Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Davenport, a great member of Parliament.
It is an honour to stand in the House of Commons today on behalf of the people of Scarborough—Woburn to talk about this important issue, Bill C-3, an act to amend the Citizenship Act. To me, this is a very simple piece of legislation that would extend automatic citizenship to anyone who was born abroad to Canadian parents before the legislation came into force, which I believe was in 2009. This includes people who are not currently able to claim citizenship by descent due to the first-generation limit, such as the remaining lost Canadians and their descendants.
This is about fairness, equality and protecting the rights of Canadians. The folks watching at home or paying attention to this debate should know that the Ontario Superior Court made a decision that was based on two parts of the Constitution. It was based on sections 6 and 15, which speak to mobility rights and equality rights. If Canadians living abroad have descendants, they have the right to be Canadians. It is a very simple piece of legislation.
I am an immigrant to this country. I was born in the U.K., in Yorkshire, England, in a town called Aidensfield. I spent the first four and a half years of my life in England. My mother is from a small town in Yorkshire called Barnsley. It is known for coal and glass-blowing. If we look at its coat of arms, that is what we see. My father is from a small island off the coast of Grenada called Carriacou, where there are about 10,000 people. My father went to England and met my mother, and they started a family and came to Canada.
To quote one of the greatest prime ministers this country has ever had, “Canada is the best country”, period. I love this country. It has been so good to the many people from Carriacou, Grenada, who have come here and people from all around the world.
The reason this issue is so important to all members of Parliament is that we understand the value of Canadian citizenship. We love our country. I would say there is no debate on that in the House; each of us loves our provinces and our country. Being immigrants, coming to Canada was probably the best decision my parents could have made. We value Canadian citizenship, and that is why this issue is such a difficult issue for some people to debate.
I grew up in Flemingdon Park in Toronto, and in that part of town, the majority of people were first-generation Canadians. There were people from all around the world in my building, from the Philippines, Korea, Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and a lot from Greece. It was such a multicultural environment. At dinnertime, in the hallway where I lived, we could smell every spice from around the world because there were so many different cultures in the building.
Many people now vilify immigrants coming to this country. They blame them for a lot of things, but make no mistake that outside of our indigenous past and the indigenous people in this country, every single person in this country has an immigrant past. They could have been here for 400 years, 40 years or four years. We all have an immigrant past in this country outside of our indigenous brothers and sisters. This country has been built by the efforts of many people from many different places around the world.
If someone who is granted Canadian citizenship decides to do some travelling, under a first-generation rule for someone who is the descendant of a Canadian citizen, they should be allowed to come back to their country. I believe the Ontario Superior Court made the right decision on that, because it is about equality and our ability to have mobility. It means that under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we can leave, travel from and return to Canada at our own choosing as Canadians. It is part of our constitutional rights. It is part of our charter protections.
There are people who will say that Canada is broken. They will say that Canada is not the country it used to be. I do not believe that. I believe Canada is the greatest country in the world. I believe that wholeheartedly.
I was in an Uber a couple of days ago and met a gentleman who is a doctor in his country. He is a Canadian citizen now and is trying to get his Canadian medical residency in order to practise here. I said to him that I knew this was very challenging, because the statistics sometimes do not support any optimism in the possibility of becoming a doctor. He said the fact that he was in this country and that his rights were protected meant a lot to him. I asked him what he meant by that. He told me where he came from and talked about some of the challenges there. He said that we collectively as Canadians protect each other through our rights by making sure individual and collective rights are protected, and these are the things that help define who we are as Canadians.
We are here to protect each other. We are here to protect people so they can pray to whoever they decide, love whoever they want and have the ability say what they believe or criticize the government. These are the protections afforded under our Constitution. Within those constitutional rights, Canadian citizens have the right to enter and return to the country. There is another section for equality.
There is no question that we need to continue to support lost Canadians. We need to make sure there is a pathway so Canadians can return home and we can continue to build the type of country that has made all of us proud. To be Canadian is a very special thing, and I am so happy to stand here on behalf of my riding of Scarborough—Woburn and on behalf of all Canadians who agree with the position about making sure lost Canadians can return to this country. I want to say how proud I am to stand here and support this piece of legislation.