The Purpose of C-6 Is to Create One Class of Canadian. Unless Amended, the Bill Will Not Achieve Its Objective
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The purpose of C-6 is to create one class of Canadian. Unless amended, the Bill will not achieve its objective. Preamble: “A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.” –Justin Trudeau, acceptance speech as Prime Minister, October 19, 2015. “We believe very strongly that there should be only one class of Canadians, that all Canadians are equal, that a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian from coast to coast to coast.” –John McCallum, Citizenship Minister, February 3, 2016. Fabulous words. Now let’s make it a reality. Bill C-6, as written, is but a start- it doesn’t get Canada to the Promised Land. If passed into law, unequal rights will continue, resulting in different classes of Canadian citizen- some with more rights than others. There will also be people denied citizenship altogether due to ongoing discrimination within the Act. My point in the following discussion is to exemplify the confusion and unjust legislation that bonds us together as Canadians. Trying to explain our current citizenship act is easy vs. deciding who under the law qualifies to call themselves Canadians, and why. For example, Canadian citizenship as we know it is an amalgamation of all the previous citizenship and immigration legislation going back more than 100 years. As such, the current Act is not a complete code for citizenship and nationality in that certain provisions of the 1947 Act must still be read as unrepealed. The authority for this is the Interpretation Act 1985 (44[h]), which specifies that provisions of a repealed Act must be read as unrepealed if those provisions are required to give effect to the Current Act. Hence, persons born before 1974 are recognized as citizens and nationals by reference to their status under the former 1947 Act. When analyzing the history of the nationality and citizenship legislation, you’ll find the 1947 Act was simply a consolidation with amendments of the 1921 Nationals Act. The 1974 Citizenship Act relies on references to the 1947 Act for its implementation, and the current 1985 Citizenship Act is a consolidated version of the 1974 Act. In so many words, it's a mess, which hasn’t gone unnoticed on both sides in Parliament. Several years ago the House Citizenship committee and the Senate committee on Social Affairs, Science, and Technology did separate studies regarding our citizenship laws. Both issued reports and recommendations that were virtually identical. In all-party, unanimous recommendations, they said the current Act, being effectively over 90 years old, has been renovated and patched in so many places that it’s become virtually incomprehensible. Excerpts from their reports: Senate (April 2008): “your committee wishes to focus the government’s attention on the long- standing and obvious need for a new citizenship Act. Canada’s current Act, which came into force in 1977, has been amended many times over the years. Today it is nothing short of a cumbersome patchwork of technically drafted provisions, many of which refer to other provisions in now-repealed legislation. Legal experts find the Citizenship Act difficult to understand; for other Canadians it is impossible to navigate. Your committee is of the opinion that members of the public should be able to read Canada’s citizenship legislation, understand the system and determine whether they are citizens. To this end the committee suggests that the government prioritize replacing the Citizenship Act entirely with new, clear and straightforward citizenship legislation in the near future.”1 House (December, 2007): “Citizenship is a fundamental aspect of belonging in our Canadian society. It transcends our many differences to be the basic common denominator that unites us as a nation. Canada should be the club in which we are all members. Citizenship legislation from 1947 and 1977 was a product of its time, reflecting societal attitudes and beliefs of the era during which it was enacted. As our society has evolved, so too has our understanding of the principles of fairness upon which citizenship must be based. Unfortunately, Canadian citizenship law has not kept pace. It is not appropriate for us to be confined by anachronistic laws that continue to affect citizenship determinations, even today. The government now has an opportunity to address some of the features of past citizenship legislation. The Committee urges the government to fully implement all its recommendations, as soon as possible, to achieve 1 Report of the Committee, The Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science, and Technology, April 16, 2008. A report on Bill C-37, An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act: http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/SEN/Committee/392/soci/rep/rep11apr08-e.htm 2 the kind of