Amendment CPC-41 should be distributed. I'll speak to it once it's in everybody's hands.
Amendment CPC-41 is that Bill S-245 be amended by adding after line 18 on page 1 the following new clause:
1.4 Section 24 of the Act is amended by adding the following:
Respecting holidays and days of significance to promote Canada's multicultural identity
24.1 (27) Citizenship ceremonies may not be scheduled on Tet.
Tet is an important day of celebration and a time of reflection and hope for many in Asia. It's especially celebrated by many people in the Vietnamese community. I remember growing up with many friends, and a lot of my mom's clients especially were either from Vietnam or from Hong Kong. Tet is a chance for families and extended family members to celebrate together and give blessings for good luck and for cleansing of bad fortune in the past.
Again, it's really important for us to make sure that we enshrine this in legislation and ensure that persons don't have to pick between going to their citizenship ceremony and taking the oath to become new Canadians versus spending that time with family and being able to celebrate some of their cultural inheritance and holidays from their countries of origin after they come here to Canada. I think it's important to enshrine that in law and to make sure that Tet is one of those holidays.