Citizenship and Immigration Committee on March 20th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Go ahead, carry on.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

No, we have to prioritize this! The last time when I moved this motion and called for the minister and officials to come before the committee as a priority, we had a situation where the minister wasn't able to do that and we delayed. We actually had the issue of international students and fraud come before this. Time is of the essence, Mr. Chair.

We need the minister to come before us. There have been shifts and changes to this program. The minister just before this also blamed the NDP for the motion, for the failure of their program. That's what they said to CBC. It is shocking to me. There's a lot the minister needs to answer for and we need him back at this committee.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

I would like to speak.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Are you done, Madam Kwan?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Yes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

I have the speaking list. I have Mr. Ali, then Ms. Kayabaga.

Mr. McLean, did you want to go ahead too?

[Greg McLean, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

I was going to say that there's recording going on of the meeting right now.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I'm sorry, what?

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

It's still a public meeting.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

It's a public meeting.

Mr. Ali, go ahead, please.

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

I agree with Ms. Kwan. It's surprising to see that for my Conservative colleagues this is not an urgent situation. People are dying every day. Kids are dying every day. People are at risk, Canadians are at risk. They voted against the ceasefire and here we come—

[Greg McLean, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

We're on a point of order right now, Mr. Ali, to entertain it.

Mr. McLean, go ahead.

[Greg McLean, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Chair, I don't know where Mr. Ali is getting any of that information, thank you very much. We are here waiting for the minister's attendance. It's a question of what he attends to, and we know it's urgent.

Thank you very much for his intervention, but I would like his intervention to be based on the facts please

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you.

Mr. Ali, go ahead, please.

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

The fact is that Conservatives voted against the ceasefire. The fact is that they want to bring Hong Kong or other issues on top of this Gaza issue, whereas Ms. Kwan is asking that the minister come and answer questions on the Gaza issue. That is a fact.

I agree with this motion. I support it.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you.

I have Ms. Kayabaga next, and then Mr. Redekopp.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I was just going to propose that we eventually get to voting. We've already been here for a while, and we're trying to be efficient. A lot of people who come from far away are ready to go home. As my colleague Jenny said, this is a really important motion that we have to vote on. It is important that we give it the utmost attention. I support her entire motion without removing or adding anything.

I do have to say also that I want to clarify some of the comments the minister made earlier. I've had the opportunity to have a conversation with him on the motion that we all voted for, except for the Conservatives, who want to also continue to delay. He did say that the motion has made it complicated. He's not blaming anybody, because he wouldn't have voted for it if he were in a position to blame—

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

That's shameful.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

—but it has complicated the diplomatic relationships.

That being said, we all care about this issue, both for the Sudanese communities in our ridings and across the country and outside this country and for the Gazan families who are here and watching online and in our communities. I would really implore my colleagues to support this motion so that we can actually get out of here in a timely manner.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you.

Mr. Redekopp, please go ahead.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, I agree that we should vote. Before we do, I just want to say that the soonest we can do this would be the week of April 8, probably April 10. The other option we have is to try to sneak in a special meeting as well, because this is an important issue. Of course, there are many important issues. The Hong Kong situation and many other things are on our minds here. That's another option.

Anyway, I'm just throwing that out there. I'm fine to vote on this.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sukh Dhaliwal]

Thank you.

If there are no more speakers on the list, I will ask the clerk to take the vote—unless there's unanimous consent.

There is unanimous consent.

(Motion agreed to)

With that, can I adjourn the meeting now?

There is a consensus to adjourn.

The meeting is adjourned.