Bill S-245

An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (granting citizenship to certain Canadians)

This enactment amends the Citizenship Act to permit certain persons who lost their Canadian citizenship to regain it.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I move that Bill S‑245 be amended by adding after line 18 on page 1 the following new clause:

1.4 Section 24 of the Act is amended by adding the following: Part VI, section 24.1 Respecting holidays and days of significance to promote Canada's multicultural identity 24.1 Citizenship ceremonies may not be scheduled on enumerated days of significance. The Minister or the Department must take steps to offer alternative days in accordance with the respect and promotion of Canada's multicultural identity.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

All right, Madam Chair.

I move that Bill S‑245 be amended by adding after line 18 on page 1 the following new clause:

1.4 Section 24 of the Act is amended by adding the following: 24(10) A document of citizenship must be provided immediately upon completion of the oath of citizenship.

The logic of this amendment, since we're doing what I would call a statutory review of the Citizenship Act, is that at the citizenship ceremony, when you attend in person, and actually when you attend it virtually as well, the department has you cut your permanent residency card. The PR card is cut. Oftentimes they ask you to cut it visibly in front of these civil servants, because you can't have a PR card and citizenship at the same time, obviously.

What happens then is that they mail a document of citizenship. But they already know who has attended there. They can kind of check them off the list. There's no reason that you couldn't have them just print off the document of citizenship. I personally would much rather that we go back to the old way. I won't fish out my citizenship card from my pocket, but the old cards are much better. This is a big document of citizenship.

The reason that one is so important is that you need that to get your passport. You need that for your passport application. It's 30 days or however long it takes, depending on how remote you are. You may live in a remote community or in an apartment block where there may not be mail delivery every single day, depending on how the contractors work with Canada Post.

The logic of this is to just do it at the ceremony. It's just a process issue. Just give it to the persons as they're there. Because citizenship ceremonies may take an hour or two or three to complete, I think the department has enough time to check off who is there and check them off digitally in the database. Then they can just print off the document at the location, or have them ready to go. Whoever doesn't show up, the department can just bring it back to their offices.

I think it's a huge process improvement for new Canadians.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I will read CPC amendment 12 into the record.

I move that Bill S‑245 be amended by adding after line 18 on page 1 the following new clause:

1.4 Section 24 of the Act is amended by adding the following: 24(9) The Minister must disclose in advance to Members of Parliament the location, time, and date of all citizenship ceremonies that will be attended by their constituents, either in‑person or virtual.

The logic of this is simple. As parliamentarians, we should know when our constituents are becoming citizens of Canada. This is not done on a consistent basis.

I know that in my riding, I often get an invitation when there's a special occasion when it's being done, but this is not being done on a consistent basis. I remember one year when my pharmacist became a Canadian citizen, I wasn't made aware of when this was going to happen.

It would be good because sometimes, because of how large some of our cities are, there are people from different ridings being lumped together in some of these ceremonies. If all parliamentarians knew, we could make plans to attend. I think, as parliamentarians, we have a responsibility to be there and to participate in what is really a huge life milestone for many persons who are obtaining their citizenship.

I have never had a citizenship ceremony in person that I regretted attending. They are all terrific to attend. I'm hoping we can find consensus at the table here that it should be a requirement to tell members of Parliament when citizenship ceremonies are happening.

We already get a list of new citizens. It's not too much to ask the department to send us a list of all citizenship ceremonies where our residents are going to take the oath of citizenship. It would just be one little extra step. That way, we can make ourselves available to participate in this. We could help the department make sure there are good, strong showings at the citizenship ceremonies, as well.

Thank you.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I will begin with the English, and then I'll read the French.

I move that Bill S-245 be amended by adding after line 18 on page 1 the following new clause:

1.4 Section 24 of the Act is amended by adding the following

24(8) where a citizenship ceremony has been scheduled for a person, employers in federally regulated industries must grant that person leave for one day to accommodate the ceremony.

I am now going to read it in French.

Je propose que le projet de loi S‑245 soit modifié par adjonction, après la ligne 19, page 1, du nouvel article suivant...

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I have another amendment I'd like to propose. This one is that Bill S-245 be amended by adding after line 18 on page 1 the following new clause—

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I do have another amendment I'd like to move. After I have read it in English, I will read it in French as well.

I move that Bill S-245 be amended by adding after line 18 on page 1 the following new clause:

1.4 Section 24 of the Act is amended by adding the following

24(7): where a citizenship ceremony has been scheduled, the Department must provide the person with at least seven days' notice prior to the date of the ceremony.

I will now read it in French.

