Mr. BENNETT (Calgary).

Mr. Speaker, I do not propose to trespass upon the time of the House to any considerable extent, but merely to make a few observations in respect to this matter. I remember that when Mr. Geoffrey Drage and Sir Frederick Pollock visited western Canada some few years ago to interest public opinion on this subject, their efforts were crowned with very considerable success. It seems to me that my hon. friend the Minister of Public Works (Mr. Monk), as well as the hon. gentleman who has just taken his seat, (Mr. Cockshutt), have indicated exactly the difficulties that have been experienced in connection with this matter. The hon. member for Edmonton (Mr. Oliver) also dealt with exactly the same sort of difficulty that had to be considered by the Imperial authorities. I think we all agree that it is essential that the autonomous rights of the dependencies of the Empire should be preserved. That is of the utmost importance. Every one of the King's dominions claims the right to pass a statute providing for the naturalization of aliens on such terms as to the legislature of each dependency seems best. That is a sine qua non. They insist upon that right. As the hon. member for Pictou (Mr. Macdonald) has just said, the Dominion of New Zealand claims the right to confer citizenship upon a person the next day after he lands and takes the oath of allegiance. Some of the old provinces in Australia exacted live years' residence while we exact only three years, residence.. It is therefore perfectly clear that if there are to be different terms of residence exacted before the domestic tribunals confer rights of citizenship that citizenship should be limited in its application to the boundaries of the country that grants it. Then comes a further question and the difficulty which was experienced is the very difficulty that the hon. member for Edmonton has just referred to, namely, whether or not there might be a uniform arrangement throughout the British Empire as to the terms of citizenship, whether or not a man should have to reside in New Zealand, Australia, Canada or any other British colony or dependency a given number of years absolutely regardless of other considerations and then have conferred upon him, by some domestic tribunal, a citizenship that would be accepted in every portion of the Empire, or whether we should attempt-to deal with it in the way that the draft Bill does, namely, by preserving the right of each colony and of each Dominion to legislate as they please in regard to the requirements which may be exacted from

those who came within her boundaries and who seek the rights of citizenship, and then to adopt one general provision, that in addition to the residence or other qualifications necessary to attain the status of a citizen within the boundaries of the country that conferred the citizenship, the individual should have to live a longer period still in that Dominion before he could obtain Empire citizenship. The Minister of Public Works has pointed out that in the Imperial Conference of 1911 the matter was discussed at length and two schools of thought there found expression. On. the one hand it was strongly urged that there should be a uniform term of residence in the empire and that then the domestic tribunal might confer empire -citizenship. On the other hand there was a suggestion made which is now given force and effect , in the draft Bill before us. It is proposed that while preserving the right that every self-governing colony or dependency may have to make such laws and regulations as to it seems best for granting citizenship to those who come within its boundaries, nevertheless, a residence of five years within that colony or dependency by any person shall entitle him to apply for a certificate of naturalization that- will give him empire citizenship. That is the -purpose of this draft Bill, and I may point out to the hon. m-ember for Edmonton that it preserves to us all our autonomous rights, all our rights to make Such rules and regulations as we may desire in so far as regards the domestic citizenship, while the larger or empire citizenship is to be conferred only when there has been a residence for five years, when the oath of allegiance has been taken to the sovereign and when there has been a certificate given as to the good character of the person in question. With Tegard to the pamphlet that was referred to by the hon. member for Pictou, I happen to know of a case that came under my own observation in which a passport had been issued that did not, make the reservation or provision that is now inserted in a passport issued to naturalized citizens, and it was found in Russia that the person to whom the passport had been issued was wanted for a criminal offence under the laws of that country. He produced hi-s passport, and the passport having been issued upon a form that it should not have been issued upon, international complications arose -by reason of it and it gave a great deal of trouble. They came to the conclusion that a man has no right to have a full passport based only on domestic citizenship and that if he desires to have a pas-sport which will give him the protection of his Britannic Majesty throughout the empire he must have empire citizenship. I entirely approve

of this Bill and I trust that the government, in the words of the despatch to Earl Grey, will give it its earliest possible attention. _

With regard to early action being taken, South Africa has acted and I am informed that Australia has also acted. Am I correct in that?

Mr. BENNETT (Calgary).

I am informed that Australia has acted, or, if it has not acted, has come to a conclusion with regard to it. I trust that Canada will also take immediate action because this is one of the first steps towards a practical realization of the desire that most of us have for some consolidation of imperial interests, for the unity of the empire and the finding of -our proper position in it, so that we may, as the hon. gentleman has just said, be citizens in fact of the Britsh Empire and not of any particular section of it. I welcome legislation along that line and if it will bring about that much desired purpose I trust that the government will early arrive at a conclusion and that they may be able to accept this measure because we realize how difficult it would be to induce New Zealand to change its present domestic law of one -day of residence for the man who takes the oath of allegiance, how difficult it might be to induce the people of Canada to change the standard from 'three years, and I think we should be content to accept this secondary test that has been imposed, namely, residence for five years within the King's dominions and the obtaining of a certificate which gives a man that quality of citizenship that will ensure to him in future empire citizenship. That is a practical kind of imperialism. There are other questions of the same character that might be dealt with in this way in reference to copyrights, patents and the whole series of questions which have been agitating the public mind for -some time. I trust that the government may be able to arrive at an early decision and that they may take advantage of this Bill because it is a Bill that does not work any great hardships and it will provide a remedy for the difficulties that have arisen and will enable persons coming into this country and who have attained to citizenship to be able to say, with ,a little expense and trouble, that they have secured a citizenship that is the highest and best that can be conferred upon any people under any flag under the sun.

But there is -a difficulty in connection with the treaty matter. A German does not lose his citizenship because he becomes naturalized in Canada; a Japanese never loses his citizenship. A Japanese may take the oath of allegiance to our sovereign and I become naturalized, but the moment he

gets back to Japan he is the same Japanese, so far as nationality is concerned, as he, was when he left, Japan. One hon! gentleman who spoke was in error in saying that in England the citizenship was better than here. The Naturalization Act that confers rights on aliens in England is in the same terms as the Act here, our Act being changed only to meet the conditions of our being a Colonial parliament and the other being the Imperial parliament. The Japanese or German who becomes a British subject in England gets no higher right beyond the three mile limit around the British isles than does the man who gets his citizenship here beyond the three mile limit of the Dominion. In both instances what they obtain is subject to treaty rights that exist between the two countries if there be a treaty, and the position he occupies is regulated by the treaty between the land from whence he came and the land to which he comes. On a casual reading of the Bill, I assume that treaty rights are preserved by the saving section which my hon. friend (Mr. Macdonald) has referred to. I think the House is indebted to the hon. gentleman from Pictou (Mr. Macdonald) for bringing this matter to our attention, and I trust the government will take speedy action because I observe from the deipatohes that the imperial parliament may deal with the question at its coming session, and then legislation will be necessary on the part of the great selfgoverning colonies to manifest their approval of the action taken by the imperial parliament.

Mr. BENNETT (Calgary).

My present appreciation of the fact is that we do give^ effect m Canada to the naturalization certificate that comes from any part of the King's dominions. Whether we do that lawfully or not is another matter but I believe that is the practice. I think we will even respect a New Zealand certificate although probably we should not because there a man can take the oath of allegiance and become a citizen the next morning.

Mr. BENNETT (Calgary).

Mr. BENNETT (Simcoe).

Oh, no.