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MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS

Meeting No. 31

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

The Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration met in a televised session at 3:30 p.m. this day, in Room 253-D, Centre Block, the Chair, David Tilson, presiding.

Members of the Committee present: Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, Joe Daniel, Chungsen Leung, Costas Menegakis, Ted Opitz, Jasbir Sandhu, Rathika Sitsabaiesan and David Tilson.

Acting Members present: Guy Lauzon for Devinder Shory, Dave MacKenzie for Devinder Shory, Hon. Geoff Regan for Hon. John McCallum and John Weston for Devinder Shory.

Associate Members present: Blaine Calkins.

Other Members present: Elizabeth May.

In attendance: Library of Parliament: Julie Béchard, Analyst ; Sandra Elgersma, Analyst . House of Commons: Philippe Méla, Legislative Clerk ; David-Andrés Novoa, Legislative Clerk ; Joann Garbig, Procedural Clerk ; Chad Mariage, Procedural Clerk.

Witnesses: Department of Citizenship and Immigration: Nicole Girard, Director General, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Branch; Karen Hamilton, Counsel, Legal Services; Alexandra Hiles, Acting Director, Citizenship Program Delivery and Promotion; Mary-Ann Hubers, Former Acting Director, Legislation and Program Policy, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Branch; Armagan Turktekin, Senior Policy Advisor, Legislation and Program Policy Directorate, Citizenship branch.

Pursuant to the Order of Reference of Thursday, May 29, 2014, the Committee resumed consideration of Bill C-24, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.

The Committee resumed its clause-by-clause study of the Bill.

The Committee resumed clause-by-clause consideration on Clause 8 of the Bill.

Pursuant to order adopted by the Committee on Thursday, November 7, 2013, the following amendment, submitted by Elizabeth May for the consideration of the Committee, was deemed moved:

That Bill C-24, in Clause 8, be amended by deleting line 24 on page 20 to line 11 on page 25.

RULING BY THE CHAIR

The amendment seeks to delete all of the lines of the clause 8.

As House of Commons Procedure and Practice, Second Edition, states on page 768:

“An amendment that attempts to delete an entire clause is out of order, since voting against the adoption of the clause in question would have the same effect.”

As Members are aware, parliamentary practice does not permit to be done indirectly what cannot be done directly. The amendment is therefore inadmissible.

At 3:33 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 3:34 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Geoff Regan moved, — That Bill C-24, in Clause 8, be amended

(a) by adding after line 42 on page 21 the following:

“(b.1) the person's right to request that a hearing be held; and”

(b) by replacing line 3 on page 22 with the following:

“that a hearing is required, but it must be held if the person has requested it.”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Geoff Regan and it was negatived, by a show of hands: YEAS: 4; NAYS: 5.

Geoff Regan moved, — That Bill C-24, in Clause 8, be amended by replacing lines 27 to 33 on page 23 with the following:

“would render a person stateless, the Minister may only revoke the person's citizenship if the Minister can prove, on a balance of probabilities, that the person is a citizen of another country.”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Geoff Regan and it was negatived, by a show of hands: YEAS: 4; NAYS: 5.

Geoff Regan moved, — That Bill C-24, in Clause 8, be amended by adding after line 5 on page 25 the following:

“10.61 An appeal lies to the Federal Court from any decision of the Minister made under section 10.”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Geoff Regan and it was negatived, by a show of hands: YEAS: 3; NAYS: 5.

At 3:50 p.m., by unanimous consent and pursuant to Standing Order 115(5), it was agreed that the Committee continue to sit.

At 4:02 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 4:37 p.m., the sitting resumed.

After debate, Clause 8 carried on the following recorded division: YEAS: Joe Daniel, Chungsen Leung, Dave MacKenzie, Costas Menegakis, Ted Opitz — 5; NAYS: Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, Geoff Regan, Jasbir Sandhu, Rathika Sitsabaiesan — 4.

On Clause 9,

Geoff Regan moved, — That Bill C-24, in Clause 9, be amended by deleting line 44 on page 25 to line 14 on page 26.

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Geoff Regan and it was negatived, by a show of hands: YEAS: 4; NAYS: 5.

Clause 9 carried on the following recorded division: YEAS: Joe Daniel, Chungsen Leung, Dave MacKenzie, Costas Menegakis, Ted Opitz — 5; NAYS: Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, Geoff Regan, Jasbir Sandhu, Rathika Sitsabaiesan — 4.

After debate, Clause 10 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 8; NAYS: 1.

After debate, Clause 11 carried on the following recorded division: YEAS: Joe Daniel, Chungsen Leung, Dave MacKenzie, Costas Menegakis, Ted Opitz, Geoff Regan — 6; NAYS: Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, Jasbir Sandhu, Rathika Sitsabaiesan — 3.

On Clause 12,

Pursuant to order adopted by the Committee on Thursday, November 7, 2013, the following amendment, submitted by Elizabeth May for the consideration of the Committee, was deemed moved:

That Bill C-24, in Clause 12, be amended by adding after line 32 on page 29 the following:

“(1.01) The onus is on the Minister to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the citizenship judge that, on a balance of probabilities, the person lacks the intention referred to in subparagraphs 5(1)(c.1)(i),(ii) or (iii).

