Citizenship and Immigration committee  As the minister outlined in the spring, and as was in the bill tabled in December, there are a number of overarching principles. One of the overarching principles I'd like to highlight in answer to that question is the principle of simplicity and of not forcing individuals to app

Citizenship and Immigration committee  To go back to your previous points about section 8, if I understood correctly, you're suggesting that section 8 could simply be replicated in Bill C-37. We know a number of witnesses have appeared before the committee over the past year who have highlighted all of the problems th

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Is this the case that you read out before, Mr. Telegdi?

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I don't have it right in front of me.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The first point I'd like to make is that there are a number of mechanisms that individuals born outside of Canada in the second generation would be able to use to obtain their citizenship—primarily the expedited family class process that's available for all individuals. The Can

Citizenship and Immigration committee  May I reply to that, Mr. Telegdi?

Citizenship and Immigration committee  That provision, the present section 8, as we see it, has two main concerns. One is, as you say, that citizenship can be passed on to endless generations because of the provisions; however, that individual stops being a citizen on their 28th birthday unless they take certain actio

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, and honourable members. I do have an opening statement. My name is Mark Davidson and I work in the Citizenship Branch at Citizenship and Immigration Canada. I am accompanied by Ann Heathcote and Lori Beckerman, and together, we will be able to answer your q

Citizenship and Immigration committee  If I might just make a comment, in the citizenship program we prefer to make people citizens. We prefer to promote citizenship. We do about 2,500 citizenship ceremonies a year. It's something we enjoy a lot. Since 1947, we've granted citizenship to about six million people. Tha

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It would have been impossible not to have been affected by the testimony that the committee heard. Yes, we understand that it's quite shocking. It has been shocking for individuals to hear these messages. Nevertheless, we can't ignore the law. It would be inappropriate for civil

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I couldn't disagree with you more. There are some very strange outcomes as a result of the 1947 act. I use the word “archaic”. The 1947 act had a number of very bizarre provisions whereby individuals lost their citizenship, not because of anything they had done, not because they

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'm not sure I can respond to the issue of a refugee who arrives in a container. What I can say is that in the case of Mr. Chapman and other individuals like him, Parliament, in 2005, felt there was a reason to amend the law. Parliament, the House and the Senate, amended the law

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Mr. Chair—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  —we took our appearance here very seriously. We definitely prepared, and yes, we definitely met a number of times over the last couple of weeks in order to prepare for this appearance. We take the actions of this committee—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I had understood Mr. Wilson to be referring to subsection 5(4) of the present Citizenship Act, and my answer was that I was not aware of whether or not Mr. Chapman had made a submission to the minister on that matter. I can't comment on whether or not Mr. Chapman did make a clai