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| Great White North |
| 700k 'Lost Canadians' May Lose Citizenship In Legal Twist |
| 2007-02-28 |
| At least 110,000 "Lost Canadians," who risk being stripped of their citizenship under an arcane law, are the children of soldiers and diplomats who served overseas, a parliamentary committee heard Monday. Between 1947 and 1977, Canada's Citizenship Act said children born out of wedlock or to a father who took a second citizenship would be disqualified as Canadians. Those two scenarios are the ones that apply most often. The issue has left many Canadians, including four MPs, scrambling to find out if they or their children are citizens. Chapman wants the current law changed to restore citizenship to those who had it revoked, and to protect those born between 1947 and 1977. He estimates that 700,000 Canadians have either lost their citizenship or are at risk of having it stripped. Christine Eden, chair of a special Air Force committee on Lost Canadians in the military, said 110,000 is a conservative estimate for the number of military and diplomat kids affected. "It's a big problem because if we're not Canadian, then we're citizens of the country of our birth - and I'm already hearing about some men who have been served draft notices by those countries," Eden said. Eden added that at least two active soldiers have lost their citizenship. Immigration Minister Diane Finley said the government has had just 881 calls on potential loss of citizenship. "I am treating these cases as a priority," she said in a statement. "I have directed the department to resolve these questions as quickly as possible. "I think it's also important to keep the scale of the issue in perspective." But Chapman, Eden and many MPs agreed that's not a reliable number because many people either don't know they're Lost Canadians or they don't want to come forward in case they have their citizenship stripped. Committee members shook their heads as they listened to testimony from Lost Canadians, including Joe Taylor, the son of a survivor of the Normandy invasion of 1944. "To our soldiers, and their descendants, whenever I hear your story, I have to apologize," said Liberal MP Andrew Telegdi. "This is terrible and I feel awfully bad for each and every one of you." Eden said the government's failure to tell military staff about changing citizenship rules constitutes a definite lack of respect for the families of those willing to die for their country. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #12 So did he show up in his US Navy uniform on the appointed date, Pappy? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-02-28 21:06 |
| #11 Dependents born in France are considered by the French government as citizens (albeit dual). It was fun watching one of my Navy A-school classmates as he read his draft notice... |
| Posted by: Pappy 2007-02-28 20:54 |
| #10 Military dependents born overseas in a military hospital count as native born citizens. How else could Panama Canal Zone-born John McCain be a Presidential candidate? |
| Posted by: Swamp Blondie 2007-02-28 20:21 |
| #9 And just what does the Honorable Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami, think of this? |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-02-28 16:13 |
| #8 Deacon: born in Athens, GA, raised in the Atlanta 'burbs, but wised up and went to Auburn! |
| Posted by: BA 2007-02-28 14:40 |
| #7 More or less right, TW... generally the patients at military hospitals overseas are members of the military and their officially recognized dependents... ergo, a child born in a military hospital overseas is therefore officially an American. Even if actually born in a civilian hospital off-post (which does happen!) there is really no question about citizenship. Except for the stipulation about a presidential candidate being a native-born American... which is where the rather interesting grey area comes in. Such children are American citizens, but are they strictly speaking, native-born? It has come up once or twice, IIRC most recently because a potential candidate a couple of election cycles ago was born in China, where his parents were missionaries. Just an interesting sidelight. For the life of me though, I can't figure out how the Canadian bureaucrats have managed pass a rule which looks like it imperils the citizenship rights of overseas-born military and diplomatic dependents. |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2007-02-28 14:32 |
| #6 Sgt. Mom, I was told that US military hospitals count as US soil for such purposes. However, I couldn't vouch for the legal expertise of whoever it was that told me. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-02-28 13:15 |
| #5 I was delivered in Selma, Alabama. I don't know where I was assembled. I am, however, an American of southern Descent. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2007-02-28 12:17 |
| #4 lol, RJ! Pushin' for snark o' the week, are we? |
| Posted by: BA 2007-02-28 11:04 |
| #3 My daughter was born in Virginia, I've had much fun teasing her over the years as "Not Quite Southern, |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-02-28 10:21 |
| #2 My daughter was born in a US military hospital in Japan, and her birth had to be registered with the US Consulate. She is quite definatly a US citizen, since children born to US service-people stationed abroad are US citizens. There is a small wrangle of late as to wether such children can run as a presidential candidate, since the numbers of US citizens stationed abroad, and having their children born overseas only became substantial in the last fifty years or so. She has gotten a great deal of amusement over the years, as a tall, strapping blue-eyed blond, telling people that she was born in Japan and having them say "B-b-but you don't look Japanese!" |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2007-02-28 09:20 |
| #1 Canada's Citizenship Act said children born out of wedlock or to a father who took a second citizenship would be disqualified as Canadians. Trailing daughter #2 was born in Germany, in a German hospital (an interesting experience, at least for me -- she wasn't paying close attention at the time). If her children are not born on American territory, they will not automatically acquire American citizenship as her children. This is a longstanding rule, to ensure that citizenship is not passed on to those with no real ties to the US... sort of reverse anchor babies thingy. Children born out of wedlock should not inherit their father's citizenship, in my opinion, nor should those born of one who took on another citizenship. I do find it odd, though, that this only applies to the father's children, although perhaps it's because the caffein hasn't yet kicked in. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-02-28 08:56 |