After debate, the question was put on the amendment and it was negatived, by a show of hands: YEAS: 4; NAYS: 5.

Pursuant to order adopted by the Committee on Thursday, November 7, 2013, the following amendment, submitted by Elizabeth May for the consideration of the Committee, was deemed moved:

That Bill C-24, in Clause 12, be amended by replacing line 1 on page 30 with the following:

“(3) Subsections 14(1.1) to (3) of the Act are”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment and it was negatived, by a show of hands: YEAS: 3; NAYS: 5.

Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe moved, — That Bill C-24, in Clause 12, be amended by adding after line 17 on page 30 the following:

“(c) the applicant has been given the opportunity to make submissions before the judge.”

After debate, the question was put on the amendment of Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe and it was negatived on the following recorded division: YEAS: Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, Geoff Regan, Jasbir Sandhu, Rathika Sitsabaiesan — 4; NAYS: Joe Daniel, Chungsen Leung, Dave MacKenzie, Costas Menegakis, Ted Opitz — 5.

Clause 12 carried on the following recorded division: YEAS: Joe Daniel, Chungsen Leung, Dave MacKenzie, Costas Menegakis, Ted Opitz — 5; NAYS: Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, Geoff Regan, Jasbir Sandhu, Rathika Sitsabaiesan — 4.

Clause 13 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 8; NAYS: 1.

After debate, Clause 14 carried on the following recorded division: YEAS: Joe Daniel, Chungsen Leung, Dave MacKenzie, Costas Menegakis, Ted Opitz — 5; NAYS: Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, Geoff Regan, Jasbir Sandhu, Rathika Sitsabaiesan — 4.

After debate, Clause 15 carried on the following recorded division: YEAS: Joe Daniel, Chungsen Leung, Dave MacKenzie, Costas Menegakis, Ted Opitz — 5; NAYS: Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, Geoff Regan, Jasbir Sandhu, Rathika Sitsabaiesan — 4.

Clause 16 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 6; NAYS: 2.

Clause 17 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 8; NAYS: 0.

On Clause 18,

Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe moved, — That Bill C-24, in Clause 18, be amended by replacing lines 33 to 37 on page 32 with the following:

“(a) is acting under the supervision of a person described in paragraph (2)(a) who is representing or advising the person — or offering to do so — in connection with a proceeding or application under this Act; or

(b) is authorized by the law society of a province to provide representation or advice to a person in connection with a proceeding or application under this Act.”

The question was put on the amendment of Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe and it was negatived on the following recorded division: YEAS: Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, Geoff Regan, Jasbir Sandhu, Rathika Sitsabaiesan — 4; NAYS: Joe Daniel, Chungsen Leung, Dave MacKenzie, Costas Menegakis, Ted Opitz — 5.

Clause 18 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 6; NAYS: 0.

After debate, Clause 19 carried on the following recorded division: YEAS: Joe Daniel, Chungsen Leung, Dave MacKenzie, Costas Menegakis, Ted Opitz — 5; NAYS: Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, Geoff Regan, Jasbir Sandhu, Rathika Sitsabaiesan — 4.

After debate, Clause 20 carried on the following recorded division: YEAS: Joe Daniel, Chungsen Leung, Dave MacKenzie, Costas Menegakis, Ted Opitz — 5; NAYS: Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, Geoff Regan, Jasbir Sandhu, Rathika Sitsabaiesan — 4.

At 5:29 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 5:30 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Clause 21 carried on the following recorded division: YEAS: Joe Daniel, Chungsen Leung, Dave MacKenzie, Costas Menegakis, Ted Opitz, Geoff Regan — 6; NAYS: Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, Jasbir Sandhu, Rathika Sitsabaiesan — 3.

Clause 22 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 5; NAYS: 0.

Clause 23 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 6; NAYS: 0.

Clause 24 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 5; NAYS: 4.

Clause 25 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 9; NAYS: 0.

At 5:33 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 5:34 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Clause 26 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 8; NAYS: 0.

Clause 27 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 5; NAYS: 3.

Clause 28 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 8; NAYS: 0.

Clause 29 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 9; NAYS: 0.

Clause 30 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 9; NAYS: 0.

On Clause 31,

Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe moved, — That Bill C-24, in Clause 31, be amended

(a) by replacing lines 19 to 38 on page 45 with the following:

“ance with the provisions of that Act as they read immediately before that day.”

(b) by deleting lines 1 to 7 on page 46.

Clause 31 carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 5; NAYS: 4.

By unanimous consent, Clauses 32 to 46 inclusive carried severally by a show of hands: YEAS: 7; NAYS: 1.

After debate, Clause 1, Short Title, carried on the following recorded division: YEAS: Joe Daniel, Chungsen Leung, Costas Menegakis, Ted Opitz, John Weston — 5; NAYS: Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, Geoff Regan, Jasbir Sandhu, Rathika Sitsabaiesan — 4.

The Title carried on division.

The Bill carried on the following recorded division: YEAS: Joe Daniel, Chungsen Leung, Costas Menegakis, Ted Opitz, John Weston — 5; NAYS: Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe, Geoff Regan, Jasbir Sandhu, Rathika Sitsabaiesan — 4.

ORDERED, — That the Chair report the Bill to the House.

At 6:25 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.

Julie Lalande Prud'homme
Clerk of the Committee

2014/06/20 10:04 a.m.