CITI Committee Meeting
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MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS
Meeting No. 64
Thursday, May 13, 1999
The Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration met at 9:14 a.m. this day, in Room 209, West Block, the Chair, Rey Pagtakhan, presiding.
Members of the Committee present: Jean Augustine, Mark Assad, Leon Benoit, Raymonde Folco, Sophia Leung, Steve Mahoney, John McKay, Grant McNally, Réal Ménard, Rey Pagtakhan and Andrew Telegdi.
Acting Members present: Denis Coderre for Jean Augustine; John Bryden for Paul DeVillers; Ian Murray for Raymonde Folco;
In attendance: From the Committees and Legislative Services: Susan Baldwin, Legislative Clerk. From the Parliamentary Research Branch of the Library of Parliament: Margaret Young, Research Officer.
Witnesses: From the Department of Citizenship and Immigration: Greg Fyffe, Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy and Program Development; Norman Sabourin, Director of Citizenship and Citizenship Registrar; Joan Atkinson, Director General, Selection Branch; Eric Stevens, Legal Counsel, Office of the Assistant Deputy Attorney General; Debra Pressé, Acting Manager, Legislative Compliance, Integration; Madeleine Riou, Nationality Law Advisor, Integration; Senior Officials..
Pursuant to an Order of Reference of the House dated March 1, 1999, the Committee resumed consideration of Bill C-63, An Act respecting Canadian citizenship. (See Minutes of Proceedings of Wednesday, March 3, 1999, Meeting No. 50)
By unanimous consent, the Committee reverted to Clause 43.
The Committee resumed consideration of the amendment of Leon Benoit, which is as follows:
- That Clause 43 be amended by striking out line 40, on page 21, and substituting the following therefor:
"(b) subject to affirmative resolution of the House of Commons, specifying who may make an applica-"
After debate, the question being put on the amendment, it was negatived on the following recorded division:
YEAS:
Leon Benoit
Grant McNally
Réal Ménard: -- 3
NAYS:
Mark Assad
John Bryden
Denis Coderre
Raymonde Folco
Sophia Leung
Steve Mahoney
Andrew Telegdi: -- 7
Leon Benoit moved, - That Clause 43 be amended by striking out line 18, on page 22, and substituting the following therefor:
"(e) subject to affirmative resolution of the House of Commons, providing for criteria to determine"
After debate, the question being put on the amendment, it was negatived on the following recorded division:
YEAS:
Leon Benoit
Grant McNally
Réal Ménard: -- 3
NAYS:
Mark Assad
John Bryden
Denis Coderre
Raymonde Folco
Sophia Leung
Steve Mahoney
Andrew Telegdi: -- 7
On motion of Andrew Telegdi, it was agreed, - That Clause 43 be amended by striking out in the English version only line 25, on page 22 and substituting the following therefor:
"section 8 have been met."
Leon Benoit moved, - That Clause 43 be amended by striking out line 31, on page 22, and substituting the following therefor:
"(i) subject to affirmative resolution of the House of Commons defining who is a spouse for the purposes"
After debate, the question being put on the amendment, it was negatived on the following recorded division:
YEAS:
Leon Benoit
Grant McNally
Réal Ménard: -- 3
NAYS:
Mark Assad
John Bryden
Denis Coderre
Raymonde Folco
Sophia Leung
Steve Mahoney
Andrew Telegdi: -- 7
Leon Benoit moved, -That Clause 43 be amended by striking out line 33, on page 22, and substituting the following therefor:
"(j) subject to affirmative resolution of the House of Commons, defining what constitutes a relationship"
After debate, the question being put on the amendment, it was negatived on the following recorded division:
YEAS:
Leon Benoit
Grant McNally
Réal Ménard: -- 3
NAYS:
Mark Assad
John Bryden
Denis Coderre
Raymonde Folco
Sophia Leung
Steve Mahoney
Andrew Telegdi: -- 7
By unanimous consent, the Committee reverted to Leon Benoit's amendment, which was allowed to stand and reads as follows:
- That Clause 43 be amended by striking out line 38, on page 21, and substituting the following therefor:
"parentage and evidence of residence in Canada for the purposes of paragraph 6(1)(b) and the times when those ap-"
By unanimous consent Leon Benoit withdrew his amendment.
Clause 43, as amended, carried on division.
Clause 44, as amended, carried.
Clause 45 carried on division.
Clause 46 carried.
Clause 47 carried on division.
Clause 48 carried on division.
Clause 49 carried on division.
Clause 50 carried on division.
Clause 51 carried on division.
Clause 52 carried on division.
Clause 53 carried on division.
Clause 54 carried on division.
Clause 55 carried on division.
At 10:39 a.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 11:20 a.m., the sitting resumed.
Clause 56 carried on division.
Clause 57 carried on division.
Clause 58 carried on division.
Clause 59 carried on division.
Clause 60 carried.
On New Clause 60.1
Andrew Telegdi moved, - That a New Clause 60.1 be added after the heading "Immigration Act" before line 3, on page 29 thereto:
60.1 The definition "Canadian citizen" in subsection 2(1) of the Immigration Act is replaced by the following:
"Canadian citizen" means a person who is a citizen within the meaning of the Citizenship of Canada Act;
After debate, the question being put on the amendment, it was agreed to.
And the question being put on New Clause 60.1, it was carried.
Clauses 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68 and 69 were severally carried.
