Mr. Speaker, the original private member's bill would have led to statelessness because it did not specify where there was dual citizenship.
In this bill, it could happen. In many cases people who are thought to have dual citizenship may not.
I have heard my Conservative colleagues yell across the way that it is all about holding people to account for treachery or treasonous activities. Nobody in the NDP has said that wayward or treasonous citizens must not be held to account. Absolutely, they must be held to account.
We still believe in the judicial system. Even the most egregious crime, no matter what it is, demands fair and equal treatment under the law. This legislation would confer different levels of citizenship on different citizens. Individuals born in Canada could find themselves being removed from Canada after they have lost their citizenship. To me, that just seems bizarre. Somebody else who is born in Canada would not be facing the same kind of double jeopardy.
This just seems wrong. It does not even pass the common sense test.