Mr. Chair, the technical amendment is:
That Bill C-24, in Clause 3, be amended (a) by deleting lines 7 to 22 on page 11 (b) by deleting lines 31 and 32 on page 14.
In general, we oppose the government on eligibility requirements for citizenship. We think that by increasing the barriers to citizenship the government is devaluing citizenship and sending a message to prospective new Canadians that they are not welcome here.
On the specific amendment, we delete the intent to reside provisions of clause 3. We're opposed to these provisions because this committee has been repeatedly warned by lawyers that these provisions are almost certainly unconstitutional.
Minister Alexander has effectively told us that these would be for show and nothing more, but he was later contradicted by his own officials, so it's not clear that the government itself understands these provisions, and we don't think they should be in the bill. That's the foundation of our proposed amendment.