Citizenship and Immigration committee  I speak four. Portuguese is my native tongue, and I learned Spanish when I spent a month in the Dominican Republic living with the poor. I married into the Italian culture, and I studied French in university. I had to study Latin for my degree in theology, so if the Pope comes to town I'm prepared for that.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I had just graduated from university when I was approached and asked to help rebuild the Catholic Civil Rights League. I was given a box of dusty files and asked to build an organization, and that's what I did. I basically started communicating with other Catholics across the country and put together a newsletter, a membership campaign, an advertising campaign, with pamphlets, brochures, and that sort of thing.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you. Good day, Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the committee, mesdames et messieurs. Thank you for inviting me to appear before you today. It is an honour to speak to you and to discuss my qualifications for the position of citizenship judge. As Judge Simard has informed you in his backgrounder, a citizenship judge should possess superior communication, analytical, interpersonal, and decision-making skills.