BILL C-63 - First Reading

Statement in notice	(3) The notice must state that the person may, within 30 days after the date on which it was sent, make written representations to the Minister about the proposed order.
Limitation period	(4) The Minister may not make a declaration under subsection (1) more than five years after the day on which the citizenship was granted, retained, renounced or resumed, as the case may be.
	PART 3
	RESTORATION OF CITIZENSHIP
Resumption of citizenship	19. (1) The Minister shall, on application, grant citizenship to a person who has lost their citizenship and
	(a) whose citizenship was not revoked or annulled under this Act or prior legislation; and
	(b) who was lawfully admitted to Canada for permanent residence after the loss of citizenship and continues from that admission to be a permanent resident and, in the two years immediately before applying for citizenship, resided in Canada as a permanent resident for at least 365 days.
Deemed residence in Canada	(2) Despite subparagraph 2(2)(c)(i), a day on which an applicant for citizenship is a permanent resident residing with the applicant's spouse who is a citizen engaged, other than as a locally engaged person, for service or employment outside of Canada in or with the Canadian armed forces or the public service of Canada or of a province, is deemed to be a day on which the applicant resided in Canada for the purposes of paragraph (1)(b).
Citizenship for certain women	20. A woman who notifies the Minister, in writing, that she elects to become a citizen shall be granted citizenship, effective from the day the Minister receives the notice, if the woman
	(a) because of a law in force in Canada at any time before January 1, 1947 had, by reason only of her marriage or the acquisition by her husband of a foreign nationality, ceased to be a British subject; and
	(b) would have been a citizen, if the Canadian Citizenship Act, chapter C-19 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1970, were in force immediately before her marriage or the acquisition by her husband of a foreign nationality.
	PART 4
	PROHIBITIONS
	Public Interest
Report of Minister	21. (1) If the Minister is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that it is not in the public interest for a person to become a citizen, the Minister may submit a report to the Governor in Council recommending that the person not be granted citizenship or be allowed to take the oath of citizenship.
Notice of intention	(2) The Minister shall not submit a report unless the Minister, at least 30 days before submitting it, notifies the person who is to be the subject of the report.
Statement in notice	(3) The notice must include a summary of the grounds contained in the report and state that that person may, within 30 days after the date on which the notice was sent, make written representations to the Minister about those grounds.
Order of the Governor in Council	22. (1) Despite any other provision of this Act, if the Governor in Council is, on receiving a report under section 21, satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to believe that it would not be in the public interest for the person who is the subject of the report to become a citizen, the Governor in Council may, by order, prohibit the grant of citizenship to that person or the taking of the oath of citizenship by that person.
Effect	(2) The Minister is, on the making of the order, deemed to reject any application for the grant or resumption of citizenship made by the person who is the subject of the order.
Order final and binding	(3) The order is final and, despite any other Act of Parliament, is not subject to appeal to or review by any court.
Effective period	(4) The order is effective for five years after the date it is made.
Conclusive proof	(5) Despite anything in this Act or any other Act of Parliament, the order is conclusive proof of the matters stated in it.
	National Security
Definitions	23. (1) In this section, ``Review Committee'' and ``threats to the security of Canada'' have the meanings assigned to those expressions by section 2 of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act.
Report to Review Committee	(2) The Minister may report to the Review Committee about any person who, in the opinion of the Minister, should not be granted citizenship, take the oath of citizenship or be issued a certificate of renunciation because there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person has engaged or will engage in
	(a) an activity that constitutes a threat to the security of Canada; or
	(b) an activity that is part of a pattern of criminal activity planned and organized by a number of persons acting together to encourage the commission of an indictable offence under any Act of Parliament.
Notice	(3) The person who is the subject of a report shall, within 10 days after the report is made, be notified by the Minister that the report has been made and that the Governor in Council may, following an investigation, make a declaration about that person under section 27.
Application of Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act	(4) The Review Committee shall investigate the grounds on which the report is based and, for that purpose, subsections 39(2) and (3) and sections 43, 44 and 48 to 51 of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, to the investigation as if
	(a) the investigation were conducted in relation to a complaint made under section 42 of that Act; and
	(b) the references to ``deputy head'' were references to the Minister.
Summary statement	(5) The Review Committee shall, as soon as practicable, send to the person who is the subject of the report a statement summarizing the information available to the Review Committee so as to enable that person to be informed as much as possible of the circumstances giving rise to the report, having regard to whether, in the opinion of the Review Committee, the summarized information may be disclosed without injury to national security or to the safety of persons.
Report	(6) On completion of its investigation, the Review Committee shall report to the Governor in Council on the investigation. The Review Committee shall, when it is convenient to do so, provide the report's conclusion to the person who is the subject of the report.
End of investigation	(7) If the Review Committee is of the opinion that it cannot perform the duties described in subsections (4), (5) and (6), it shall stop the investigation and give notice to the Minister and the person to whom the investigation relates.
Appointment of retired judge	24. (1) The Governor in Council may appoint, for a period of three to five years, a retired judge of a superior court to perform the duties and have the powers and functions of a Review Committee referred to in subsections 23(4), (5) and (6). The Governor in Council shall, before making the appointment, consult with the Prime Minister of Canada, the Leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and the leader of any other party having at least 12 members sitting in that House.
