Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise again, as I have endeavoured to do all fall in this session of Parliament, to present petitions on an issue of great importance to citizens from coast to coast. This petition is signed by citizens from Toronto, Mississauga, Scarborough, Welland, Port Colborne, Paris and other towns and cities in the great province of Ontario.
The petitioners would like to draw the attention of the House to the fact that on average about 2,000 children are adopted from foreign countries and brought to Canada, yet they do not receive automatic citizenship.
Therefore, the petitioners call upon Parliament to immediately enact legislation to grant automatic citizenship to those minors adopted from other countries by Canadian citizens with the citizenship being immediately granted upon the finalization of the adoption.
I need not remind members again that the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has committed to doing this. We are in mid-November and we still do not have the legislation to do it. I call upon him, on behalf of these citizens and many others, to bring that forward post-haste.