Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'll agree completely with that. I don't think the Citizenship Act is the right place to be looking for measures that will protect Canadians. We have criminal law. We have security measures.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Legal Aid does have concerns about that provision. It permits a situation where, if a repressive regime has a problem with a dissident who has come to Canada, all they need to do to deny that person access to citizenship in Canada is to lay a charge against them. That would be enough to delay indefinitely that person's getting citizenship.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Given our client base, the citizenship application fees and permanent residence application fees do present a serious barrier for many families. We made no submissions in this context because it's not part of the act. To the extent those fees can be reduced or can somehow be tied or related to income, or that there be exceptions allowed for people who are impoverished, I think that would be an important way to get rid of one of the barriers to citizenship for our clients.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Certainly there's a great deal that Canada could and should do with respect to statelessness. We're here talking about Bill C-6. I do think that, if you take a look at my handout, you'll see there are some changes that can be made in this context that would make a big difference right now with respect to access to citizenship; and particularly, introducing a definition in law, in the Citizenship Act, would make a big difference.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. It's a pleasure to be back before the committee. I work for Legal Aid Ontario, or LAO. Legal Aid is the country's largest legal aid plan. Our mandate is to ensure access to justice for the most vulnerable and marginalized Ontarians.