Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I understand that each committee member has been provided a copy of the proposed amendment.
I move that Bill C-3, in clause 2, be amended by adding after line 16 on page 1 the following:
(a.1) that person was born prior to April 17, 1985 and is a direct descendant of the person referred to in paragraph (a) or of a person referred to in paragraph 11(1)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e) or (f) as they read immediately prior to April 17, 1985;
In proposing this particular amendment, we certainly consulted with those who had been before the committee and those who could provide some advice or some clarity on this particular amendment. This particular amendment proposes to respond to the vast majority of the witnesses, if not all of the witnesses, who indicated that there would be residual discrimination based on what was in Bill C-3. So finding an amendment that satisfies the grievances of those who appeared before us and trying to be all-encompassing when it comes to removing a residual discrimination, this is the amendment we came up with.
The effect of our amendment is to make entitlement to paragraph 6(1)(a) status totally non-discriminatory. That would be the effect, the basic impact, of this particular amendment.
Some will say, and probably rightly so, that this is more reflective of what was in the Supreme Court of B.C.'s ruling and not as reflective, maybe, of what was in the B.C. Court of Appeal's ruling, which was much narrower. But we've always made the argument that in fact the government had the ability to respond in the way it so chose to respond to the B.C. Court of Appeal's decision. So we feel that this is a way to respond effectively and efficiently to the pleas of witnesses, particularly Sharon McIvor, who came before this committee and whose long battle and whose court case has helped lay before us Bill C-3.
That's what I will say to this particular amendment, Mr. Chair.