The Conservative Party is accusing the Liberal government of weakening Canada's citizenship laws, warning that changes under Bill C-3 could allow non-citizens with serious criminal convictions to become eligible for Canadian citizenship by descent.Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner said the Liberals rejected a Conservative amendment that would have prevented foreign nationals with criminal records from qualifying for citizenship through the legislation."Should a person with a criminal record be entitled to automatic citizenship in Canada? The Liberal government seems to think so," Rempel Garner said.She said Conservatives successfully added the amendment during committee review of Bill C-3, but alleged the Liberal government later removed the provision before the legislation passed.According to Rempel Garner, the result is that individuals convicted of serious crimes in G7 countries, including the United States, are now eligible to apply for Canadian citizenship if they qualify under the expanded citizenship-by-descent rules."This is happening precisely because the Liberals gutted our amendment," she said.Rempel Garner also argued the legislation has created confusion over who qualifies for citizenship, leading to processing delays for legitimate applicants..She said Bill C-3 went far beyond its original purpose, which she described as correcting citizenship issues affecting a relatively small number of people who had unintentionally lost Canadian citizenship under previous laws."All that was needed was a very targeted law change, and the problem of lost citizenship for a very small group of people would have been fixed," she said.Instead, she argued, the legislation dramatically expanded eligibility by allowing citizenship claims based on a single Canadian ancestor, regardless of how many generations removed."The result? We have seen a Pandora's box unleashed with the changes the Liberals pushed through over warnings the Opposition raised," Rempel Garner said.She claimed the broader eligibility rules have resulted in millions of people discovering they may qualify for Canadian citizenship and described Canada's citizenship laws as among the most permissive in the world.Rempel Garner also questioned whether individuals with no meaningful ties to Canada should receive citizenship and the rights that accompany it, including voting and access to public services."The problems created by Bill C-3 are already showing themselves," she said.She called on the Liberal government to revisit the legislation and adopt amendments previously proposed by Conservatives to tighten eligibility requirements for citizenship by descent.
