“You keep asking about specific numbers. I won't give them to you. We passed a bill. Our plan is working. Numbers are down.”
What they said. What they meant.
Plain-language translations from the House of Commons.
Recent debates
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A bill to make many changes to Canada's immigration and border control laws. During debate, Conservatives asked questions about specific cases and raised concerns about fraud, while the Liberal minister responded but often discussed unrelated topics like Canada Summer Jobs and praised a Liberal colleague.
“You didn't answer the question. I'll guess my own number then: half a million. The government's contractor overcharged and underdelivered. Why are we still paying them?”
“They help. They're important. Ignore that other stuff.”
“You can't promise that, right? Your programs aren't perfect.”
“We have lots of offices. They try to do their jobs.”
“I want more French-speaking immigrants in my riding. I'm glad the minister agrees. We're spending lots of money on this. I want that to continue.”
“I want more French-speaking immigrants too. That makes me and the MP look good. We're spending lots of money on this. New Brunswick is doing what we want. I hope others copy them.”
“Immigration is good. Immigrants help our economy. Canada should welcome them. We must spend money to help refugees and protect people. Our refugee system is important. We need more people to come to Canada. We will spend lots of money to help them. The budget will help refugees. Refugees make Canada strong.”
“Give the minister a soft question about how great it is to spend money in my riding.”
“I am filling time with compliments and saying nothing anyone could pin down later.”
“I want the minister to give a simple answer and not dodge the question.”
“I'm filling time with kind words and saying nothing anyone could pin down later.”
“How many more people can we add before our health care system breaks?”
“I'm going to ignore your question and repeat my talking point about asylum claims going down.”
“I'm trying to put you on the spot with a gotcha question about our health care system.”
“I'm going to talk about something else and ignore your question.”
“Would kicking out 74,000 failed refugees free up some of our health care for Canadians?”
“I don't want to kick them out. I want to say we've made it easier to apply to be a permanent resident doctor instead.”
“Why are you giving free health care to people we already said no to?”
“I'm defending our program. It's only temporary help for a small group of vulnerable people, and it will save money in the long run.”