“Canada's smartest workers are leaving for the United States. The government brought in too many immigrants too fast for our housing and health care to handle. I want to know why the Prime Minister is not trying to stop this instead of bringing in even more people.”

“Mr. Speaker, recent data shows that we have an innovation exodus to the United States. It is up 142%. Thirty-four per cent of immigrants with a Ph.D. leave Canada within 25 years, and the innovation sector earns 46% more in the United States. The Liberals have brought in too many people too fast for housing and health care, and now Canada’s best and brightest are leaving, including those who bring real innovation and jobs to our economy. Why is the Prime Minister not trying to reverse this brain drain instead of planning for higher immigration levels?”

“Our immigration system is failing. Over 30,000 business applicants are stuck waiting to come to Canada. At the same time, our security screening is weak. Border services wanted to deport 675 people for security reasons, but only removed 44. Will the government lower immigration levels?”

“Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we are sitting in an immigration system that has over 30,000 people who want to come to Canada under the start-up visa program and are stuck in bureaucratic purgatory. That is not progress. That is a failure of our system. On the flip side, today’s national security strategy is a nothingburger and fails to address the serious screening problems for non-citizens seeking entry to Canada. The CBSA had 675 reports seeking deportation on national security grounds, but only 44 people were actually removed. This is a disaster, so will the Liberals reduce immigration levels—”

“The government's new security plan says nothing about our failure to screen people coming into Canada. Security screening requests hit a record 538,000 this year, and checks for permanent residency will take years to finish. I want to know why the plan ignores these problems while the Prime Minister plans to bring in more immigrants.”

“Mr. Speaker, the strategy the minister mentioned could have been an email. It was very slim, and it said nothing about one of Canada’s biggest security issues, which is the failure to screen people who are coming into the country. Now the Prime Minister wants to increase immigration levels. CSIS screening requests hit a record 538,000 in 2024, and permanent residency files for full security screening are now projected to take years to clear. Why does this national security strategy say nothing about these things?”

“The government's plan does not improve security screening for non-citizens entering Canada. Canada let in a man who was seen in a video committing a terror crime, and he was later convicted. The Persian community needs clear rules to tell forced soldiers apart from terrorist leaders. Why does this strategy fail to do that?”

“Mr. Speaker, actually, if I hit Ctrl+F on that document, I cannot find anything about improved security screening for non-citizens entering Canada. I would refer him to that document, and I would also refer him to the results. When Ahmed Eldidi entered Canada, he was allowed to do so in spite of the fact that there was a video circulating that showed him essentially committing an ISIS-level crime. He was convicted of a crime afterward, and the Persian community now wants clear public screening criteria that distinguishes forced conscripts from senior officials and terrorist leaders. Why did this strategy not do any of that?”