Bill on terrorist citizenship wins strong support
Dual nationals would risk losing Canadian status
A Conservative private member’s bill that could end up stripping dual citizens of their Canadian citizenship should they commit acts of terror abroad is headed before a Commons committee for review after winning nearunanimous support Wednesday.
Parliamentarians, including the New Democrats and Liberals, voted 276 to three in favour of sending the bill on for further scrutiny with only the Bloc Québécois and Green Party objecting.
Sponsored by Devinder Shory, the two-part bill as it’s currently written would fasttrack citizenship for permanent residents who promise to serve three years in the Canadian Forces. It would allow them to become citizens in two years instead of three.
The bill would also revoke citizenship of dual citizens who commit acts of war against Canada. Permanent residents who do the same would have their citizenship applications withdrawn.
Earlier this month, after it came to light that a Canadian dual national was involved in a Hezbollah-linked bus bombing in Bulgaria that killed five Israeli tourists, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney suggested the government would look at amending Shory’s bill. He wants to study international precedent for stripping dual nationals of their citizenship if they engage in acts of terror. That would not apply to those who only have Canadian citizenship as it’s against international law to render somebody stateless.
“In every other western democracy save Portugal, if you go out and commit violent crimes of treason, or terrorism or things of that nature, you’re subject to having your citizenship revoked, because citizenship is based on the idea of loyalty to your country,” Kenney said Wednesday.
He added his government would propose amendments to Shory’s bill to essentially define the phrase “acts of war” and that this definition would include acts of terrorism.
The Conservatives will have the opportunity to introduce those amendments during the next phase of the legislative process.
Wednesday’s vote means an all-party Commons committee will now get to scrutinize the bill in fine detail and make changes before it returns to the Commons for final approval. It will then move to the Senate for a last round of scrutiny before becoming law as it most likely will because the Conservatives have a majority in both chambers and have already vowed to support it.
That said, it’s not uncommon for the opposition to support a bill at second reading only to vote it down at the end of the process. NDP immigration critic Jinny Sims, for example, raised concerns about the bill during an earlier debate but hinted her party would at least be prepared to study it.
“I would urge members to take a close look at what is in the bill and, more important, what is not,” she said.
“The bill would do nothing to fix some of the tremendous problems we see in our immigration system. It would do nothing to speed up processing times for hard-working newcomers who want to become citizens. It would do very little to truly honour and support veterans who have served this country with honour. Let us take a serious look at this proposal, but let us look at the bigger picture.”