Citizenship and Immigration Committee on June 1st, 2023

[Nicole Girard]

The impact of the first-generation limit is that only the first generation born or adopted abroad have direct access to citizenship, if I can put it that way in summary terms. The benefit of the connection test amendments that have been voted on by this committee to date is that a Canadian parent who is already the first generation born abroad and is therefore not able to automatically transmit citizenship to a child born or adopted abroad under current legislative provisions would be able to do so in the future under the amended provisions of this bill, whether the child is born abroad in the second generation or beyond, or adopted abroad in the second generation or beyond, because the parent is already considered first generation.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I'm satisfied with the answer, so thank you for that.

This is an amendment that we can vote for, but once we get to new clause 1.4, the CPC has a floor amendment that we will be proposing. I'm just giving you notice of that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Is it before new clause 1.4 or after new clause 1.4?

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

It's at new clause 1.4. If you give me a few seconds after we do the recorded division on this amendment, I can provide you exactly which one.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Okay.

Seeing no further debate, we will vote on G-7.

(Amendment agreed to: yeas 11; nays 0 [See Minutes of Proceedings])

Now we will proceed to new clause 1.3 and G-8.

Mrs. Lalonde, would you like to move G-8?

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Orléans, ON]

No, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Okay.

Just to clarify, Mr. Kmiec, is it before new clause 1.4 or after new clause 1.4?

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

It is a new clause. It will be in new clause 1.3 after line 18 on page 1.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Okay, you can move it.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

I was going to say that Ms. Rempel Garner has the....

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Go ahead, Ms. Rempel Garner.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Thank you.

I move that Bill S-245 be amended by adding after line 18 on page 1 the following new clause:

1.4 The Act is amended by adding the following after Section 23:

Members of the Senate shall not be eligible to be delegated authority unless they are an appointed member of the King's Privy Council.

I can't believe that we're here, but I think that any time this committee now has an opportunity to clarify that members of Parliament and other parliamentarians, particularly the Senate, do not have delegated authority to make decisions that affect either citizenship or other immigration applications, we should avail ourselves of doing that.

There are pending court cases now, given that a member of the Senate took it upon herself to assume that she had delegated authority to make these types of decisions. Given what's happened before and what our committee has been seized with this year, I think it's important to articulate in acts that there has to be a clearly delineated line of authority to make immigration decisions, be it, as in this case, the Citizenship Act or otherwise.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Ms. Rempel Garner, if I can interrupt, members don't have that amendment.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Yes, sure.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I will suspend the meeting for a few minutes so this amendment can be circulated to all the members in both official languages, and then we will reconvene.

The meeting is suspended.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

I call the meeting to order.

I hope everyone has received that amendment. We have CPC-3 on the floor, and Ms. Rempel Garner was speaking.

Go ahead, Mr. Kmiec.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Madam Chair, when this amendment was originally written, I suspect we were doing the Afghanistan study and then the follow-up studies as well, because this amendment stems from the idea that there was a member of the Senate who...and there have been many news articles written about it.

I just want to offer a subamendment to fix it up, erasing the words “Members of the Senate” and saying “Any parliamentarian” and then “shall not be eligible to be delegated authority unless they are an appointed member of the King's Privy Council”. The subamendment would just delete “Members of the Senate” and substitute “Any parliamentarian”.

The purpose of this change is so that no—

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Mr. Kmiec, can you please repeat the subamendment?

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

It would just be deleting “Members of the Senate” and substituting “Any parliamentarian”.

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

We have a subamendment on the floor by Mr. Kmiec, replacing the words “Members of the Senate” with “Any parliamentarian”.

We have Ms. Kwan.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

I have a question for the officials.

I wonder if the officials can clarify for the committee whether at present anybody can have this authority, because as it stands right now it is my understanding that nobody actually can have delegated authority unless the minister explicitly indicates so. In the Afghanistan situation with the senator, it is our understanding that there has been no delegated authority given.

Can we get some clarification on delegated authority and whether it is the parliamentarian, the Senate, or just some guy on the street who can have this authority?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Go ahead, Ms. Girard.

[Nicole Girard]

Madame Chair, as it stands under section 23 of the Citizenship Act, a delegation of authority must be done by the minister “in writing”. Those are the key operative words: that the delegation must be done “in writing”.

I would further note that in general those delegations are done in writing to various members in the department selected by the minister, under formal written delegation instruments.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

I'll ask one further question.

In the past, has a minister delegated that authority to other parliamentarians?

[The Chair, Liberal, Salma Zahid]

Go ahead, Ms. Girard.