Parliamentary Speeches
415 speeches by Marie-France Lalonde — Page 7 of 9
Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I always appreciate the opposition's questions, and I am always grateful to my colleagues for their support for immigration and the work our government is doing for temporary foreign workers, because we know they play an important role and are vital to food security. I would also like to emphasize that these people are entitled to safety. We have taken several measures over the past f…
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Mr. Speaker, the member is right: Quebec selects the majority of its immigrants. Every year, Quebec issues more Quebec selection certificates than the immigration thresholds set out in Quebec's immigration plan. The federal government cannot process more files than Quebec asks it to. We cannot exceed Quebec's thresholds. We will respect Quebec's jurisdiction in immigration. We will process applica…
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Mr. Speaker, we know that immigration is an integral part of addressing the labour shortage. IRCC is prioritizing work permit processing for in-demand occupations in industries such as health, agriculture, food and seafood production. I would like to point out that in the first quarter of 2022, we processed more than 100,000 work permit applications, nearly double the number of work permits proces…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the great advocacy of International Students Overcoming War, or ISOW. As a student club from Wilfrid Laurier University, this student-led and student-funded humanitarian initiative fights hard to ensure that the right of education and higher learning is safeguarded globally. ISOW is committed to supporting the Canadian humanitarian mission to address the educ…
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Mr. Speaker, I really enjoy my colleague's energetic style in the House. His position is an honourable one. As we on this side of the House have said on more than one occasion, immigration is essential to our economy. As the member knows, Quebec sets its own immigration targets. Last year, the province welcomed nearly 50,000 new permanent residents. This year, Quebec has significantly increased it…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Dufferin—Caledon for his work on this legislation. The government is firmly committed to reuniting families and their loved ones abroad. Family members are an important part of our immigration system. Canada has one of the most generous and comprehensive family reunification programs in the world. Through this program, we help to keep families…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
I am honoured to rise this evening to respond to the hon. member's question. I want to start by saying that Canada remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ukrainian immigrants have helped build this country, and we will continue to stand with the courageous people of Ukraine in upholding the values that our countries share. More than 24,000 Ukrainians …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, as I said, I realize how much my colleague wants to make this happen, but the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel really is the fastest, safest and most efficient way for Ukrainians to come to Canada. I also want to point out to my colleague that we have approved over 85,000 applications under this special program, and we have welcomed 24,000 Ukrainians to Canada since t…
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Mr. Speaker, immigration is essential to our economy. What is going to get things moving is an increase in Quebec's immigration levels. Quebec is allowed to receive up to 28% of the immigrants who are welcomed to Canada each year, but it has chosen to accept only 13%. If Quebec really wants to improve wait times for the tens of thousands of people waiting for permanent residence in Quebec, it only…
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Mr. Speaker, perhaps now would be a good time to talk about the Canada‑Quebec accord. Quebec is entitled to 28% of the new permanent residents that arrive each year and chooses to welcome 13% of them. It selects 74% of the immigrants who settle in Quebec, and this includes their language skills. The federal government transfers Quebec nearly $700 million a year, with no conditions, for the facilit…
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Mr. Speaker, we know that immigration is an integral part of addressing the labour shortage. IRCC is prioritizing work permit processing for in-demand occupations in industries such as health, agriculture, food and seafood production. I would like to remind the House that in the first quarter of 2022, we processed more than 100,000 work permit applications. That is nearly double the number of work…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we know that immigration is vital to fighting the labour shortage. IRCC is prioritizing work permit processing for in-demand occupations in industries such as health, agriculture, food and seafood production. In the first quarter of 2022, we processed more than 100,000 applications for work permits. That is nearly double the number of work permits processed in the same period last yea…
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Mr. Speaker, I would again like to thank the member for the question, but he is well aware that Quebec sets the selection criteria for immigrants coming to Quebec, and that includes language skills. Immigration is crucial and, as I have already told the member, we have welcomed more than 50,000 new permanent residents to the province. Quebec and Canada are working together to welcome more immigran…
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Mr. Speaker, immigration is essential to our economy. As the member opposite knows, Quebec sets its own immigration targets. Last year the province welcomed over 50,000 new permanent residents. This year Quebec has increased its immigration targets significantly, which will help reduce wait times. We will always work very closely with the Quebec government to ensure that the immigration system con…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I had the great pleasure of meeting with representatives from the Canadian Alliance to Rebuild Hargeisa Market and members of the Somaliland community. Their presentation was very informative and taught me about the history of Somaliland, a very small country that is going through tragic times as a result of the fire that destroyed Hargeisa market. This market is the heart of the coun…
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Mr. Speaker, on Monday, April 4, I had the privilege of participating in a local fundraiser in support of Ukraine. Thanks to Mayor Jim Watson and local elected officials, Councillors Matt Luloff, Laura Dudas and Catherine Kitts, for joining us. The community of Orléans was invited to visit the drive-thru set up at Soul Stone Restaurant to pick up delicious, traditional Ukrainian delicacies, perogi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my speaking time. I am so very pleased to speak in favour of Bill C‑13 today. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is always looking for innovative ways to let people know what is so great about living in Canada and to attract newcomers. Our mission includes ongoing dedicated outreach to francophone immigrants. As founding members of our nation, we francoph…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, with regard to (a), as of February 16, 2022, approximately 14,840 persons’ applications have been received under the special immigration program for Afghan nationals and their families who assisted the Government of Canada. With regard to (b), of the applications in process under the special immigration program for Afghan nationals and their families who assisted the Government of Can…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Madam Speaker, on March 26, I had the pleasure of participating in the official openings of some new businesses in my riding of Orléans. I want to congratulate Louise and André Chouinard, the new owners of a terra20 franchise, which sells sustainable products to promote a healthy lifestyle. Their new store on Tenth Line Road features an exclusive ecobar, where customers can purchase refillable bot…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. Since day one, Canada has been there to help Ukrainians fleeing Putin's war. We will continue to work with them. More than 12,000 Ukrainians arrived this week alone. My colleague is well aware that we cannot talk about specific cases. I strongly encourage him to come to see me, and we will work together.
