These proposals once again fall into the category of what we would describe as a transitional type of provision. It's technical, but it's important that it be there for the department to be able to implement the bill correctly and in line with previous legislative remedies.
Our understanding is that the NDP amendment, as shared, is intended to clarify, first of all, that those who are benefiting in the cohort are receiving Canadian citizenship back to the date of their birth, not to the date that a bill comes into force.
Then the element that's added by the subamendment that was just shared is to clarify that if those who are receiving automatic citizenship back to the date of their birth have already been granted Canadian citizenship, it's as though they've never been granted citizenship. They are considered automatic citizens from the date of their birth. It's undoing the grant of citizenship, if I can put it that way.
That is a transitional provision. It's important that it be there. It's also consistent with the legislative remedies that were done in 2015 and in 2009. It's so that the department, when we receive a request for proof of citizenship, can process it correctly. We know that we're dealing with someone who is a citizen from birth. We're no longer dealing with someone who was at some point granted Canadian citizenship.