Citizenship and Immigration committee  No, the sponsors in the context of sponsorship of a dependent child do not have to be resident in Canada. So they can do the sponsorship, the processing can take place, and in fact these cases are expedited. In the rare event that an individual may be stateless, as I indicated

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, Mr. Batters. This issue is covered, actually, in the first issue paper that I spoke about. Citizenship in Canada was created by Parliament on January 1, 1947. Before that date, individuals in Canada had the status of British subjects with Canadian domicile. So the si

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The minister and the Governor in Council continue to use the only discretionary power that exists in the act. That's subsection 5(4), the special grant of citizenship. And that's used both for stateless persons and for persons who are not stateless.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  When the committee tabled its report in December, it asked for a formal response from the government on the report. And in the normal course of events, the government will be responding to all the recommendations in the bill. I'm here today to give you information about Bill C-37

Citizenship and Immigration committee  You should not, sir, interpret it that way. What I'm saying to you is that we are working on a formal response to these recommendations. As I understand it, the rules of Parliament give the government 120 days to provide a formal response, and I think it would be premature for me

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Honestly, I don't know the answer to that question.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  My understanding is that when the assistant deputy minister, Janet Siddall, appeared before this committee in early June, I believe, she made an undertaking. She spoke about this. Certainly we understand, when we're passing on significant information to our clients, either citize

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I can't answer that question. I'm not prepared for an answer to that question.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  My department is here to implement the policy that has been set either by the government or by Parliament. So I wouldn't say we would have a problem with that policy or another policy. We are here to implement the policy that has been set.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That is exactly how section 8 works. Section 8 works by application. Individuals must come forward. They must identify to us that they exist and that they meet the requirements. Section 8 is, to be honest, part of the problem--not that I'm not always honest.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Bill C-37 is as outlined by the minister in May, and certainly it is following almost all the recommendations of the committee's report. The committee report does include a number of recommendations that don't deal specifically with the legislation, so I can't say that it is sati

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Absolutely.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Bill C-37 gives individuals back their citizenship if they were considered citizens of Canada and lost it for any reason other than revocation for fraud, renunciation as an adult, or failure to retain it in the second or subsequent generation...in the 1977 act.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The bill is generally in keeping with those principles.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The recommendation does not make it clear, so let me be clear. The bill deals with individuals who became citizens, or who would have become citizens, on January 1, 1947, and subsequent to that. That date is significant in the history of Canadian citizenship because that was wh