Citizenship and Immigration Committee on May 29th, 2023

[Nicole Girard]

This is dealing with those who passed away sometime between 1867 and 1947. The first Citizenship Act came into force on January 1, 1947. It's dealing with persons who passed away before that time. Had they been alive subsequently, they would have become citizens but for their death.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thank you.

We will go to a vote on NDP‑6.

(Amendment negatived: nays 9; yeas 2 [See Minutes of Proceedings])

Just to let everyone know, NDP‑7 cannot be moved because of the fact that NDP‑2 was defeated.

With that, we'll now complete clause 1.

Yes, go ahead, Mr. Kmiec.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Without reviewing, clause 1.1 is a different clause. Is that right?

I'm sorry. I don't have the original piece of legislation. I only have it by amendment.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We will be going to the next one, clause 1.1, so—

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

That's perfect. Okay. I wanted to make sure.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Yes, this is clause 1. We will proceed to clause 1.1 after that.

Is everyone okay?

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I would ask for a recorded division, Madam Chair. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Okay. We will take a vote on clause 1 as amended.

(Clause 1 as amended agreed to: yeas 7; nays 4)

Now we will proceed to the new clause 1.1 in NDP-8.

Ms. Kwan, would you like to move it?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I actually have a new NDP-8 to move. The new NDP-8 essentially collapses all the subamendments, the three subamendments from the government side, into one. That new NDP-8 is being shared with the clerk for distribution, and I will quickly talk a bit about what it does.

Effectively, NDP-8 ensures that the new connection test is also able to be applied to children adopted from abroad, and it also addresses what happens if the child is born before the death of the parent who must meet the connection test. How this new NDP-8 would differ from the previous one is that it does remove the grandparents component piece, so this is different in the sense that it—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Ms. Kwan, just to clarify one thing, is the new NDP-8 you're moving in regard to document reference number 12456799?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Yes. It's 12456799.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Okay. That's good. Thank you. You can proceed.

I have Mr. Redekopp.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Is this being sent around to us?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Yes. That's what I wanted to confirm before it is sent out: which one she is speaking to.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Okay. Can we maybe pause for a second until we have it?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We'll let her read first and then we will.

Ms. Kwan, you can go ahead.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I'll read this into the record so that people know what I'm talking about.

Essentially, it brings forward all of the changes—I guess this is a better way of saying it—we talked about earlier around the connection test and the application for parents. It applies it to adopted children as well. That's essentially what this does.

The new NDP-8 will read as follows. First, I move that Bill S-245 be amended by adding after line 18 on page 1 the following new clauses:

1.1 Subsection 4(2) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(2) For the purposes of paragraph 3(1)(b), subsection 3(2) and paragraphs 3(3)(a.01) and (c), if a child is born after the death of either of their parents, the child shall be deemed to have been born before the death of that parent.

1.2 (1) Paragraph 5.1(4)(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(a) if, at the time of their adoption,

(i) only one of the adoptive parents was a citizen and that parent was a citizen under paragraph 3(1)(b), (c.1), (e), (g), (g.1), (h), (o), (p), (q) or (r), or both of the adoptive parents were citizens under any of those paragraphs, and

(ii) neither of the adoptive parents was a citizen who had a substantial connection with Canada;

(2) Paragraph 5.1(4)(b) of the Act is replaced by the following:

(b) if, at any time, only one of the adoptive parents was a citizen and that parent was a citizen under any of the provisions referred to in subparagraphs 3(3)(b)(i) to (viii), or both of the adoptive parents were citizens under any of those provisions and, at the time of their adoption, neither of the adoptive parents was a citizen who had a substantial connection with Canada.”

Effectively, this brings all of the changes that were passed previously on the connection test and this has application for parents of adopted children as well.

In an ideal universe, Madam Chair, I would have liked to have grandparents apply here. I know that is not the will of the majority of the committee. I'm not going to be able to get that through. I have accepted defeat. Therefore, I'm moving this amendment, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Thanks a lot, Ms. Kwan.

Because this has to be distributed to all of the members, I would suggest that we suspend the meeting for a few minutes so that the clerk can do that. Members can have a look and then we'll come back.

The meeting is suspended.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I call the meeting to order.

The new NDP-8 has been circulated to all the members. We have new clause 1.1, NDP-8, on the floor.

Mr. Redekopp.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I actually have a quick point of order just to say that we have a CPC amendment coming after this one but before NDP-9. I just want to make sure we get the chance to raise that one before we move on to NDP-9, after we're done with this one.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We have NDP-8 on the floor. Is there any discussion?

Mr. Redekopp.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

My first question is for the officials.

Tell us your thoughts on the implications of this. Is this worded correctly and are there unintended consequences, etc.?

Before I do that, I just want to say that I think the adoption piece—which is what we're talking about now—is important to all of us. We, on this side, are interested in finding a way to fix this problem that's been in this legislation for a while. It's one thing that all of us have had a lot of contacts, letters, emails and conversations about, so it is something we want to fix.

As always, we want to make sure that it's done correctly, so that we don't create any further unintended consequences.

Please share your thoughts on what's proposed here.

[Nicole Girard]

As stated, this amendment is important, for equity, to extend citizenship to international adoptees who are being adopted in the second generation and beyond by a Canadian who is himself or herself a first-generation Canadian born abroad.

The department is also aware of concerns of parents of international adoptees who are looking for a direct route to citizenship such as this one, where a connection test is met as an alternative to going through the immigration process and the sponsorship route, where families are affected by the first-generation limit. This remedy would be beneficial and helpful from that perspective.

There are not any concerns about unintended consequences.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Thank you.

For our benefit and for the benefit of some of those watching, could you maybe give us an example or two of how this would actually work in practice? Maybe point out where the problems are today and how this would fix that problem with an example or maybe a couple of examples.

[Nicole Girard]

The issue today is that, if your parent is born in or naturalized in Canada and chooses to adopt internationally, there is direct access to citizenship. Where the Canadian parent is already first generation and born abroad—so the grandparent was born or naturalized in Canada—parents are affected by the first-generation limit, just as they are when their child is naturally born abroad in the second generation or beyond.

This amendment provides direct access to citizenship in those circumstances where one Canadian parent is able to meet that same connection test, as was previously discussed. It provides an important remedy that's being sought to address those concerns.

Thank you.