Minister defends move to strip offending dual nationals of citizenship

OTTAWA – The federal immigration minister says Canadians think it is “absolutely legitimate” to strip dual nationals of their Canadian citizenship if they commit acts of treason, terrorism or espionage.

Opposition MPs are putting Chris Alexander on the defensive over legislative proposals that would greatly broaden the grounds for taking away citizenship.

NDP multiculturalism critic Andrew Cash says the bill, currently before the Senate, would allow the government to deport a Canadian-born citizen who happens to have citizenship elsewhere to a country “they have no connection to.”

Cash says the proposed provision is nonsensical and most likely unconstitutional.

The Canadian Bar Association says the government’s proposed changes to the Citizenship Act would create different classes of Canadian citizens and allow the government to banish people.

It says banishment is one of the most serious punishments that can be inflicted on a citizen — one that has not been in common use since the Middle Ages.

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