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Minutes of Proceedings

44th Parliament, 1st Session
Meeting 65
Wednesday, May 10, 2023, 4:34 p.m. to 6:35 p.m.
Webcast
Presiding
Salma Zahid, Chair (Liberal)

Library of Parliament
• Julie Béchard, Analyst
• Philippe Antoine Gagnon, Analyst
• Andrea Garland, Analyst
 
House of Commons
• Émilie Thivierge, Legislative Clerk
• Justin Vaive, Legislative Clerk
• Patrick Williams, Procedural Clerk
As an individual
• J. Randall Emery, Executive Director, Canadian Citizens Rights Council
Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Monday, May 8, 2023, the committee commenced its study of the potential matter of privilege regarding Bill S-245, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (granting citizenship to certain Canadians).

The witness made a statement and answered questions.

At 4:59 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 5:01 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Questioning of the witness resumed.

Motion

Tom Kmiec moved, — That the committee report to the House of Commons the potential breach of privilege resulting from the premature distribution of notices of amendments to Bill S-245, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (granting citizenship to certain Canadians), to a member of the public before clause-by-clause consideration and amendments and subamendments were moved at committee.

Debate arose thereon.

At 5:20 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 5:31 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Motion

Marie-France Lalonde moved, — That the debate be now adjourned.

The question was put on the motion and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Shafqat Ali, Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Sukh Dhaliwal, Fayçal El-Khoury, Arielle Kayabaga, Jenny Kwan, Marie-France Lalonde — 7;

NAYS: Tony Baldinelli, Tom Kmiec, Michael Kram, Larry Maguire — 4.

Questioning of the witness resumed.

At 5:42 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 5:49 p.m., the sitting resumed.

Department of Citizenship and Immigration
• Nicole Girard, Director General, Citizenship Policy
• Uyen Hoang, Senior Director, Legislation and Program Policy
• Alain Laurencelle, Senior Counsel, Legal Services Unit
• Allison Bernard, Senior Policy Analyst
• Jody Dewan, Senior Policy Analyst
Pursuant to the order of reference of Wednesday, November 16, 2022, the committee resumed consideration of Bill S-245, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (granting citizenship to certain Canadians).

The witnesses answered questions.

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

The committee resumed clause-by-clause consideration on Clause 1 of the Bill.

Marie-France Lalonde moved, — That Bill S-245, in Clause 1, be amended by deleting lines 15 to 18 on page 1.

Debate arose thereon.

Tom Kmiec moved, — That the committee resume debate on the motion of Tom Kmiec which read as follows:

That the committee report to the House of Commons the potential breach of privilege resulting from the premature distribution of notices of amendments to Bill S-245, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (granting citizenship to certain Canadians), to a member of the public before clause-by-clause consideration and amendments and subamendments were moved at committee.

At 5:53 p.m., the sitting was suspended.

At 5:56 p.m., the sitting resumed.

RULING BY THE CHAIR

The Chair ruled the motion inadmissible as the committee had decided to adjourn the debate on the motion in question at the same meeting.

The committee resumed consideration of the amendment of Marie-France Lalonde, — That Bill S-245, in Clause 1, be amended by deleting lines 15 to 18 on page 1.

Tony Baldinelli moved, — That the committee resume debate on the motion of the Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner moved on Monday, May 8, 2023, which read as follows:

That, should any relevant emails between Randall Emery and Members of Parliament or their staff exist, these emails be submitted to the committee prior to the meeting scheduled for Wednesday, May 10, 2023.

The question was put on the motion and it was negatived on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Tony Baldinelli, Tom Kmiec, Michael Kram, Larry Maguire — 4;

NAYS: Shafqat Ali, Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Sukh Dhaliwal, Fayçal El-Khoury, Arielle Kayabaga, Jenny Kwan, Marie-France Lalonde — 7.

The committee resumed consideration of the amendment of Marie-France Lalonde, — That Bill S-245, in Clause 1, be amended by deleting lines 15 to 18 on page 1.

The question was put on the amendment of Marie-France Lalonde and it was agreed to on the following recorded division:

YEAS: Shafqat Ali, Tony Baldinelli, Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Sukh Dhaliwal, Fayçal El-Khoury, Arielle Kayabaga, Tom Kmiec, Michael Kram, Jenny Kwan, Marie-France Lalonde, Larry Maguire — 11;

NAYS: — 0.

Marie-France Lalonde moved, — That Bill S-245, in Clause 1, be amended by adding after line 18 on page 1 the following:

“(4) Section 3 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (4.1):

(4.2) Subsection (3) does not apply to a person who, on the coming into force of this subsection, was a citizen. However, subsection (3) applies to a person who, on that coming into force, would have been a citizen under paragraph (1)(b) only by operation of paragraph (7)(n) in respect of one of their parents.

(5) Subsection 3(5.2) of the Act is repealed.

(6) Section 3 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (6.3):

(6.4) A person referred to in paragraph (1)(g.1) who, before the coming into force of this subsection, was granted citizenship under section 5 or 11 is deemed never to have been a citizen by way of grant.

(7) Subsection 3(7) of the Act is amended by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (l), by adding “and” at the end of paragraph (m) and by adding the following after paragraph (m):

(n) a person referred to in paragraph (1)(g.1) is deemed to be a citizen under that paragraph from the time the person ceased to be a citizen.”

At 6:35 p.m., the committee adjourned to the call of the Chair.



Keelan Buck
Clerk of the committee