22 Melbourne University Law Review [Vol 41(2):Adv Citizenship is based on allegiance. Those granted citizenship pledge allegiance to our monarch, the Queen of Canada, and to our system of government and its laws. Betrayal of this allegiance comes with a price.105 By contrast, security justifications for the Act were canvassed only briefly and — as in the UK — were invoked in very general terms. A government backgrounder to the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act states that its provision for citizenship revocation ‘underscore[s] the government’s commitment to protecting the safety and security of Canadians and promoting Canadian interests and values’ and ‘reinforce[s] the value of Canadian citizenship’.106 Additionally, in his second reading speech, Alexander said that the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act was ‘about deterring disloyalty’.107 He also noted that ‘130 Canadians are fighting with extremists somewhere in the world, with terrorist groups that have been listed by Canada or that face listing by Canada’,108 but did not suggest that the Act would help combat this problem, other than by reinforcing the value of Canadian citizenship. 3 Use, Efficacy and Repeal The Canadian revocation provisions reflected the symbolic justifications invoked prior to their enactment, which emphasised that citizens who demonstrate disloyalty or a lack of allegiance do not deserve to retain their Canadian citizenship. Enabling revocation only where a person has served with a country or group engaged in conflict with Canada or been convicted of terrorism or national security offences ensures that revocation is predicated on a lack of allegiance. On the other hand, parts of the Act remained unsupported by this allegiance-based justification. For instance, s 10(2)(b) rendered a person convicted of particular national security offences in a foreign country susceptible to citizenship revocation.109 While such conduct may be reprehensible, it does not inherently indicate disloyalty to Canada. Additionally, disloyal conduct did not 105 Canada, Parliamentary Debates, Senate, 17 June 2014, 1932. 106 ‘Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act: Protecting and Promoting Canada’s Interests and Values’, Government of Canada: News (Web Page, 6 February 2014) <www.canada.ca/en/ news/archive/2014/02/strengthening-canadian-citizenship-act-protecting-promoting-canada-interests-values.html>, archived at <https://perma.cc/HF6A-25DT>. 107 Canada, Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons, 27 February 2014, 3311. 108 Ibid 3313. 109 Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act (n 95) s 8, amending Canadian Citizenship Act (n 8) s 10(2)(b), the latter as repealed by Canadian Citizenship Amendment Act (n 95) s 3(1). Advance Copy