Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I will now be talking about your allocations because the opposition isn't doing the job on this issue.
Through the chair, Minister, I want to talk about the $45.5 million in funding that you said the department will be using to address increased application volumes for citizenship, etc. I strongly and honestly believe that citizenship is a privilege, not an entitlement. That's my belief. Of course it comes with rights and responsibilities.
I also believe that citizenship should be earned. When we talk about the time requirement, the opposition thinks it is fair that those who have no connection to Canada or have spent very little time in Canada should have the right to be Canadian citizens. The impression I also got from the opposition during the debate was that they have shown that they believe it is also right to obtain citizenship by fraudulent means.
So my question to you is this. In order for someone to become a Canadian citizen, is it too much to ask them to spend a significant amount of time in Canada? How do you compare this with other peer countries?