Actually, Madam Chair, that's exactly what the government is doing, and it's why there is an article in the Toronto Star that I am reading for the record. That's exactly what the government is doing, and I'm stating this as a justification that, if this motion is passed, I intend to propose an amendment to the Citizenship Act to prevent this from happening.
Also, for all the people who are mentioned in this article, I intend for them to testify in front of committee to explain to my colleagues why it is so terrible that the government is proposing to do away with in-person citizenship ceremonies.
Just to reiterate and to assuage my colleagues' fears, the article says:
A former minister of immigration under then Prime Minister Jean Chretien was so upset that he [also] wrote an op-ed for this newspaper, calling [this proposal by this federal government under Prime Minister Trudeau] “an insult.”
This is from a former Liberal cabinet immigration minister himself, who said:
For years, my parents would recount how momentous and meaningful (the ceremony) was. Why would government want to rob future citizens of this feeling of attachment?
Next, we have another prominent defender, and this is really going to shake some of my colleagues on the other side:
Another prominent defender, former Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson, also a former refugee and presided over a few citizenship ceremonies herself as an Officer of the Order of Canada—