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Madam Speaker, once again I thank my colleague for his question. I just want to make one thing clear to the House. Since the beginning, we have received and processed over half a million permanent residence applications. In fact, we set a record. We welcomed 143,000 permanent residents to Canada over the last three months. We need to do more, and that is exactly what we will continue to do.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to again thank my colleague for his question and co-operation since the start of the crisis, this war in Ukraine. We are working with all our partners, including the airline companies. We recently announced the easing of biometric requirements to allow three cohorts of people to arrive in Canada more quickly. We will be there for Ukrainians, before and after.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform the House that we have welcomed over 12,000 Ukrainians to Canada so far. We have been there from the beginning. Let me remind the House of what we have done. We have launched a new program, we have relaxed the biometric requirements and we have brought in more agents to process applications. At the settlement centres, we will continue to be there.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for all his work and collaboration. What I can tell the House is that we have been working with our partners, including in the airline industry, from day one. I would also like to inform the House of the actions the government is taking. We are sending biometric instruction letters to clients every four hours, we are increasing the number of employees in b…
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question because it also gives me an opportunity to clarify and mention the announcement made by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship this morning about our involvement. We are expanding the federal settlement program for Ukrainians who want to come to Canada to offer language training, orientation, employment assistance and other supports for Ukraini…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada will continue to support people who are fleeing the war in Ukraine. As I said, we have increased the number of employees and biometric units in the regions, and we are sending in more personnel. I would also like to inform the House that we have extended the hours of operation at our visa application centres in accordance with local laws. Again, we will continue to work on brin…
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Madam Speaker, I sat at the same committee and I certainly appreciate the member's advocacy in all the questions he has raised. I want to be very clear: There is zero tolerance for racism and discrimination in all aspects and in all programs we want to deliver. The member knows there have been tangible actions that are happening right now within our ministry, and I will be happy to follow up on hi…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, insofar as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is concerned, with regard to part (a) of the question, IRCC officers may use the Chinook spreadsheet tool for assessing temporary resident visa, study permit and work permit applications. Chinook is not used to assess permanent resident, or immigrant, applications. Therefore, we cannot provide a breakdown identifying the acceptan…
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Mr. Speaker, insofar as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is concerned, for indicator management within the Chinook Excel tool, keywords are used to notify officers of trends that IRCC has detected or highlight a particular factor of concern, not to sort visa applications. Keywords are also used to identify positive considerations such as applications that may require expedited processi…
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Madam Speaker, let me be very clear to this chamber: We have zero tolerance for racism and discrimination of any kind, and that is why IRCC has already worked hard to address racism and create real, lasting change. We have already made significant progress with our anti-racism task force and new training to address unconscious bias. There are still many more things to do, and we will continue work…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. We completely agree that we need to help. That is why we launched the new Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel last week, which will allow Ukrainians to come in. We are working with our partners, including the provinces and territories, the business community, the Ukrainian Canadian community and settlement agencies, on how best…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question and certainly for his collaboration since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. I would say to him that we are working with our partners, including the airlines. What is more, I would like to point out to the House the exceptional work that has been done with the SickKids hospital and the departments here to welcome Ukrainian children, who can now …
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Mr. Speaker, I really want to thank my colleague for his question. As he mentioned, the government is certainly looking hard, and as aggressively as possible, at how to get as many people as possible here as quickly as we can. This is what we have been doing from the beginning. More than 10,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Canada. We will continue to work with our partners. I would also like to poin…
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Mr. Speaker, certainly, Canada will provide a safe haven for those fleeing Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since January, Canada has welcomed more than 10,000 Ukrainians. Last week, as members know, we launched our new Canada-Ukraine emergency travel authorization, which will make it easier, faster and safer for Ukrainians to come to Canada. We are working with our partners, including pr…
