Mr. Speaker, as I have been endeavouring to do ever since Parliament reconvened this fall, it is my pleasure to introduce yet another petition today, this one from citizens of Edmonton and Calgary in Alberta, and from Aurora, Barrie, Brampton, Bradford, Bolton, Burlington, Cambridge and Toronto in Ontario. These petitioners wish to draw to the attention of the House the fact that each year an average of about 2,000 children are adopted from other countries and are brought to Canada by Canadian families who welcome them into their lives.
However, despite the fact that children adopted by residents of the United States of America and Great Britain are granted automatic citizenship upon adoption finalization and entering that country, or on the date of the adoption order respectively, these new children welcomed into Canada are not. Therefore, the petitioners are asking Parliament to immediately enact legislation to grant automatic citizenship to those minors adopted from other countries by Canadian citizens, with this citizenship being immediately granted upon the finalization of their adoption.