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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 243

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 31, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 243 - Oct/31/23
Hon. Marc Miller
  • Oct/31/23 11:06:58 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what I will not do is commit to the NDP funding formulas on the floor of the House of Commons. I would note that in the member's home province some very good work has been done to clean up some of the designated learning institutions that have been responsible for creating false hope abroad with respect to international students. They have attracted people here on a false promise of hope, on a false premise. They do not need to spend $40,000 in fees to end up driving an Uber. We need to work together with provinces to ensure they are doing their jobs in their jurisdictions and to rein in a lot of designated learning institutions, which they sanction, they back and they get the funds for directly, not the federal government, then ask us at times to rubber stamp applications from folks whose hopes have been entertained, sometimes falsely, about coming to this country. International students are a huge credit to our country and the vast majority of them will contribute in their own countries when they return by being soft ambassadors for Canada or increase the productivity in Canada when they become permanent residents or, eventually, Canadian citizens. It is not a guaranteed pathway, but clearly there has been some fraud. An ecosystem has been created that has been very lucrative and people are taking advantage of that. Last Friday, we instituted a model for the federal government to start doing its job a little better, and we expect provinces to do that as well. It depends on the province, but we have open arms with regard to working with them and get it done.
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Context: House Hansard - 243 - Oct/31/23
Ms. Sonia Sidhu (Brampton South, Lib.)
  • Oct/31/23 2:56:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, international students have experienced some serious challenges in our international student program. In Brampton, many of them have come to my constituency office and asked for help because unscrupulous consultants have taken advantage of them. They are victims of fraud. This is not right. We have to protect the integrity of our program. What are we doing to combat fraud and protect the victims?
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Context: House Hansard - 243 - Oct/31/23
Hon. Marc Miller (Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Lib.)
  • Oct/31/23 2:57:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Brampton South for her advocacy. Our goal in the announcement that we made on Friday is really to punish bad actors, without punishing the good actors. International students are welcome to have a home in this country. These people are a real credit to our country, and we want to make sure that we are properly accommodating them. We announced on Friday that, to nip fraud in the bud, we would make sure that we properly verify the letters that are issued by designated institutes. We are also moving toward a recognized institution model to make sure that those institutions are actually doing their jobs and that the student experience is comprehensive.
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