NDP multiculturalism critic Andrew Cash said the bill, currently before the Senate, would allow the government to deport a Canadian-born citizen who happens to have citizenship elsewhere to a country “they have no connection to.” “This is nonsensical and it’s most likely unconstitutional,” Cash said during question period in the House of Commons. “Why did the government turn down every single suggestion put forward to try to fix this bill?”
VANCOUVER – Conservatives, who are seen as anti-immigrant and their current overhaul of citizenship laws only cements their anti-immigrant stance, are facing a legal challenge over their proposed changes to the citizenship laws.
The BC Civil Liberties is keeping is taking up the battle against proposed immigration law changes now sitting before the Senate.
Josh Patterson says if Bill C-24 is passed it will give those with dual citizenship fewer rights that those holding only Canadian citizenship – including the power to revoke that citizenship.
He says this is point blank wrong, “There shouldn’t be second class Canadian citizenship. That the law should treat all Canadians equally no matter where their families come from – that’s an idea that we grow up with.”
The BCCLA will be joining with Amnesty International and the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers will be taking legal action when – or if – Bill C-24 becomes law.
The Conservatives passed Bill C-24, Strengthening the Citizenship and Immigration Act this week.
Surrey-North NDP MP Jasbir Sandhu, who voted against Bill C-24, said he’s also concerned about the potential of the bill to downgrade many Canadians to second-class citizens.
“Bill C-24 fails to address the current problems with the citizenship and immigration system and creates more injustices by attributing more discretionary powers to the Minister, prolonging naturalization and discriminating against dual citizens. There are major concerns that the bill could be deemed unconstitutional as it does not comply with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” Sandhu said.
“While Canadians continue to face ridiculously long wait times for citizenship applications, this government uses its power to grant themselves more discretionary powers and to make secretive, arbitrary decisions by cabinet ministers. Conservatives continue to fail Canadians by prioritizing their political agenda rather than meeting the needs of Canadians,” he added
However federal immigration minister Chris Alexander told the House of Commons the Conservatives won a strong mandate to reinforce the value of Canadian citizenship based on allegiance to the country.
But Opposition MPs put Alexander on the defensive last week, saying Tory legislation that would greatly broaden the grounds for taking away citizenship — even from some people born in Canada.
Currently, someone may be stripped of Canadian citizenship for attaining it through false representations.
The federal bill would increase the scope to include those born in Canada but eligible to claim citizenship in another country — for instance, through their parents — and expand the grounds for revocation to include several criminal offences.
Toronto lawyer Rocco Galati is spearheading a planned constitutional challenge of the provision, calling the government proposals reckless.
NDP multiculturalism critic Andrew Cash said the bill, currently before the Senate, would allow the government to deport a Canadian-born citizen who happens to have citizenship elsewhere to a country “they have no connection to.”
“This is nonsensical and it’s most likely unconstitutional,” Cash said during question period in the House of Commons.
“Why did the government turn down every single suggestion put forward to try to fix this bill?”
The “arbitrary” change put forward by the government cuts to the absolute core of what it means to be Canadian, said Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett.
“How can the minister justify this abuse of power which tramples on the rights of Canadians, even those who were born here in Canada?”
The government’s legislation would create different classes of Canadian citizens and allow it to banish people from the country, the Canadian Bar Association says.
In a brief on the bill, the association says banishment is one of the most serious punishments that can be inflicted on a citizen — one that has not been in common use since the Middle Ages.
At a Senate committee examining the bill Wednesday, Barbara Jackman, a member of the association’s national immigration law section, suggested the bar for losing citizen would be far too low.
She pointed to the recent case of Canadian Greenpeace activists who faced prosecution for protesting at a Russian oil platform in the Arctic.
“Had they been convicted, they could have lost citizenship, that’s how broad it is,” Jackman said.
“That’s just a protest, but that protest can be characterized as terrorism. I think in addition to that, it’s what comes next? Once you open the door … citizenship is not secure for any Canadian. That is not the understanding that Canadians have of their citizenship.”
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