Yes, Mr. Chairman. This would provide that a Canadian will have a full appeal to the Federal Court in the case of citizenship revocation proceedings.
Canadian citizenship, of course, is our most fundamental right. The government shouldn't have the power to remove it without a full and complete right of appeal to the courts. It's absolutely mind-boggling, in fact, that the government would not support such an amendment. To not support such an appeal right would fly in the face of our charter and in the face of the rules of natural justice.
As we have heard from some of our witnesses before this committee, this committee must not think in terms of the here and now. The Conservatives may trust this particular minister with these wide-ranging powers, but do they trust the next minister? Would they willingly hand these powers to a Liberal minister, for example, or even a New Democrat minister? I won't go farther than that, but what about a minister belonging to some new party we haven't heard of yet?
We must always ensure that Canadians have the protection of the courts from the actions of an overly political government, because we cannot predict the electoral future, sadly.