Bill S-245 would change the law so if a Canadian parent could demonstrate a “substantial connection” to Canada, their child would again qualify for a passport.
It would also reinstate citizenship for a group of people born between 1977 and 1981, classified as “second generation born abroad,” who failed to reaffirm their citizenship by the age of 28.
The bill has passed through the Senate and most of its Commons stages, including in committee.
“We support the bill and encourage all parties to do so as well,” said Bahoz Dara Aziz, spokesperson for Immigration Minister Marc Miller.
But the NDP’s immigration critic Jenny Kwan accused the Conservatives of stalling its progress and “playing petty political games,” including filibustering debate at committee, to reduce its chances of becoming law.
She accused the sponsor of the Senate bill in the Commons, Conservative MP Jasraj Singh Hallan, of slowing the bill’s passage in the House by twice switching its scheduled third reading debate with another bill. Mr. Hallan and Tom Kmiec, the Conservative immigration critic, would not comment.
“Canada needs to fix the lost Canadians issue once and for all. The Conservatives were wrong to strip the right of parents to pass on their Canadian citizenship to their second-generation-born-abroad children 14 years ago,” she said. “In the case of William and Jack Cowling, it means they do not have the legal status to work in Canada and the family farm that has been in their family for six generations is now in jeopardy.”
Applications from people around the world seeking Canadian citizenship certificates have been rising rapidly in recent months, fuelled by thousands of applications from the United States, CBC News has learned.
The number of people who have already received certificates as a result of Parliament’s adoption of “Lost Canadian” legislation late last year rose nearly 50 per cent between April 1 and May 31, according to new data obtained by CBC.
Bill C-3 allows citizenship for those who can prove they're descended from a Canadian ancestor, even if that ancestor left the country several generations back. It was adopted after the courts ruled that limiting citizenship to the first generation born outside of Canada was too restrictive.
Between mid-December — when Bill C-3 went into effect — and May 31, some 6,100 citizenship certificates were granted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to those who now qualify.
That is up from 4,075 certificates issued as a result of Bill C-3 from mid-December until March 31.
Another 17,390 people have received certificates as a result of having a Canadian parent. Prior to the bill's adoption, those who were born outside Canada had to have a Canadian parent to qualify for citizenship.
In June, IRCC suddenly suspended an estimated 100 certificates that had already been issued after flagging problems with the documents submitted with the applications. The concern from archivists is that some people who've already applied to IRCC will be sent back to archives to find more genealogical records.
The IRCC says 83 of the suspensions have been resolved and the certificates restored. It has sent procedural fairness letters to another 17 people whose certificates were suspended and given them 60 days to submit the documents necessary to prove their Canadian ancestry.
If they fail to provide acceptable proof, their citizenship certificates could be revoked.
New Democrat immigration critic Jenny Kwan said she has been getting letters and inquiries from people affected by the suspension letters and has written to Metlege Diab, calling for answers.
“It really makes no sense whatsoever, what’s going on," Kwan said. "And the minister is completely ignoring that reality right now.”
