“Why won't the minister admit the system is overwhelmed? There are too many people coming in.”
What they said. What they meant.
Plain-language translations from the House of Commons.
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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.
“The budget for asylum seekers' health care will grow to $1.5 billion per year. That money comes from taxpayers. Should we spend all that money on non-citizens when our own citizens can't even get a doctor?”
“You take too much pride in destroying Canada's identity and values.”
“I doubt the minister's number. I think this will let in a lot more people than she says.”
“Do you really think only 5,000 new Canadians will come per year?”
“You're talking down the number of new citizens, but the real number is already high. Admit it.”
“I want to imply CBC said something scary that the minister should be afraid of.Unnamed millions and unnamed nights become my punchline.”
“I'm calling out the minister for dodging my question earlier. I want her to stop avoiding the topic and give real numbers.”
“You're dodging the real number. I demand you admit how many people this could affect.”
“You did something bad. I want you to admit it.”
“Did you tell cabinet your bill opens up citizenship to millions of Americans?”
“Did you think about not letting people use great-great-grandpa to get citizenship?”
“You still didn't answer the specific question. Did you cross this t and dot this i?”
“The immigration system is a mess. There are too many people and not enough houses or doctors. Some colleges just want money. The start-up visa program is broken too. People paid us and now they wait 10 years. Other countries are better. The minister should fix this.”
“You just admitted there's corruption in your department. Instead of fixing it, you're just shutting down the program. I'm calling you out on this because it's a big mess. Did you even audit the subcontractor you hired to check these organizations?”
“You let the program get out of control. IRCC found problems but you didn't fix them. A huge backlog built up under your watch. I think you messed up.”
“The minister's own website says it takes 10 years to approve start-up visas in Canada. It's much faster in other countries. That's bad! Isn't the minister bothered by that?”
“I'm trying to get you to say that some people get special treatment. You think Canadians will be angry about that.”
“I want the minister to admit that taxpayers will pay more for this than they get themselves.”
“Does the minister know her program stops paying once the provinces start? I want her to admit there's a gap.”