Citizenship Act  Mr. Speaker, I wonder whether my colleague would support this amendment, which failed at the committee because it was deemed to be inadmissible. It relates to people who are deemed to be second generation born. Effective April 17, 2009, in Bill C-37, second generation children born abroad were restricted from obtaining Canadian citizenship.

Citizenship Act  Mr. Speaker, yes, I still intend to support the bill, although it could have been made a lot better had the government been thoughtful about it and incorporated some of those essential amendments that I had tabled at committee. The other amendment that the government did adopt at committee was the recommendation to address, in part, the issue of statelessness.

Citizenship Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my good colleague for those very kind comments. That is very encouraging. Indeed, Bill C-6 failed to bring forward proper due process for those who face losing their citizenship. In a normal set of circumstances, people who are given a parking ticket or a speeding ticket could appeal that process by going to court.

Citizenship Act  Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for North Island—Powell River. At the Standing Committee for Citizenship and Immigration, I had the opportunity to hear witnesses from across Canada and they offered their expertise on how we could make Canada's immigration laws better.

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act  moved for leave to introduce Bill C-294, An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (cessation of refugee protection). Mr. Speaker, I rise to table a private member's bill to repeal cessation provisions in Bill C-31. Bill C-31 came into force on December 15, 2012, and it is retroactive.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, Canadians have submitted applications to privately sponsor at least 100 Syrian refugee families based in northern Iraq. These applications are being held up because Canada has no capacity to process them. If authorized, the UNHCR can step in and get the job done. Now to make matters worse, IRCC is considering Syrian-born refugees who have fled to northern Iraq as Iraqis.

National Anthem Act  Mr. Speaker, let me begin my debate by congratulating the member for Ottawa—Vanier for his perseverance in bringing the bill forward. It is my understanding that this is the second time that he has brought this forward. I think we are very close to realizing his dream of ensuring that the House of Commons brings forward words that reflect all communities, that include all communities, for that is what the symbolism of this change is all about.

Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 1  Mr. Speaker, the member spoke about young people and aboriginal communities' economic generation. He talked about the future of Canada. During the campaign, the member actually made a commitment to his constituents that Kinder Morgan would be under a renewed environmental assessment process.

Petitions  Mr. Speaker, on the eve of the community coming together to rally to save Crab Park, I rise to table a petition containing 1,458 names. The petition highlights the fact that the Vancouver East community has fought long and hard for the creation of Crab Park, including a 75-day occupation of crown land by Don Larson, founder of the Crab—Water for Life Society, in 1984.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, the government spent over $2.3 million to renovate Canadian military bases to serve as temporary lodgings for Syrian refugees, but they were never used, because at the last minute, the government changed course and decided to house the refugees in hotels at the cost of over $14 million.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her very thoughtful comments. The member referenced taking various legal avenues. With respect to the atrocities that have taken place, would the member agree that Canada should be asking the UN Security Council to mandate international independent investigations into these atrocities?

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, at our committee this last Tuesday, a witness from the One Free World International presented a brief. In his comments he suggested that 400 young Yazidi girls had been rescued, yet they did not have the means to find their way to come to Canada as refugees. To my understanding, the same presentation was also made at the committee on foreign affairs.

Homelessness  Mr. Speaker, the city of Vancouver has released its finding for its 10th homelessness count, and the results are heartbreaking. Over a 24-hour period in March, staff and hundreds of volunteers counted a record-breaking 1,847 homeless people in Vancouver, a 6% increase from 2015, of which 38% of the homeless population was aboriginal peoples.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, on the transportation loan question, there is nothing that would bar the government from retroactively waiving the transportation loan for those who arrived prior to November 4. Absolutely, the government can act on that, and it is much needed, by the way. The government has made ambitious promises around the commitment to address the Syrian refugee crisis.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship  Mr. Speaker, I rose in the House in April to draw attention to government-sponsored Syrian refugees in Saskatoon. We learned that the government-sponsored refugees had not received their monthly funding for April. In fact, many families received their monthly assistance nearly three weeks late.