At its policy conference in Halifax last summer, members of the Conservative Party of Canada passed a resolution to amend the act so that birthright citizenship is only automatic when one of the child’s parents is either a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, following the example of Australia, which made a similar move in 2007.

And Liberal MP Joe Peschisolido, whose Richmond, B.C. riding has become a flashpoint for its high rate of births to non-resident mothers, lent his support to a petition demanding an end to birth tourism, which it denounced as an “abusive and exploitative practice” that is “debasing the value of Canadian citizenship.”

Despite the passion the practice arouses, Jamie Liew, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa’s faculty of law, says it’s important to remember that there is currently no legal bar to birth tourism in Canada. And she strongly opposes any amendment that would tackle it by ending birthright citizenship.

“In my opinion, it would be a massive overreaction to a very small problem that will lead to humongous social problems,” Liew says.

Such an amendment, she says, would affect every Canadian, because people would have to prove their citizenship regardless of where they were born.