Citizenship and Immigration committee  You're very welcome. Yes, I will definitely do that. I do understand that there are genuine cases and that there might be fraudulent activity as well, but we need to create that balance where the majority that are genuine cases are not affected by the procedures that we adopt.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you so much. If we understand how marriage takes place, for example from a cultural point of view, then it will be easy to identify that the marriage has taken place. If we don't have any idea of how marriage takes place in different cultures and different communities, it would be challenging to assume that marriages only take place in a particular way.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As an imam, at the particular mosque where I work, we have at least three or four thousand coming for the Jumu'ah prayer, which is the main prayer of the week. I would say at least one-third of those who have applied for immigration are coming up with these concerns and these questions about the delay and why their marriage is not considered valid.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think that cultural sensitivity is very important. You gave a recommendation earlier about abolishing what Jason Kenney put into place. Any laws or policies that block this need to be removed. We need to treat everybody with equity, fairness, justice. We need to understand that all these people who are coming to Canada—Canada's a land of immigration—only enhance the country, and we need to unite families, not disenfranchise families and communities based on personal biases or the lack of understanding of various cultures.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As I briefly mentioned in my presentation, the cultures that we come from differ. Here are some of the questions that might be asked: When did you start dating? Where was your first kiss? Is this an arranged marriage? How did you meet? Is it even possible that you guys got married?

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Definitely; definitely. Understanding different cultures and different communities would make the process much smoother and more respectful for all.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you for affording me the opportunity to be here and present on this panel. I am an imam within the community of one of the largest mosques in Toronto, and a lot of the family members or spouses who have applied for immigration for their partners or family members from abroad constantly bring me the concern that it's been months or years and they're unable to have their families join them.