24 Melbourne University Law Review [Vol 41(2):Adv in 2014 that the revocation power had been used to prevent the exit from Canada of citizens seeking to travel to conflict regions as well as the return of citizens who were already abroad in such regions.115 It is worth noting that, as in the UK, there are legal limits on the way in which the Canadian executive’s passport control powers can be exercised. These stem from s 6(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which grants Canadian citizens the constitutional ‘right to enter, remain in and leave Canada’.116 This right is subject to such ‘reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society’.117 The Canadian courts have held that s 10.1 of the Canadian Passport Order is a valid law that is compatible with the Charter. However, executive decisions made under s 10.1 may be held invalid by the courts if they fail to comply with the Charter.118 An example is the case of Abdelrazik v Minister of Foreign Affairs, in which the Canadian government refused to issue a passport to a citizen overseas who, fearing detention, wished to return to Canada, despite having no evidence that his return to Canada would endanger the national security of Canada or another country.119 The Federal Court found that this decision was invalid. It is unlikely that a government decision to revoke the passport of a Canadian who qualified as a candidate for citizenship revocation would have met such a fate. This is because satisfaction of the criteria for citizenship stripping — conviction of a terrorism or national security offence, or serving in the armed forces of a group engaged in armed conflict with Canada — would seem to have provided clear evidence of an elevated threat to national security. It is thus likely that the passport revocation powers in s 10.1 of the Canadian Passport Order can be employed to achieve the same effects as citizenship stripping, calling into question any security rationale for the revocation legislation.120 115 Stewart Bell, ‘Canadian Government Begins Invalidating Passports of Citizens Who Have Left to Join Extremist Groups’, National Post (Toronto, 20 September 2014) <http://news. nationalpost.com/news/canada/canadian-government-revoking-passports-of-citizens-trying-to-join-extremist-groups>. 116 Canada Act 1982 (UK) c 11, sch B pt I s 6(1) (‘Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’). 117 Ibid s 1. 118 See, eg, Veffer v Minister of Foreign Affairs [2008] 1 FCR 641, 654 [23], quoting Black v Prime Minister (2001) 54 OR (3d) 215, [46]; Abdelrazik v Minister of Foreign Affairs [2010] 1 FCR 267, 323 [133], quoting Attorney General of Canada v Kamel [2009] 4 FCR 449, 455–6 [11]. 119 Abdelrazik (n 118). 120 See Forcese and Mamikon (n 12) 336–8. Advance Copy