This amendment seeks to eliminate the bar to citizenship for those charged with or convicted of offences equivalent to indictable offences in Canada.
We heard from a range of organizations, Mr. Chair: the Canadian Bar Association; the Canadian Council for Refugees; Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic; as an individual, Peter Edelmann; and Legal Aid Ontario.
Not all justice systems in the world are equal. Most importantly, some countries deal with corruption at various levels of justice and political systems, from local police to national leaders. This can and does lead to unjust charges and convictions. We know of situations as well where charges are politically motivated. For example, individuals in this situation are some of the most vulnerable and barring them from Canadian citizenship is another instance of injustice. The situation should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, not to say that they should all automatically have access to citizenship.
Some great examples were highlighted in our presentation. I think Mr. Fahmy is a case in point why an automatic exclusion of citizenship would be unfair. My amendment seeks to remedy those kinds of situations.