OTTAWA—Immigration Minister John McCallum wants the Senate to come to the aid of Canadians who are being stripped of their citizenship without a hearing.
And, in the meantime, he says he’ll consider imposing a moratorium on the practice.
McCallum, who was grilled by senators Tuesday, says he’d welcome such an amendment.
Revocation without a hearing was part of a citizenship bill passed by the previous Conservative government. The provision was criticized by the Liberals when they were in opposition but lawyers say they’ve been aggressively enforcing it since forming government.
The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers last week launched a constitutional challenge to the law, which they argue violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
It’s a law that could potentially trap Democratic Institutions Minister Maryam Monsef, who has revealed she was born in Iran, not Afghanistan, as she’d always believed.
McCallum faced some tough questioning on the matter Tuesday when he appeared in the Senate for the chamber ’s question period.
