Article content continued

The telephone poll canvassed 1,000 Canadians. The results are considered accurate within 3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

Only 13% of those polled were against revoking citizenship for treason, while 14% disagreed it should be done for terrorism.

Mr. Shory’s bill, C-425, was introduced in May and remains at the early stages. Most private member’s bills never become law. It is scheduled for second reading in the House of Commons next Tuesday.

Under his proposal to amend the Citizenship Act, only Canadians who are also citizens of another country would lose their status as Canadians. The bill would also apply to permanent residents who commit treason by taking away their right to apply for citizenship.

The amendment reads: “A Canadian who is also a citizen or a legal resident of a country other than Canada is deemed to have made an application for renunciation of their Canadian citizenship if they engage in an act of war against the Canadian Armed Forces.”

Another section of the bill would allow permanent residents serving in the Canadian Forces to apply for citizenship after two years, rather than the required three. Few non-Canadians serve in the forces, although those with specialized skills are sometimes brought in.

Should the bill defy the odds and become law, it could conceivably be used against people who have traveled to war zones such as Afghanistan, Bosnia or Libya to join armed groups that fought against Canadian troops.

But support from Opposition parties, and even the Conservative caucus, is far from certain. Revoking citizenship is highly sensitive. Even taking away the citizenship of Nazi war criminals who lied their way into Canada has proven challenging for the government.

National Post

sbell@nationalpost.com