Bill C-24 Second Reading on February 27th:

[kenyadian]

All,

Not sure if everyone is aware, there is a petition going around which disputes the passing of this bill. Please take a minute to sign this. The petition can be found here:

http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/parliament-of-canada-do-not-allow-unfair-treatment-of-former-foreign-workers-and-international-students-by-new-canadian-citizenship-bill-c-24?utm_source=supporter_message&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=supporter_message

Also, the same folks organizing this bill had an opportunity to meet with CIMM on May 7th. Here is a video of what went down on youtube. Please look for other parts on the links on the youtube page.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV56blSDpLM

 

[sthaeem]

Canadian Arab Institute response:

http://www.canadianarabinstitute.org/files/9713/9949/0876/Bill_C-24_Policy_Brief_May_2014.pdf

 

[MrB]

Guys, in addition to the committee meeting on May 12 (3:30-5:30 pm), the Senators will also have a meeting at 5:30-6:30 pm with the presence of the Minster to address the proposed changes. As I advised several times earlier, we will see the law prior to the summer break.

No disrespect but I'm laughing hard about how certain you are the bill would pass before the summer recess. Is your certainty our of fear, or desperation to get a definitive response/timeline objecting your thought process. I'm pretty sure like many of us, you are login in several times a day to check for updates.

 

[Marypetty]

I feel the reason for the Government's change of residency requirement is because there have been a number of people getting a Canadian passport for convenience rather than commitment. Those who land, ratify their P.R., leave only to return for the Citizenship Oath, then leave again. There is no other reason I can think of for the government to change the system. So don't blame the government, blame those who seek to cheat the system causing the change that will affect us all in some way or other.

 

[dr_majed8835]

Then let them apply it on those cheaters not on those who stayed in Canada for 10+ years and obtained their PR legally and continued to live in Canada and pay and still paying taxes for all those years and are contributing in Canada's economy!
This bill doesn't differentiate between anyone a cheater or a legal person!

 

[Marypetty]

I couldn't agree more, but how do they do that?

 

[sthaeem]

I couldn't agree more, but how do they do that?

Implement Exit/Entry

Have all immigrants to report before exit. This solves the whole problem. And set clear rules before and during citizenship application process

 

[on-hold]

Exit/entry has nothing to do with the issue of people getting a Canadian passport and then leaving.

 

[us2yow]

lets no be petty guys....everyone is trying to make a life and get by and seek happiness in an increasingly dysfunctional and selfish world (more ADHD/ADD as we live more short-term ???)..

.. it's everyone's fundamental right to seek happiness, reduce suffering and try and provide for oneself and one's family (at a time when the worldwide financial crisis has changed everything and brought in more cuts, uncertainty in jobs, benefits, salaries etc).

 

[MrB]

lets no be petty guys....everyone is trying to make a life and get by and seek happiness in an increasingly dysfunctional and selfish world (more ADHD/ADD as we live more short-term ???)..

.. it's everyone's fundamental right to seek happiness, reduce suffering and try and provide for oneself and one's family (at a time when the worldwide financial crisis has changed everything and brought in more cuts, uncertainty in jobs, benefits, salaries etc).

Right on point! couldn't have been said better.

 

[MrB]

I feel the reason for the Government's change of residency requirement is because there have been a number of people getting a Canadian passport for convenience rather than commitment. Those who land, ratify their P.R., leave only to return for the Citizenship Oath, then leave again. There is no other reason I can think of for the government to change the system. So don't blame the government, blame those who seek to cheat the system causing the change that will affect us all in some way or other.

I'm tired of this convenience discourse. So how do you define convenience and what are the stats on these so called ones acquire Canadian citizenship? I can bet that one of the reasons you moved here was for convenience. What you just said here " Those who land, ratify their P.R., leave only to return for the Citizenship Oath, then leave again" it's not even that easy to do. I can assure you they are a minority.

 

[CanuckForEver]

"Those who land, ratify their P.R., leave only to return for the Citizenship Oath, then leave again" - some people naively believe the government's version of this accusation. Actually it is never easy to do any such things: like visit Canada while you landed and then come only to take your test and oath. The border agents can easily sniff out you're out-of-status and send you back.

More importantly to the people who question the government's so called "honorable" effort to fix the so called "broken" immigration has got no personal agendas to fullfill, 2 words for you "Reform Party". The current folks in the government are from Alberta, specifically from Calgary where the "red tories" and "reform party" thrived because it appeals to the people there. The reform party is out and out against immigration and if at all they want to go for immigration they prefer western european immigration only! When the folks from this party entered the national stage, they knew they can't win a single seat out of Calgary, not even in Edmonton, not even in anyother part of Alberta, if they kept the "reorfm party" or "red tory" hat on them. so they formed a fancy party name called "Conservative Party of Canada" and the folks I am talking about include first and foremeost Stephen Harper himself, Jason Kenney (the son of the soil from Calgary riding who was the former immigration minister infamously initiating these unfair policies on immigrants), Rob Anders and Peter McKay. All these people have been in trouble with not only immigration matters but also with other sensitive matters like scandals, TFW mishandling and accusing supreme court judges. I have also discussed it in another thread in this forum, you can also wikipedia on them.

Liberal party and to some extent NDP are the parties that immigrants overwhelmingly vote for and there are obvious reasons for that, like the one I stated above. So dumping the fairness in the whole citizenship process is seen by tories as a great advantage for them and it is also always so. We are complaining about timelines in eastern and western parts of the coutry, but imagine the ones in the prairies which is the tories' strong hold and they want to preserve that so called pedigree which is a sick mindset. The time taken for processing in the eastern or western part of Canada is at least half of what it takes in the prairies. Particularly if you're from Calgary, you can count your luck if you're called in for a test in 24 months!

So people taking some utopian stand with the government are certainly in a naive or denial mode or in both!

 

[Newbie2014]

I'm tired of this convenience discourse. So how do you define convenience and what are the stats on these so called ones acquire Canadian citizenship? I can bet that one of the reasons you moved here was for convenience. What you just said here " Those who land, ratify their P.R., leave only to return for the Citizenship Oath, then leave again" it's not even that easy to do. I can assure you they are a minority.

Agreed. Every immigrant who moved here did so because it was "convenient" for them. That is a completely separate issue from "fraud" (where people who have not lived in Canada, and therefore do not meet citizenship criteria, misrepresent their circumstances so as to gain citizenship).

While everyone moved here because it was "convenient", few attempt to perpetrate "fraud". The government, however, mixes up the two issues, and uses that as an excuse to conduct a witchhunt. They delay the citizenship process at whim, and create hundreds of thousands in backlogged applications while they figure out how to track down the fifty or so fraudulent applications. Government employees at their finest.

 

[surgi]

I can not figure out how Bill C24 will solve the problem of fraud. There is nothnng related to that in the Bill. They actually resolve this problem by the residency questionnaire. There is no need to increase the required length of stay or give an officer a great power to revoke a request of citizenship even without a clear reason and say that will fight fraud!!! In reality the present law gives the government all rights to do so in very correct way. Bill C24 is not a criminal law act for example which will punish a fraudlent ,it is simply a misuse power to eliminate some PRs on selection and make loosing citizenship a more simple than to drink a cup of coffee and withdraw the right to go for Mandamus from PRs.

 

[sthaeem]

I think no one can judge or know the intention of other people.

I think government main task should be to make laws good for Canada and implement them and prevent fraud. But that doesn't mean assume everyone is fraudster and hang them in there. Like every other thing people who have followed the rules should be processed quickly.

Even after changing the residency requirement - if someone has to leave, they will leave. The other option is what US did. Tax based on nationality regardless of where you live.