Mr. Speaker, again, as I have been doing at virtually every opportunity, it is my pleasure to present a petition on behalf of adoptive families here in Canada.
This petition is from citizens in Port Colborne, Niagara Falls, Mallorytown, Burnstown, Welland and Chesterville in Ontario and also from Truro, Halifax, New Glasgow and Pictou Landing in Nova Scotia.
All of these citizens wish to draw the attention of the House to the fact that on average about 2,000 children are adopted from foreign countries every year and brought to our nation and yet, unlike other countries, specifically the United States of America and Great Britain, these children are not granted automatic citizenship in Canada.
Therefore these citizens are seeking that Parliament 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 the adoption.