The Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, like many recent Canadian government bills, is a complete misnomer the Act does not strengthen Canadian citizenship but rather weakens it.
The changes to citizenship requirements continue to push citizenship beyond the reach of many individuals. For instance, the prior legislation allowed persons to qualify for citizenship on the basis of qualitative residence, but the new Act will now restrict residence to physical presence only. Furthermore, four years of residency will be required instead of three. The new Act will also no longer count time spent in Canada as a temporary resident towards the residency requirement. Only time spent as a permanent resident will count.
Although the government appears to want to limit access to citizenship for persons who become "Canadianized" through rubbing elbows with Canadians here, the amendments will also exclude many who are arguably equally deserving of citizenship, such as an executive of a Canadian company or employee of an NGO who must travel abroad regularly for work, or persons who have studied and worked in Canada for several years prior to becoming a permanent resident. The new legislation trivializes the contributions these persons make to Canada and to our communities.
Other aspects of the Act completely revamp the nature and meaning of citizenship. The Minister has been granted powers to revoke citizenship from and effectively banish dualnationals who commit certain crimes, without granting them an oral hearing, and with limited grounds for review in the courts. This puts Canada on a potentially slippery slope towards broadening revocation provisions to other grounds in the future. New applicants must also "intend" to continue to reside here. Those who leave for good reason for extended periods after acquiring citizenship could be at grave risk of subsequently losing their citizenship. Both changes effectively create two tiers of citizens.
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