Je propose que le projet de loi S‑245 soit modifié par adjonction, après la ligne 19, page 1, du nouvel article suivant:

1.4 L'article 24 de la Loi est modifié par adjonction de ce qui suit 24 (7) Lorsqu'une cérémonie de citoyenneté est prévue, le ministère donne à la personne un préavis d'au moins sept jours avant la date de la cérémonie.

I'll explain the logic of this one. It's pretty simple. After hearing some of the debate at the table about persons having difficulty planning ahead of time, I did take the liberty of looking up what other countries do. Right now, we can make mandatory at least a seven days' notice for a person when they have a citizenship ceremony scheduled. In the United Kingdom, citizenship ceremonies have to happen within three months of receiving an invitation, so there is actually quite a bit more notice being provided. In New Zealand, there is a four weeks' notice before the ceremony, so it is not unusual for countries to provide a notice period for the department to inform the person that they are now eligible to take the oath of citizenship, and by which day. There is a notice period that gives people time to plan out when they can reasonably be there, and if there is a need to reschedule, they can take it up with the department.

So that's the logic. It's just an easier method for new citizens to take the oath of citizenship, making sure of their timeline so that their families can all be there.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I'm going to read it in French, Madam Chair. Je propose que le projet de loi S‑245 soit modifié par adjonction, après la ligne 19, page 1, du nouvel article suivant:

1.4 L'article 24 de la Loi est modifié par adjonction de ce qui suit : 24 (6) Lorsque les cérémonies de citoyenneté sont virtuelles, elles doivent a) être enregistrées afin de confirmer que le serment de citoyenneté a été prêté de façon appropriée b) être géolocalisées sur le territoire du Canada

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Madam Chair, I move that Bill S-245 be amended by adding after line 18 on page 1 the following new clause:

1.4 Section 24 of the Act is amended by adding the following:

24(6) where citizenship ceremonies are conducted virtually, they must

a) be recorded for the purposes of confirming the oath of citizenship has been appropriately carried out

b) be geolocated within the territory of Canada

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I call this meeting to order.

We are resuming meeting number 70 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. We are continuing our clause-by-clause study of Bill S-245.

When we left off, we were debating a subamendment to amendment CPC-8. We had Mr. Redekopp and Mr. Mazier on the floor, so I will go to Mr. Redekopp, as he was on the speaking list.

Mr. Redekopp, go ahead.

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Thank you to Mr. Mazier for what I think is really getting at the heart of both what the Conservatives are trying to accomplish with this amendment but also, in light of the feedback received from other parties and other officials, to make sure that it gives the discretion required while maintaining the heart of what we're endeavouring to accomplish, and that is to ensure that the value of that process of joining the Canadian family is in fact preserved.

I think, actually, if one looks at this amendment in the context of the larger conversation and specifically the subamendment that takes in some of that feedback—and we're endeavouring to be constructive here—it accomplishes and checks all the boxes required to ensure that what would be passed as part of Bill S-245 actually accomplishes the stated objective.

I won't get into some of the details about the scope being opened up and some of the debates surrounding Senator Martin and some of the past elements of what got us to this point. I won't go there, but I would hope that members of this committee would see that we're certainly willing to be constructive and collaborative and get to a point where some of the concerns that have been raised are addressed. I think this will be a step forward, both for this amendment but also for the bill itself.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

So the scope of compassionate grounds would be broadened.

In fact, if we were to adopt the amendment as it is currently worded, there is a risk of creating all kinds of problems, and in particular leaving us quite some distance from achieving the main objective of Bill S‑245, which is to grant citizenship to people who should never have lost it in the first place.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Thank you. I'm going to change the questioning to Ms. Girard.

In the existing bill that is proposed, S-245, how does this amendment speak to what we already have? Do we have a mechanism to deal with the situation where compassionate grounds are a fact?

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I have an amendment I would like to make. This would be new clause 1.4, that Bill S-245 be amended by adding after line 18 on page 1 the following new clause:

1.4 Section 24 of the Act is amended by adding the following:

24 (5) Should a person be unable to attend an in-person citizenship ceremony, the Minister may waive this requirement only on compassionate grounds and a virtual option should be offered in those circumstances as requested.

That's the motion, and I have things to say about it, but we will take a minute just to make sure everybody has it, including the officials.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I have an amendment that I would to move, to make a new clause 1.4. It is that Bill S-245 be amended by adding after line 18 on page 1 the following new clause:

1.4 Section 24 of the Act is amended by adding the following:

24(4) The Department of Citizenship and Immigration shall not create an online web form for the oath of citizenship to be completed.

I have things to say about this. I'm just wondering if everybody has this amendment.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I have a new amendment. It's new clause 1.4. I move that Bill S‑245 be amended by adding after line 18 on page 1 the following new clause:

1.4 Section 24 of the Act is amended by adding the following:

24(3) The oath of citizenship cannot be completed through an online web form.

That's the amendment.