Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Let me just say to Mr. Batters, we certainly don't need a history lesson from somebody who has been to three meetings. Many of us have been here for many meetings. Many Conservative members had great experience. The fact of the matter is, what the Conservative government said while they were in opposition they totally contradicted when they came into government.
Minister, countries are opening up their citizenship. You only have to look to the European Union; you only have to look to what Australia has done. It seems to me we're closing up shop in Canada. We had one gentleman, Senator Roméo Dallaire, who referred to the bureaucratic terrorists in the system when he was asked what the problem is with lost Canadians. That is the best description I have heard in all my years on Parliament Hill when I was frustrated by the bureaucracy.
Minister, of the five members on the committee, only one has had previous experience and only one has a significant population of immigrants in their riding. You and your predecessor fall into the same category. And this is the Conservative Party that was supposed to be sensitive to new Canadians.
Minister, knowledgeable people dealt with the policy on revocation. A former critic who was the most knowledgeable person in your department put it very correctly in her statements when she was here, and she was a lawyer.
There isn't anybody on Parliament Hill who likes war criminals or wants war criminals in Canada. That's not what this issue is about.
Minister, if you believe you are dealing with war criminals, I issue you a challenge in front of the media to go outside this room and name two war criminals you took citizenship away from. If you and your deputy minister go out there and make that statement, name names, I dare say you'll be in court so quickly your head will spin.
You did one thing that's somewhat of an improvement, and that is you now have finally conceded that you're going to try to do a new citizenship act. I will assist you and I think all the members of the committee will assist you. I also ask you to call on the Conservative members who have had experience on this committee, who have heard the witnesses, who have made the cross-Canada trips listening to witnesses. I think that is very, very important.
Minister, there's a gentleman by the name of Charles Bosdet who offered to assist in the drafting of a new citizenship act. He is very, very knowledgeable, and I certainly hope you take advantage of that.
I would like you to provide this information to me, because you have a lot of leaks in your department. To their credit, a lot of civil servants are unhappy with how that department is run. One of the things I found out is that you cancelled $4.9 million within the department to celebrate citizenship. I want to get that report in front of the committee.
The other one is that when CBC Radio was doing its due diligence in terms of—