Thank you, Chair.
I would also take the opportunity to welcome my colleagues back to Parliament. As I said to some of them, I'm very excited to be here and to do the great work our constituents have sent us to do.
In terms of the motion my colleague eloquently moved, I just want to stress the importance of it. I want to talk about the importance of Canadian citizenship. It provides all Canadians with a deep sense of belonging in the diverse and democratic country that we get to call home.
I want to point out that in 2009, and I think earlier in the House, when we were debating this motion, one of my colleagues talked about why she ran. I want to circle back on that, because that is one of the reasons I turned to politics, as an avenue for advocating for my community members and the many people who do not get the opportunity to be here, to take part in legislative activities and to make sure their voices are heard.
In 2009, there was a legislative amendment made by the Harper Conservatives creating the Citizenship Act that currently restricts citizenship by descent for the first generation born abroad. There were many Citizenship Act changes made that prevented many Canadians from acting as Canadians and they fell into a system of second-class citizens. Many of us were revolted by the idea. If I can speak for myself and other colleagues who have expressed the same sentiment, we ran because we did not want to see the Conservatives continue to make double classes of citizenship in Canada.
Not only does this leave out those who have a genuine connection to Canada, who are born from Canadian parents, but it also has unacceptable consequences for Canadians whose children were born outside the country. We introduced this legislation to remove the first-generation limit and extend Canadian citizenship to the lost Canadians.
Talking about who has the right to identify as a Canadian actually goes against our charter rights. Therefore, I'm pleased to see my amazing colleague move this motion and for us to debate it and talk about why it's important to restore the status of lost Canadians, to eliminate the first-generation limit and to remove this second class of citizens. Left to the Conservatives, many Canadians would find themselves in a second-class citizenship sector. That's why we were elected and that's why we're here: to advocate on behalf of many Canadians who don't have the opportunity to speak for themselves. We've worked quite extensively with a lot of community members who are impacted by this legislation, which was passed by Harper's Conservatives, and actually the leader of the Conservatives right now, Pierre Poilievre. We've worked to make sure we can restore the sense of citizenship, the sense of belonging and the diversity to our democratic country.
I'm very happy to see this motion moving forward. I'm very happy to hear many colleagues from the different parties. Whether it's the Bloc Québécois, the NDP or the Green Party, they've all been advocating for making sure that Canadians remain Canadians, Canadians are Canadians, without having to have a tier level of who's considered a good Canadian or not a good Canadian. I'm happy to continue to hear the thoughts of all of my colleagues.
I just want to point out this was moved by the Harper government in 2009, with the current leader as a member who adopted this legislation. I think it's important we highlight that point because, if left to him, he would want to continue to create second-class citizens. Unfortunately for him, he's going to continue to create more politicians like me, who are going to fight to the end to make sure that Canadians' rights, their charter rights, are protected.
Thank you, Chair.