Ironically enough, I spoke to the same young man yesterday. His concerns were somewhat different from those represented here by Ms. Sitsabaiesan, but maybe he told both of us two different things.
In any event, it is critically important for us to highlight that Ms. Lamothe talked about next elections. This is not about elections, Mr. Chair. This is about citizenship. We are going from a three-step process to a one-step process. Surely all members here understand that if somebody is waiting for 24 to 36 months to get their citizenship and will now have an opportunity to obtain it in under a year, that is a plus.
How someone tries to equate that to elections is beyond me. I don't understand it. The word “elections” did not come out once in the drafting of this bill, in the discussion of this bill, or in the debate of this bill, or even from witnesses, from what I recall of this bill.
This is about going from a three-step process to a one-step process. We think and we believe as a government that once somebody has fulfilled all of their obligations of citizenship in their application, they should be able to obtain it as fast as possible. This will reduce backlogs in the citizenship system considerably. If that helps people, why not vote it in?
We are opposed to the NDP amendment. We will be supporting the clause as is written in the bill right now.
Thank you.