Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is on record as calling on our government to spend more money for faster processing of asylum claims and border security operations. Budget 2018 delivers exactly that. What is absolutely irresponsible is for that party to preach to us on border security when it cut almost $400 million from the CBSA, jeopardizing the same border security that its members are complaining about now.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, what a responsible party does is it invests in border security. We have done that in budget 2018 with an investment of $173 million in border security operations and faster processing of asylum claims. There is $74 million for the Immigration and Refugee Board so that refugee claims can be heard faster.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, we are fully in control over this issue. We have an intergovernmental task force on irregular migration. We had our ninth meeting last night with different provincial representatives. We have made the necessary investments in speeding up work permits for asylum seekers so we minimize the impacts on provincial social services.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is on record as having called on us to make investments to deal with the issue of irregular migration. We have listened, and what we have done? We have invested—

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the party opposite was calling on us for months to make the necessary investments on this issue. We have listened, and we have made the necessary investments: $173 million for irregular migration, $74 million for the IRB. We are investing in CBSA and so on. We are investing in faster processing of work permits.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, Canada remains open and welcoming to people who need protection. However, our government is determined to maintain regular immigration. We are working very closely with Quebec to make sure that we address the concerns raised by Quebec and other provinces on the issue of irregular migration.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, that is the kind of rhetoric that will lead that party to another decade of opposition, because Canadians do not appreciate setting one group of immigrants against another. We are taking responsibility for this issue. We are fully in control. We make sure that there is adequate responsibility and investments in border protection and in the processing of asylum claims.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, Canada is an open and welcoming country for people who need protection. That being said, our government is committed to ensuring orderly immigration. This government is working very closely with Quebec on the irregular migration issue. We have worked very closely with Quebec on the intergovernmental task force on irregular migration.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, that is the party that cut refugee health care, the people who are the most vulnerable in our society, a measure that the Federal Court of Canada called cruel and unusual punishment. We will take no lessons on refugee response. We are working very closely with Quebec.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, Canada remains an open and welcoming country for people who need protection. However, our government is determined to ensure orderly immigration. We have invested, as part of budget 2018, $173 million for border security operations, as well as for faster processing of asylum claims.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, who did not take border operations seriously? The Conservative Party. It cut $390 million from the CBSA. Who did not take asylum claims seriously? The Conservative Party. It cut funding from the IRB, which is why we inherited massive backlogs in the IRB. We are doing the right thing.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, we have invested $173 million to improve the processing of asylum claims in our country. When the time came to vote for that $173 million, the member opposite joined her party and voted against the measure. When the time came to invest in resettling survivors of Daesh, vulnerable women, the most vulnerable refugees in the world, the party opposite voted against that measure.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, our country is an open and welcoming place for people seeking protection. However, our government is committed to ensuring an orderly immigration process. We work very closely with Quebec, and collaborate closely on issues affecting Quebec and other provinces through the intergovernmental task force on irregular migration.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, reducing processing times for work permits from three months to three weeks is not doing nothing. It is doing something. Issuing 12,000 work permits for asylum seekers so that we minimize pressure on Quebec social services is doing something. Increasing settlement and integration services money by $112 million is doing something.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, we have made the necessary investments. For example, last summer, Quebec approached us through the intergovernmental task force on irregular migration and said we should help them with faster processing of work permits for asylum seekers. We have done that. We have slashed that timeline from three months to three weeks, and we have issued over 12,000 work permits for asylum seekers in Quebec.