It’s time to welcome “lost Canadians” home, says Green Party

Ottawa – The continuing existence of an archaic provision in the Citizenship Act could deny tens of thousands of Canadians their citizenship and create a bureaucratic logjam that threatens border hold-ups and reduced productivity, Green Party leader Elizabeth May said today. Ms. May was commenting on mounting testimony in the House of Commons committee on Citizenship and Immigration that many Canadians born outside Canada have been stripped of their citizenship for failing to file the required documents. "Canadian citizenship is an honour," said Ms. May. "It is unconscionable that Canadians are losing their citizenship rights, guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, for failing to fill out a form. This must not stand." She said the committee had heard evidence from Canadians residents of long standing who were not even aware their citizenship had been revoked until they applied for passports to travel to the U.S. The "lost Canadians", as they've become known, are stateless because of an obscure provision in the Canadian Citizenship Act that was in place between 1947 and 1977. In February 1977, the Citizenship Act replaced the Canadian Citizenship Act but the bureaucratic obstacles remain. Canadians affected by the law include:

• War brides and the children of war brides who came to Canada after the World War II;
• "Border babies" born in an American hospital because it was closer to their home than the nearest Canadian town; and
• Children of parents who moved to the U.S. to work and children born to Canadians serving overseas or living in religious communities outside Canada.

In one case, a British Columbia woman born in Washington state was told she would have to re-apply for citizenship after having received a Canadian pension for the past five years. The process will take her three years and involve health and criminal checks as well as a $125 fee. "What we have is a bureaucratic time bomb waiting to explode," said Ms. May. "The federal government’s failure to correct this injustice could be extremely detrimental to the lives of many Canadians who plan to conduct business or visit loved ones outside Canada this year." Ms. May called on the government to modernize the legislation and ensure that it conforms with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by implementing the recommendations of the parliamentary report entitled Updating Canada’s Citizenship Laws: It’s Time. Liberal MP Andrew Telegdi, vice-chair of the House committee on Citizenship and Immigration, said that as many as 200,000 people could be affected by the obsolete legislation. However, Immigration Minister Diane Finley told the committee Monday that the number is probably around 450 and she plans to grant citizenship on a case-by-case basis. "This is not the solution," said Ms. May. "The right to citizenship should be based on legislation passed by Parliament, not on the ad hoc decisions of politicians."