Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our witnesses, Mr. Quiggin and Mr. Leuprecht, for coming to the committee this morning.
Thank you very much for your expert testimony. You're obviously both very well versed in this area and I appreciate listening to your perspectives on the issue.
I think you rightly said, Mr. Leuprecht, that having a Canadian passport is a privilege, and with privileges come responsibilities and accountability. Certainly we want to protect the integrity of all passports that are issued in Canada, and also make sure that we maintain its recognizability and the special privilege it is to hold a passport like that.
We've heard many stories in the media over the last few weeks of people, especially young folks, who have tried to travel to Istanbul, Turkey, and then further on to Syria, often against the wishes of family members or without their knowledge. Law enforcement officials have been working hard to make sure that these incidents of unauthorized travel by minors are minimized, but it seems to me that it's quite obvious why we need these provisions strengthening our laws to give us the ability to cancel, to refuse, or to revoke passports.
Could you talk a little bit more about what the purpose really is, the way you see it? What would be the purpose of strengthening the ability to revoke a passport or to cancel a passport?