help immigrants and new Canadians integrate better into this society, not just for their benefit but for the benefit of our country, our nation and the collective well-being of all Canadians.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I would like to pose a question to the member for Mississauga—Erindale who referred to an issue that was a problem with the 1947 piece of legislation. He indicated how the past government, the Liberal opposition now, was able to get things done. Six ministers and many years, and not one thing passed.

Business of Supply  Similarly, when the Liberals were in, government greenhouse gas emissions rose under their watch, but now that they are in opposition they are wrapping themselves in green scarves and are hoping that everyone will forget their record. Today we have a motion before us that decries the immigration system as being woefully inadequate when it is the very system that the Liberals created when they were in government. This is the same system that has made life a misery for refugee applicants like the Valencia family in my riding, who have been in Canada for over five years and are still in limbo about their future status.

Business of Supply  As a matter of fact, through information from an international study that was done on Canada, Armine Yalnizyan wrote an article recently indicating that poverty was rising among children and new immigrants; that the middle-class was finding it increasingly difficult to afford education and housing; and that 250,000 Canadians were living on the streets. Four hundred non-government organizations from 50 countries said this about our country.

Human Resources committee  Your first question was a bit of a two-part question. It was whether we do everything we can to reach immigrant communities that may not speak English or French. The answer is yes, we do, through our outreach efforts again. My colleague in Service Canada can probably answer whether we've got the language ability, but in certain communities we do have very active partnerships with organizations that can support our outreach efforts in other languages.

Human Resources committee  Certainly Ms. Dhalla had a concern that I was going to speak to as well, which is on the issue of immigrant communities. As you are aware, about half of Toronto's population was born outside the country. This presents really incredible barriers, in terms of both education and providing the information in the appropriate languages.