Yes, from all parties.
I want to share a little bit of information I have in front of me about a survey that was done. I'll keep it as brief as I possibly can.
On a question about whether Canadians agree that Canadian citizens who are found guilty of committing acts of treason against Canada, such as an act of war against Canadian troops, should be stripped of their citizenship, if we take an overall average of all respondents to the survey, 83% agreed with that, Madam Chair, 14% disagreed, and 2% said they don't know.
Of particular interest to the multicultural community, this beautiful mosaic we have here in the most welcoming country in the world in which to live, is that on that very same question, while 83% of those born in Canada agree, perhaps even more striking is the fact that 83% of those not born in Canada also agree. I think that is a further testament to the importance and the significance that all Canadians, regardless of their country of origin, attach to Canadian citizenship and to how they feel about it.
That's my assessment, based on reading some of these results.
There was one other breakdown of that survey. It was done by political party. I should say that in all cases—Conservative, Liberal, NDP, and even the Green Party—the lowest number of people who agreed was 82%. These people were voters in the May 2011 election who said they voted for a particular party. The lowest number was 82% and the highest was 94% of those who agreed that people who perpetrate an act of war or an act of treason against our country or our troops should be stripped of their Canadian citizenship.
Here is what we heard from some of the witnesses who came to our committee—and I listened to them quite attentively, because there was a broad group of people who presented to us from different organizations and different associations representing the largest or most significant numbers of people in our Canadian population.
Frank Dimant, for example, is the chief executive officer of B'nai Brith Canada. This is what he had to say:
We welcome the signal in this bill of a commitment to move the recommendation for revocation of citizenship beyond fraud, something we have long argued for. We all value the cherished rights and freedoms that Canadian citizenship bestows but B'nai Brith Canada has a long history of also promoting the serious responsibilities that citizenship entails.
This is from his letter dated January 28, 2013.
Bashir Ahmed is the executive director of the Somali-Canadian Education and Rural Development Organization. This is what he had to say, Madam Chair:
This bill will go a long way toward strengthening the value of Canadian citizenship. It makes good sense to expedite citizenship for those who are willing to defend it, while stripping it from those who fight against Canada and Canadian values such as freedom. This bill will prevent terrorist groups [from entering] Canada and [engaging in] further terrorist activities.
There are many groups, Madam Chair.
Salma Siddiqui, president of the Muslim Canadian Congress, said:
Canadians who are opposed to the values of our society should not be allowed to abuse the privileges that come with holding Canadian citizenship. We must act to strip Canadian citizenship from those who seek to exploit it for violent and illegal activities.... I have heard concerns that Bill C-425 represents a major reaction or that it serves a “political process”. I disagree. Bill C-425 represents an assertion of the pride we hold in our values of an open, liberal democracy where our freedoms are applied to all.
It goes on and on and on, Madam Chair. I'm not going to go into everybody's testimony, but I will finish with the testimony we heard from Asif Khan, the national secretary for public relations of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at. This is what Asif had to say:
Canadian citizenship is a great blessing and a gift whose importance and purity must be protected and preserved. That is why it is crucial that the Canadian government possess the power to strip Canadian citizenship from all such dual citizens who are convicted and confirmed in committing acts of war against the Canadian Armed Forces.
Madam Chair, this is the point I want to highlight for you and all my colleagues here today. This is a bill that addresses terrorists, people who commit crimes, crimes against Canada, crimes against our brave men and women who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces. It is a bill that protects and further gives an indication of strong protection for our victims. That's what this is.
This is not going to strip a poor family that had dual citizenship and now somebody is going to be kicked out. Here's a simple solution. If you don't commit a crime against Canada, if you don't commit an act of war against the Canadian Armed Forces, there is no opportunity for you to lose your Canadian citizenship. There's no possibility of that happening. This only addresses criminals, terrorists, people who would perpetuate a crime against our country. That's what this legislation does. It also rewards those who put their name forth and serve on the front lines both within our country and beyond our borders whenever they are called to do so by serving in our armed forces. That's what it does.
Madam Chair, I can go on and speak about debate in the House—