Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would like to address three issues with you today.
First, I would like to support the proposal to change the residency requirement for citizenship from three out of four to four out of six years. I believe that the longer an individual lives, works, or studies in Canada, the greater connection that person will have to our country.
Requiring prospective Canadians to be physically present in Canada for four out of six years is not onerous, given what is granted to them, which is citizenship. Citizenship bestows rights and protections many foreign nationals do not have. As Canadian citizens, they can vote and seek elected office, so it is important that they participate in Canadian life before they become citizens.
The requirement that prospective Canadians file Canadian income taxes is also positive. Under the Income Tax Act, Canadian residents must file Canadian income tax. This requirement is logical and should not be controversial.
A concern I have is with respect to changes in the residency time calculation for individuals who have resided in Canada before as temporary foreign workers.
The minister has said that residency is important to demonstrate a commitment to Canada, and I agree with that. However, the immigration system in this country has progressively moved to an employer-driven system, in which most economic immigrants must work as temporary foreign workers before they are eligible for permanent residence. The waiting time for permanent residency can range from months to years. By allowing these individuals to count some of their time as half-credit, they are given the opportunity to accumulate time toward the four our of six required, and this half-credit should be maintained, as these individuals have worked in Canada and have filed Canadian income taxes.
As well, I believe that certain specific days spent outside Canada should be counted as days inside Canada for the purpose of the residency calculation. In this connection, I look at section 28 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which allows for certain periods of time outside Canada to count as time in Canada for the retention of permanent residency. I believe that time spent outside Canada by a permanent resident employed on a full-time basis by a Canadian business should be counted as time in Canada. As well, family members going to that country with that permanent resident should be able to count that time.
On the issue of intent to reside, with respect to this declaration, while I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting Canadians to live in Canada, there are many Canadians who contribute to Canada on the world stage. Canada has long recognized the importance of Canadian business people, entertainers, and athletes overseas, and we should not require them to live in Canada if their ability to contribute to our country can best be served abroad.
In this connection, I'd like to note for you that this government and previous governments have worked very hard to negotiate free trade agreements that give preferential treatment to Canadian citizens who want to work abroad. We can't be negotiating free trade agreements with various countries, allowing Canadian citizens to work abroad, and then turning around and saying that if you're naturalized, you must have an intent to live here.
On treason, terrorism, and spying, I think those provisions that allow for the revocation and refusal of citizenship are also welcome. Treason and spying are offences against Canada's interests, and the proposal to allow citizenship to be revoked for these offences is reasonable. Since terrorism is an offence not only against Canadians but also against people in other parts of the world, a process to strip away citizenship from these types of criminals is also reasonable.
Having said that, it is important that individuals be convicted of these crimes in a Canadian court before their citizenship is taken away. As long as an individual has first been presumed innocent, has had an opportunity to defend themselves in a Canadian court, and then is found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, revoking Canadian citizenship is reasonable. This being said, citizenship should not be revoked for minor offences, and the minimum threshold of five years of incarceration for terrorism offences may be too short.
I have a concern about revoking citizenship or refusing it for terrorism for those convicted outside of Canada. Should our country revoke citizenship for an individual convicted of terrorism in Syria, Iran, or North Korea? Should we revoke citizenship for an individual convicted of terrorism in the U.S., U.K., or Japan? As it is impossible to ensure that an individual is provided with all the protections of Canadian law, including our charter, unless that person is tried in Canada, citizenship revocation for terrorism should occur only if that person is convicted in Canada.
However, if the government still wishes to pursue this type of revocation for convictions outside of Canada, then one thing that should be considered is looking at a list of countries that we would consider as having an equivalent system, outside of the broad discussion of equivalency in the bill. What I would think would be the best way to look at things is to take a look at the countries where we have extradition treaties. Now, I've not reviewed this list and I'm not an extradition expert, but that may be the basis of saying that these are the countries where we can take terrorism offences and say that we will accept these for the purposes of citizenship revocation.
Madam Chair, thank you very much. I don't have any other remarks, and I stand available for questions.