Changes coming soon to #Citizenship Act, John McCallum says
2016/02/20 1 Comment
Messaging is more in the nature of relatively minor changes/reversals, in contrast to his earlier reference to “radical changes” (McCallum promises ‘radical changes’ to Citizenship Act | hilltimes.com). We should know which is it in a few weeks:
But McCallum said the Liberal government has two main goals when it comes to making its changes to the Citizenship Act.
“We would make it impossible for the government to take away someone’s citizenship, and we would reduce the barriers currently in place that people have to overcome,” he said.
One of those barriers is a test to prove language proficiency in English or French. Bill C-24 expanded the age range for people required to take that test, to those aged 14 to 64 from a ranged of 18 to 54.
McCallum hinted the government is considering restoring the original age limit, among other changes.
“We could bring it back to [age] 54,” he said. “That’s an adjustment at the margin on the grounds that some older people coming to this country may not be fully proficient in English, although their children will be and their grandchildren certainly will be.”
“It’s one of the things we are potentially considering,” he added.
But McCallum made clear the government has no plans to scrap the language testing.
“I think you could call it tweaks to the system, and certainly not ditching the system.”
As for when Canadians can expect an announcement from the government, McCallum said to be on watch “in the coming days and weeks, but not very many weeks.”
Source: Changes coming soon to Citizenship Act, John McCallum says – Politics – CBC News
About Andrew
Multicultural Meanderings 
I am pleased to read that the government plans some changes to the Citizenship Act, as promised. I hope the changes will improve the chances of citizenship, although perhaps a total rewrite of the Act would have been ideal.
In particular, I hope that the “revocation” clause will no longer exist, and that the right to strip(or grant) citizenship will not rest with any particular person, This put the loss of citizenship at risk to anyone who may be entitled to dual citizenship. For instance, the younger generation in my family are all now “second class citizens” due to that piece of legislation: they were all born in Canada, lived all their lives here, good Canadian citizens with dual British citizenship due to having a parent born overseas, to grandparents serving in the Canadian Military in WWII. What has happened to them may be an example of allowing paranoia over perceived threats to enter into drafting of such legislation.. It also displays an extreme lack of respect to those veterans and really looks bad on Canada.
Living in an agricultural area, I grew up knowing so many people who arrived here speaking other languages that I am skeptical of the importance of knowing one of the “official” languages as an indication of what makes a good Canadian citizen. I hope they will at least relax the requirements for older immigrants, at least, who may not so easily learn but will be part of families who will assimilate.
The Citizenship Act as it stands still falls short, I believe, in that it reflects the firm belief that there was no such thing as citizenship in Canada before 1947. This makes it impossible to claim proof of a “Canadian Parent” when applying for a certificate. And it totally negates the right of those WWII soldiers who were themselves born abroad (i.e. my father came as a Home Child) and went back to serve in the military to now be viewed as having been Canadian citizens.
The forthcoming changes will be interesting to see: I hope we end up with a much more inclusive and secure form of citizenship.