What they said. What they meant.

“I want to look like I care about public safety. I think the other party is obstructing. I want people to think I'm doing a good job.”

“I don't like that. I think its very bad. I want to protect Canadians.”

“I want to talk a lot to make it look like we are doing a good job on immigration. Really, I want to bring in more workers to help our companies and economy. I want these workers to become permanent residents and stay here for a long time. We need them to fill open jobs. But I don't want too many people to come at once, so we are trying to slow down new temporary residents. We are spending money to make the immigration system work better and faster. And we have special programs for different parts of Canada because different places have different needs.”

“I will thank the other politician to look good. Then I will say we are helping people from Hong Kong. Our program brought many Hong Kong people to Canada. They can come to study and work. But now it is very slow to get permanent residence. We only let a few people in each year. I am open about the long wait. Many people must wait for years. They might be able to come in other ways, like the provincial program. I met two people who did that and they are working in Nova Scotia now. They are happy.”

“I want to thank the minister for visiting my riding. Immigration is important. We need to balance it with our communities and quality of life. I will name some people in my riding who help immigrants integrate. These community organizations do good work. Integration needs community support, not just public policy. I want my riding to have more workers and strong economy. Immigration should stay fair and rigorous. Can the minister explain how the government will handle more people coming in crisis? Local organizations are important to help them integrate.”

“Thanks for reminding me to speak to immigrants in Quebec. I want Canada to keep bringing in more and more people from around the world. There are many challenges but we will keep spending and coordinating to keep this going.”

“I want to look like I'm answering the question without giving a real answer. I'll say youth jobs are important, then fill time talking about a government program that spends money in every riding.”

“I'm filling time with kind words and saying nothing anyone could pin down later.”

“We're already doing a good job controlling foreign workers. I don't think we need to change anything.”

“I'm saying lots of words without giving an answer that actually addresses your numbers. I want you to think I'm informed and responsible because I threw in a fact about a mandate and the PBO.”

“I won't answer the question. I will list numbers to make me look good.”

“I'm going to ignore the actual question about the massive backlog of fraud investigations. Instead I'll keep talking about how there are fewer student visas overall as if that answers it. Maybe if I throw out some innuendo about my questioner's motives, people will get distracted from the issue.”

“I don't like that. I want to cheer for our government. We made a law. We checked those cases.”

“I'm filling time with kind words and saying nothing anyone could pin down later.”

“I don't want to answer that question. Instead I'll talk about how great our budget is for skilled trades.”

“I'm filling time with kind words and saying nothing anyone could pin down later.”

“I'm bragging about meeting union leaders. I want people to think I'm on their side. The real point is foreign workers are needed to fill empty jobs. Forget about the unemployed Canadians.”

“I say nice things about some worker categories. That makes me look good.”

“My job is to sit here and make it sound like we're doing something.”

“I'm filling time by saying I work with people. Conservatives like temporary foreign workers too.”