Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the evidence clearly does back up the fact that Mexico is an extremely important friend and trading partner, our second partner in North America. The evidence does back up the terrific importance of tourist dollars from Mexico, which were largely lost as a consequenc

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated before, this is a wonderful opportunity for Canada to reinforce our partnership with one of our two North American partners, an opportunity to expand trade, and get jobs for all those middle-class Canadians looking for work. At the same time, we a

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, as I have implied a couple of times, Canada attaches great importance to our friendship with our second North American partner and to the closer ties that will come from lifting the visa, and to the economic benefits to many middle-class Canadians who will benefit wi

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that we are all convinced that our commitment to lift the visa for Mexico will indeed provide major economic benefits in tourism as well as a stronger partnership with our second North American partner. That being said, I am working wit

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, that is why officials in my department and I are working along with my colleagues in public safety to find ways to mitigate precisely this risk, which is high on our minds as a challenge that we have to deal with. With that being said, there are major benefits, as I

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times, an operation of this kind is never perfect. There are always bumps along the road. There are always problems of various kinds, but overall, I am satisfied. I just heard today that 90% of the refugees now have permanent housing. I wish tho

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Talk about a glass half empty or half full, Mr. Speaker. I said yesterday that 87% of the refugees have now found permanent housing. That is a very large number and we should be pleased with it. The remaining 13% will find permanent housing very soon. My colleague beside me, th

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, yes, I can assure the members of this House that that kind of behaviour will not be tolerated. Guilty parties will be punished under the law, where the authorities see fit, or by other means. This kind of behaviour will not be tolerated in Canada.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, such behaviour is clearly against the rules and the perpetrators will be held to account. If judged appropriate by the appropriate authorities, they could be charged as well under criminal law. That being said, the vast majority of Canadians are displaying extraordi

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, as I just said, such behaviour will not be tolerated. It is possible that sponsorship agreements could be terminated or the refugee could be not allowed, or if deemed appropriate by the authorities, such individuals or organizations could be charged. This behaviour

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, in the near future, we will be making it easier for international students to become permanent residents. We will also be reducing significantly the processing time for families. Already we have brought in more than 26,000 Syrian refugees. We have re-established re

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, it sounds like the hon. member did not hear my answer to the previous question. Perhaps she could revise her questions in light of what has been said. The point is that these people are largely out of hotels, with 87% in permanent housing. The other thing I said wa

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, refugees always spend some time in hotels. For the third time, I would inform the member that 87% of those refugees are now in permanent housing. Also, I am probably the only immigration minister in the world whose major problem is an inability to get refugees to C

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, not only can I say that we are under budget, I can also say that I am extremely proud of our refugee program, which has brought 26,000 people to Canada. Yes, there were some hotel bills, but 87% of those refugees are now in permanent housing, and their hotels were a

Immigration  Mr. Speaker, I totally agree. We will get rid of this two-year waiting period. When we were in opposition, expert groups made it abundantly clear that this system gave rise to unacceptable domestic abuse, and for that reason, we committed to getting rid of it. We will get rid of