Citizenship and Immigration committee  They might think twice. I'm not sure how many people who are prepared to commit an act of terrorism do value our citizenship, but they certainly use it. This is part of the problem. They acquire it and they use it ruthlessly.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. May I begin by congratulating Mr. Devinder Shory for his thoughtful and indeed inspiring bill honouring the Canadian Armed Forces. I'd like to comment on both aspects of the bill—shortening the wait time for citizenship and also revoking citizenship. I'

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Yes. To some extent, we have blurred the difference between full citizenship and simply living here and having permanent residence status. In fact, the 1977 Citizenship Act reduced the residency period from five to three years to make it easier for non-citizens to become Canadian

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Well, I think it will make Americans more comfortable about coming to Canada, simply because when the system is up and fully working they'll be able to enter much more easily than in the past. Also, the American government will be more comfortable with the arrangements we have in

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think the border in general will still be fairly tight in terms of security, but I think it will be a lot easier. I take your point. The eTA does not impact directly on American citizens. Interestingly, one of the issues in connection with cross-border traffic is that we're n

Citizenship and Immigration committee  [Inaudible—Editor]...the results, but I have not heard of any major problems. I might just comment, though, on your last question, Ms. Groguhé. In the case where someone is turned down—

Citizenship and Immigration committee  All right.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Are you asking me?

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Well, I said that I'm not aware of any studies, but as far as I know, the system has worked well.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As I indicated earlier, hopefully when it's all implemented and working properly it's going to be a very positive development. I don't have a lot of details on how it's worked in the United States, but I have seen the figure that 98% of people who have to get authorization to go

Citizenship and Immigration committee  No, I'm not aware of any studies. The U.S. and Australia, of course, have the equivalent of eTAs. We do know what we think the impact on Canada of the lack of such a system has been. I cited a Fraser Institute paper that stated it could be in the range of $7 billion. The biggest

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The proposed electronic travel authorization makes sense, particularly if it provides screening for nationals of countries that are visa-exempt and who plan to travel to Canada. At the moment we don't have anything to cover them. It helps to identify

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think that's a solid point. This afternoon, you have me and you have these two gentlemen, and you had the three people on the previous panel who were all concerned about rights of people who have committed some kind of serious crime, war criminals and so on. The pendulum has no

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I like your description. The Clinton Gayle case that is being raised is called an excuse. It's not. These are real serious concrete problems. Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad is the poster boy, as someone described him, for refugee claimants. In his case, a convicted terrorist, it

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I think it definitely would. The issue was raised earlier by Ms. Sitsabaiesan about resources. I happen to be rather sympathetic to some aspects. Mr. Waldman raised this as well. I don't think we're properly resourced. For instance, we don't interview most immigrants applying to