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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 70

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 12, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 70 - May/12/22
Hon. Sean Fraser (Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Lib.)
  • May/12/22 3:00:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the kind of circumstance the hon. member described is exactly why we have made one of the most substantial commitments of any nation in the world to resettle 40,000 Afghan refugees here in Canada. I am pleased to share that, as of this week when we arrived in Ottawa, there were 12,600 Afghan refugees. Today, there are 12,900. By tomorrow, there will be 13,200. We are seeing a regular pace of arrival because we have made a commitment and put a plan in place to welcome some of the world's most vulnerable people to Canada. We will not waver on our commitment until we make good on it to the people who helped us during our time of need.
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Context: House Hansard - 70 - May/12/22
Hon. Sean Fraser (Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Lib.)
  • May/12/22 3:01:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member's use of one party's name for his own political interest is beyond disgraceful. The reality is the Conservative Party of Canada campaigned on a commitment to bring precisely zero Afghan refugees to Canada. When they were in power over the course of four years, they were able to bring 800 people to Canada. Their extended families were not allowed to come. That demanded that we create a special pathway to make space for 5,000 of them because they are the very people that the Conservatives left behind. I will not take lessons on the Afghan resettlement initiative on the basis of their history. They do not deserve that credit. We will continue to go forward to help the world's most vulnerable, with or without them.
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Context: House Hansard - 70 - May/12/22
Hon. Sean Fraser (Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Lib.)
  • May/12/22 3:04:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have heard of pitching around a hitter in baseball, but never on the floor of the House of Commons.
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Context: House Hansard - 70 - May/12/22
Hon. Sean Fraser (Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Lib.)
  • May/12/22 3:05:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question and for the many conversations we have shared seeking to only improve the government's efforts to welcome more Afghan refugees. I take his efforts as being sincere. I will point out that we continue to work with different departments to ensure that we can put a plan in place to succeed in the effort to bring 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada. There are certain pieces of information, obviously, in the middle of the operation that could put at risk the security of some of the individuals who are seeking to come to Canada. To the extent that we can offer increased transparency, including through my own two-hour appearance before the committee, we will do whatever we can to ensure we enhance that transparency without compromise on the security interests of those involved.
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Context: House Hansard - 70 - May/12/22
Hon. Sean Fraser (Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Lib.)
  • May/12/22 3:17:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if you go to the Conservative Party platform from the last election, you will not find a commitment to resettle any particular number of Afghan refugees.
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