On Clause 70
The question being put on Clause 70, it was carried on division.
On the Schedule
By unanimous consent, John Bryden moved, - That the Schedule be amended by deleting in the Oath of Citizenship the following words:
"and Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada"
After debate, the question being put on the amendment, it was negatived on the following recorded division:
YEAS:
Mark Assad
John Bryden
Réal Ménard: -- 3
NAYS:
Jean Augustine
Leon Benoit
Sophia Leung
Steve Mahoney
John McKay
Grant McNally
Ian Murray
Andrew Telegdi: -- 8
Andrew Telegdi moved, - That the Schedule be amended by striking out the Oath of Citizenship on page 32, and substituting the following therefor:
"From this day forward, I pledge my loyalty and allegiance to Canada and Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada. I promise to respect our country's rights and freedoms, to uphold our democratic values, to faithfully observe our laws and fulfil my duties and obligations as a Canadian citizen."
After debate the question being put on the amendment, it was agreed to on the following recorded division.
YEAS:
Jean Augustine
Leon Benoit
Sophia Leung
Steve Mahoney
John McKay
Grant McNally
Ian Murray
Andrew Telegdi: -- 8
NAYS:
Mark Assad
John Bryden
Réal Ménard: -- 3
And the question being put on the Schedule, as amended, it was carried on division.
Steve Mahoney moved, - That the Committee continue until 2:00 p.m. today at which time all outstanding amendments and Clauses be put without debate and that the Chair report Bill C-63 to the House on Friday, May 14, 1999.
After debate, the question being put on the motion, it was agreed to on the following recorded division.
YEAS:
Mark Assad
Jean Augustine
John Bryden
Sophia Leung
Steve Mahoney
John McKay
Grant McNally
Réal Ménard
Andrew Telegdi: -- 9
NAYS:
Leon Benoit: -- 1
At 12:09 p.m., the sitting was suspended.
At 12:29 p.m., the sitting resumed.
By unanimous consent, the Committee reverted to Clause 2.
Andrew Telegdi moved, - That the English version of Clause 2 be amended by striking out lines 20 and 21, on page 2.
"(c) a person resides in Canada if the person"
After debate, the question being put on the amendment, it was agreed to.
And the question being put on Clause 2 as amended, it was carried.
By unanimous consent, the Committee reverted to Clause 6.
On motion of Sophia Leung, it was agreed, - That Clause 6 be amended by striking out line 7, on page 4, and substituting the following therefor:
"six years immediately before applying for"
Andrew Telegdi moved, - That Clause 6 be amended by striking out lines 8 and 9, on page 4, and substituting the following therefor:
"citizenship, resided in Canada for at least 1,095 days, calculated in the following manner, namely,
(i) the person is deemed to have resided in Canada one half of a day for every day that the person has resided in Canada, up to a maximum of 365 days of deemed residence, during the period
(A) beginning on the day on which that determination was made and ending on the day before the person became a permanent resident if the person has, under the Immigration Act, been determined by the Convention Refugee Determination Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board to be a Convention refugee, or
(B) that the person is a visitor or a permit holder, as the case may be, if the person is a visitor or has a permit within the meaning of the Immigration Act, and
(ii) for every day during which the person has resided in Canada after lawful admission to Canada for permanent residence, the person is deemed to have resided in Canada for one day;"
After debate, the question being put on the amendment, it was carried on division.
On motion of Sophia Leung, it was agreed, - That Clause 6 be amended by striking out lines 14 to 18, on page 4.
"citizenship"
And the question being put on Clause 6, as amended, it was carried on division.
By unanimous consent, the Committee reverted to Clause 11.
Andrew Telegdi moved, - That Clause 11 be amended by striking out line 41, on page 5, and substituting the following therefor:
"days during the six years immediately"
After debate, the question being put on the amendment, it was agreed to.
And the question being put on Clause 11, as amended, it was carried on division.
By unanimous consent, the Committee reverted to Clause 14.
On motion of Andrew Telegdi, it was agreed, - That Clause 14 be amended by striking out lines 14 to 17, on page 6, and substituting the following therefor:
"of a parent having, at the time of the person's birth, citizenship either as a result of the parent's birth outside Canada after February 14, 1977 or as a result of the registration under prior legislation, after that date, of the parent's birth outside Canada loses citizenship on"
On motion of Andrew Telegdi, it was agreed, - That Clause 14 be amended by striking out line 20, on page 6, and substituting the following therefor:
"Canada for at least 1,095 days during the six"
And the question being put on Clause 14, as amended, it was carried.
By unanimous consent, the Committee reverted to Clause 19.
The question being put on Clause 19, it was carried.
By unanimous consent, the Committee reverted to Clause 28.
On motion of Andrew Telegdi, it was agreed, - That Clause 28 be amended by striking out line 16, on page 13, and substituting the following therefor:
"sections 8, 11 and 20, no person shall be granted citizen-"
And the question being put on Clause 28, as amended, it was carried.
Clause 1 carried.
The Title carried.
The Bill, as amended, carried on division.
Ordered: - That the Chair report Bill C-63, with amendments, to the House.
On motion of John Bryden, it was agreed, - That the Committee order a reprint of Bill C-63 for use at the Report Stage.
During the course of the meeting, Norman Sabourin and Greg Fyffe answered questions.
At 1:15 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.
Santosh Sirpaul
Clerk of the Committee