responsible, fair, compassionate and inclusive outcome that is suitable for Canada. In the longer term, our recommendations should be helpful in drafting a new citizenship act and in directing how Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) should address certain systemic issues.”2 Long-term solution: A state-of-the-art, Charter compliant Act is the only real solution. The committee should immediately begin to work on an entirely new, mint-fresh and Charter compliant Citizenship act, to be introduced into law on July 1, 2017. What a gift to Canadians for their 150th anniversary of Canada becoming a country. Short term Solution: Bill C-6. As it stands, different classes of Canadian citizenship will still exist. Mr. Trudeau and Mr. McCallum’s words will be for naught. There needs to be some amendments. Bill C-6, Problems still remaining, and the respective solutions: The age 28 reaffirmation of citizenship rule. Explanation: This anomaly was first put into law with the 1977 Citizenship Act, and remained in force until April 17, 2009, the day C-37 became effective. Under C-37, 2nd-generation born abroad folks, in order to retain their Canadian citizenship, were no longer required to reaffirm, so long as they were born between April 18, 1981 and April 16, 2009. For the second-generation Canadians born on or between February 15, 1977 and April 17, 1981, they were excluded from C-37 and subsequently stripped of their Canadian citizenship. Particularly affected were Mennonites, who were shocked to discover many of their people were no longer citizens, despite having held 2 Reclaiming Citizenship for Canadians: A Report on the loss of Canadian Citizenship. Report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration – December, 2007, 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/HOC/committee/392/cimm/reports/rp3159522/cimmrp02 /cimmrp02-e.pdf 3 Canadian citizenship and Certificates of Canadian citizenship for most of their lives.3 4 Even now, some people remain unaware. Note: All these people were Canadian citizens, and most currently live in Canada. Our country, and the Prime Minister, should embrace not just the words, but follow through with actions, “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law without discrimination.”5 Putting a time frame on inclusiveness, and hence acceptance, or put another way, having a four-year window of denial, does not conform to the spirit of “equality and protection” under the Charter. There’s also a Supreme Court ruling upholding the granting of citizenship to the second-generation born children, Montano vs. Sanchez, 1964. 6 (The Supreme Court recognized the validity of religious marriages in Mexico based on Canadian law, in spite of Mexico’s refusal to do likewise.) Solution: Completely do away with the age 28 rule. Second-generation born abroad. Explanation: 3 From a report of the House Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, titled, The Report on the loss of Canadian Citizenship, dated December, 2007: “A second group particularly affected by the wedlock distinction are descendants of Mennonites. This category includes persons whose Canadian ancestors moved to Mexico in the 1920’s and had church marriages instead of civil marriages. For decades Canada accepted these marriages as valid and issued citizenship documents to children of Canadian fathers. Much later, Canada stopped recognizing those church marriages as valid because Mexico did not recognize them. As a result, children of such unions were deemed to have been born out of wedlock, with the further result that prior to 1977 Canadian citizenship was not passed down through generations from father to child.” 4 Allen Ussher, born in the Philippines to a Canadian father, grew up in Canada since infancy. On September 9, 2009 he went to get his valid Canadian passport renewed. Instead of walking out with a new one, the government invalidated his current one. Allen discovered he was stateless, a man without a country. There was no mention on his citizenship certificate that he had to renew it on his 28th birthday. Nothing was mentioned in his Canadian passport- it didn't expire until January 2010. All of this came as a total surprise. Allen had absolutely no idea that for almost four years he had been rendered stateless. 5 Actual language used in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, section (15)(1). 6 Judgements of the Supreme Court of Canada, Montano v. Sanchez, [1964] S.C.R. 317, March 23, 1964. http://scc.lexum.org/en/1964/1964scr0-317/1964scr0-317.html 4 Bill C-37 was the first time that 2nd-generation born abroad children no longer had the right of citizenship. The intent of Parliament was to make the law apply only to children born on or after C-37's effective date, which is April 17, 2009. The real outcome, however, was that the bureaucrats retroactively took away the right of citizenship to all 2nd-generation folks- even those born before C-37 became effective.