Tenure and renewal	(2) The Governor in Council may not remove a retired judge appointed under subsection (1) except for cause. The appointment may be renewed at the end of its term.
Remunera- tion	(3) A retired judge appointed under subsection (1) is entitled to receive, for each day on which the judge performs duties and exercises functions or powers, the remuneration that the Governor in Council fixes.
Moving and travel expenses	(4) The judge is entitled to be paid any moving expenses and travel expenses that the judge reasonably incurred to perform those duties and exercise those functions or powers outside their place of residence.
Reference	25. (1) The Minister may refer a matter that a Review Committee has stopped investigating under subsection 23(7) to a retired judge appointed under subsection 24(1). The Minister shall provide the retired judge with a copy of the report referred to in subsection 23(2) and send the notice referred to in subsection 23(3) to the person who is the subject of the report.
Application of subsections 23(4), (5) and (6)	(2) Subsections 23(4), (5) and (6) apply to the retired judge as if the judge were the Review Committee.
Annual report	26. (1) A retired judge appointed under subsection 24(1) shall submit an annual report every year, on or before September 30, to the Solicitor General of Canada on the judge's activities for the preceding fiscal year.
Tabling in Parliament	(2) After receiving the report, the Solicitor General shall cause the report to be laid before each House of Parliament within the first 15 days that that House is sitting.
Declaration	27. (1) After considering the report made by the Review Committee under section 23, the Governor in Council may declare that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person who is the subject of the report has engaged or will engage in an activity mentioned in paragraph 23(2)(a) or (b).
Effect	(2) The Minister is, on the making of the declaration, deemed to reject any application for the grant or resumption of citizenship or for a certificate of renunciation made by the person who is the subject of the declaration.
Declaration final and binding	(3) The declaration is final and, despite any other Act of Parliament, is not subject to appeal to or review by any court.
Effective period	(4) The declaration is effective for five years after the date it is made.
Conclusive proof	(5) Despite anything in this Act or any other Act of Parliament, the declaration is conclusive proof of the matters stated in it about the application or the notice.
	Other Prohibitions
Ineligibility	28. Despite anything in this Act, other than section 8, no person shall be granted citizenship or take the oath of citizenship, if the person
	(a) is, under any enactment in force in Canada, subject to a probation order, on parole, or confined in any penitentiary, jail, reformatory or prison;
	(b) is charged with, on trial for, subject to or a party to an appeal or a review relating to an offence under this Act or an indictable offence under any other Act of Parliament;
	(c) is charged with, on trial for, subject to or a party to an appeal or review relating to an offence outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence under any Act of Parliament;
	(d) during the period beginning three years before the day on which the person applies for citizenship and ending on the day on which the person would otherwise be granted citizenship or take the oath of citizenship, has been convicted of an offence referred to in paragraph (b) or (c), whether or not, in the case of an offence outside Canada, the person has been pardoned or otherwise granted amnesty by a foreign authority in respect of the offence;
	(e) during the period beginning one year before the day on which the person applied for citizenship and ending on the day on which the person would otherwise be granted citizenship or take the oath of citizenship, has been convicted of two or more summary conviction offences under any other Act of Parliament;
	(f) is under investigation by the Minister of Justice, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the Canadian Security Intelligence Service for, or is charged with, on trial for, subject to or a party to an appeal relating to, an act or omission referred to in subsection 7(3.71) of the Criminal Code;
	(g) has been convicted of an offence in respect of an act or omission referred to in subsection 7(3.71) of the Criminal Code;
	(h) requires the consent referred to in subsection 55(1) of the Immigration Act, but has not obtained that consent, to be admitted to Canada;
	(i) has ceased to be a permanent resident or is subject to, or is a party to, an inquiry under the Immigration Act that may lead to their removal from Canada or the loss of their status as a permanent resident and any rights of appeal or review in relation to the inquiry are not exhausted;
	(j) during the five years before the day on which the person applies for citizenship, is subject to an order under section 16 or 18 of this Act or under section 10 of the Citizenship Act, chapter C-29 of the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985;
	(k) is the subject of an order under section 22 or a declaration under section 27;
	(l) is the subject of an investigation under section 15 of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act or of a report under section 23 of this Act, including the time during which the Governor in Council is deciding on whether or not to make a declaration about the person under section 27; or
	(m) is under a removal order, other than an order that is of no effect because the person has subsequently been granted lawful permission to establish permanent residence in Canada or while the person is a party to, or is subject to or a party to an appeal or a review relating to the removal order.
	PART 5
	ADMINISTRATION AND APPLICATION
	Examination of applications
Ministerial examination for conformity	29. (1) On receiving an application under this Act, the Minister shall, as soon as practicable, examine it to determine whether it complies with the provisions of this Act that apply to it.
Information on examination	(2) If the Minister determines that an application does not comply with the provisions of this Act that apply to it, the Minister shall, without delay, inform the applicant of that determination and advise them of their right to apply for judicial review under section 18.1 of the Federal Court Act.
Power to reverse decision	30. The Minister may reverse a decision refusing citizenship or regarding the issuance of a certificate of citizenship, if there appears to have been a material defect in the decision.