Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s a privilege to be back into the House. I just want to emphasize that. It’s wonderful to be back after our long break. Mr. Speaker, today I’m very concerned about the fact that we don’t have citizen judges here in the Northwest Territories. There’s always a lot of news out there about the apathy of the Canadian public when it comes to elections and definitely their participation. However, in recent news, a Yellowknife resident and their family travelled all the way to Edmonton to become Canadian citizens just so they could vote in this past election. I personally applaud their dedication; however, their circumstances cause me to wonder why such heroic measures were required in the first place to obtain citizenship. Why couldn’t they get their citizenship here in their new home of Yellowknife?

I contacted the MP’s office, and with their assistance they said citizenship can only be obtained once a year, on July 1st, here in Yellowknife. They also mentioned the difficulty of finding judges to come up to Yellowknife to perform this ceremony. We know citizen judges are responsible for making the decision on citizen applications, presiding over ceremonies and administering the citizen oath, but apparently it’s so simple; it’s not difficult or complex. All it requires is simple accreditation by judges. That’s it.

Mr. Speaker, I have to underscore my concern that the citizen ceremony is only held here once a year. That does not seem fair for one of the territories and the Canadian cities here. We should have more respect from the federal government. If you miss the deadline, Mr. Speaker -- that is the July 1st deadline -- you have to wait a whole year to get your citizenship card. That is a lot of hardship on a particular individual; for instance, if you want to travel or if you have to leave the country on holidays or special emergencies. Even worse, Mr. Speaker, you could be deprived of rights and privileges that Canadians enjoy or have as a safety net outside of Canada. Why are we treating these new Canadians terribly? I don’t think it is fair. I can appreciate and acknowledge that citizenship is a federal issue, but I think this territorial government, in conjunction with the pan-territorial government such as the Yukon and Nunavut, could do something.

Respect is a Canadian value. It is what draws some of these people here. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Justice Minister later today. I will be encouraging him to find less bureaucratic ways of welcoming new Canadians to our country. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause