Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the members of Parliament for inviting me.
My name is Ahmed Hussen. I am the national president of the Canadian Somali Congress and a lawyer by profession.
I am here to talk about the bill. In principle, I want to get on the record that the vast majority of my community, as well as other Canadians, do believe in the principle that we should deport foreigners who commit serious crimes. That's not in debate. The issue is implementation and who this proposed legislation would capture.
In its current form, the bill would disproportionately punish law-abiding, long-term, permanent residents who make one small mistake. This bill would limit the right to review for cases exceeding six months. This point is really important, because you can have a situation where someone didn't apply for citizenship, for whatever reason, but is otherwise a very long-term resident contributing to the success and prosperity of Canada. Because of one mistake, behind the wheel or otherwise, they find themselves in the situation where they are about to be deported.