Mr. Speaker, as you undoubtedly know by now, at every opportunity this fall I have been rising on the same issue.
These citizens of our country, mostly from Port Colborne but also from Welland, Markham and St. Catharines in Ontario, from Laval, Quebec and Victoria, British Columbia, wish to draw to the attention of the House that each year roughly 2,000 children are adopted from foreign countries and brought to Canada and yet, unlike other nations, specifically the United States of America and Great Britain, these children are not granted automatic citizenship.
Therefore the petitioners call upon Parliament to immediately enact legislation to grant automatic citizenship to minors adopted from other countries by Canadian citizens with this citizenship being immediately granted upon finalization of the adoption.
It is the last day of October and fall is marching on. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration made this commitment to these people and the citizenry of our country and I hope he will fulfill that promise as quickly as possible.