Certainly there's a great deal that Canada could and should do with respect to statelessness. We're here talking about Bill C-6. I do think that, if you take a look at my handout, you'll see there are some changes that can be made in this context that would make a big difference right now with respect to access to citizenship; and particularly, introducing a definition in law, in the Citizenship Act, would make a big difference.
Beyond that, though, I agree. There are some larger issues that need to be dealt with, with respect to the protection of stateless persons. I know that the UNHCR, Amnesty International, and other organizations have been asking the new government to consider, once again, signing on to the 1954 convention. I think that would be a very important step, and having done that, establishing a process for status determination for stateless persons likewise would be an important step.
If we were able to recognize—through a procedure like they have in the U.K. and in other countries—a procedure for determining whether someone is truly de facto or de jure stateless, and then grant them access to Canadian status, I think that would be a critical change. That is a stand-alone measure that needs to happen, and that needs to have some debate and some legislative crafting, for sure.
Beyond that, another measure that I understand the department was looking at was to make amendments to the H and C, the humanitarian and compassionate, permanent residence guidelines to make sure that statelessness is an identified factor for the exercise of discretion under section 25 for grants of permanent residence. That would be similar to what I'm recommending now that the Citizenship Act have under subsection 5(4), which is again a recognition that statelessness is an important factor that should justify an exercise of discretion to grant citizenship.