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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, Canada will welcome Ukrainians fleeing Putin's war. We have announced this new program that will cut through red tape and expedite the arrival of Ukrainians to safe harbour for up to three years. This is the fastest, safest and most efficient way for Ukrainians to come to Canada. It eliminates most of the travel requirements for all Ukrainian nationals, with the except…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for King—Vaughan for her question. I am pleased to respond to it. With the border closures and worldwide travel restrictions, the pandemic created unprecedented challenges for our immigration program. Despite these challenges, Canada was still able to finalize a record number of entries last year by processing an unprecedented number of landings. In …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, as a local MP, I have certainly heard the frustration, like my hon. colleague, of those who are trying to come to Canada to reunite with their family. As I said, we sympathize with these families and understand the difficulties they face, and we have made a commitment. We are on track to bring more than 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada. We are close to 10,000 already. As for the war…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, March 8 marks International Women's Day and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all Canadian women in my community of Orléans, in this House and across Canada for their passion, dedication and contribution to our society. This morning I had the privilege of celebrating this remarkable day at my annual women's day breakfast and I would like to thank OCCO Kitchen for welcomin…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. As parliamentarians and as a government, it is not for us to dictate police instructions and operations or what the justice system is currently doing. I will leave that to the people who are better qualified than I am when it comes to the legal process that has been triggered in the past few days. I would just note that the GoFundMe page has stop…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her very delicate question. From the beginning, we have seen people brandishing hateful flags and encouraging conversations that go as far as to say that the Prime Minister of Canada should die, that he should be killed. I agree with her that in Canada, we must deal with issues involving extremists.
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Mr. Speaker, that is a very good question because it gives me the opportunity to share what the government has done since the very beginning. We have been in touch with our municipal and provincial partners. Since we are talking about democracy, I need to share a story with the House. Before entering federal politics, I was a provincial member of Parliament. Every single Thursday, a Canadian of As…
Read full speech →Orders of the Day
Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Egmont. It is with sadness that I rise in this House this morning because of the circumstances outside of our Parliament, but with the privilege to bring the voice of our community of Orléans, a community that has sent me once again to the House of Commons in 2021 with the clear understanding of the importance of the public health mea…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question. I would like to point out some of the progress that has already been made. We are back down to a 12‑month wait for spousal sponsorship applications. We have processed more than 500,000 new applications for study permits, which represents a 32% increase in our production. It is no secret that pandemic-related closures in the world have had repercu…
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Mr. Speaker, as always, our commitment to modernizing our immigration system is relevant. I was very happy to see that our government invested $85 million in improving our immigration system. We are more than happy to say, as we talk about some of the success of 2021, that we welcomed more than 405,000 new permanent residents last year. We are welcoming more skilled workers and international stude…
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Mr. Speaker, Canada remains firm in its commitment to welcome 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada. We are sparing no effort to resettle Afghan refugees as quickly as we can, and I am happy to report that more than 7,500 Afghan refugees have begun their new lives here in Canada, while overcoming extreme challenges. We are welcoming new arrivals every week. We will continue to do everything we can to s…
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Mr. Speaker, today, I want to share with the House the work that Chef Joe, a resident of Orléans and well-known owner of Thali Ottawa and Coconut Lagoon, has done through his leadership and philanthropic work during the pandemic. Chef Joe has really stepped up throughout this crisis. His dedication in helping to support the most vulnerable is commendable. Despite the stress of opening and having t…
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Mr. Speaker, I had the privilege of visiting the Pharmasave Avalon Compounding Pharmacy last October, along with my counterpart, MPP Stephen Blais. The owner and pharmacist, Andrew Hanna, specializes in bringing customized medication with a doctor's prescription to his clients. It was truly impressive to see the technology on site. Today, I want to thank Mr. Hanna for his involvement and leadershi…
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Mr. Speaker, it was a privilege to invite the people of Orléans to a movie night at Ciné Starz last Friday. As everyone knows, the pandemic has had a profound effect on our ability to host events and meet in person, so I am proud that we were able to get together before the holiday season. It was heartwarming to see generations of families spending rare quality time together, and enjoying a free m…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, Orléans is full of outstanding residents. Two Orléans residents received 2021 Order of Ottawa awards last Thursday, November 18. Congratulations to Michael Allen, the president and CEO of United Way East Ontario, and Ian Faris, the senior vice-president of chamber network relations and advocacy at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce for this well-deserved recognition. Last week I also ha…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to eight petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
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