Joe Taylor, Citizenship, passports, news about Canadian War Brides of World War Two, births, weddings, marriages to Canadian servicemen

I'd like to introduce myself. I'm the son of a Canadian serviceman who fought for this country in World War II and is buried in the Canadian Legion's Field of Honour in Port Alberni. Yet I'm experiencing great difficulty in establishing my Canadian citizenship. My mother was a British war bride--you heard about those earlier this morning--and I was born in England while my father was in Europe fighting to defeat the German armed forces. My mother and I came to Canada in 1946 to set up home with my father on Vancouver Island, and I became a Canadian at that time.

My father had experienced the severe horrors of war and had a changed personality, which resulted in the early breakdown of the marriage. I was taken back to England by my mother, and I have lived there for most of my life. We travelled back to England on a Canadian passport, which I still have. In fact, here it is. It's nearly 60 years old. My mother and I have never renounced our Canadian citizenship, and I am very proud of my birthright.

We lost touch with my father very early on, and circumstances dictated that I was not in a position to come to Canada to try to find him until the late 1990s. It was only in November 2000 that I was informed that my father had died in 1996 and that I had seven half-brothers and half-sisters, all of whom live on Vancouver Island, whom I had never known about.

We were informed in December 2002 by Canada House in London that I had lost my Canadian citizenship on my 24th birthday as I had not filed forms requesting the retention of my status. The Canadian Bill of Rights acts retrospectively to protect whatever rights I acquired when I came to Canada, and I acquired citizenship, which was acknowledged by the representatives at Canada House.

The principles of natural justice dictate that before rights are taken from Canadian citizens, notice of the potential loss, an opportunity to respond, and a fair adjudication should occur. Natural justice is simply another way of describing the principle of fairness. My father and mother and I were not notified of the requirement that I make an application to retain my Canadian citizenship, nor was I ble to respond to that potential loss. The process that was adopted seems most unfair, and I believe it came into force in 1952.

Canadian law relevant at the time I landed in Canada, July 1946, stated that the children of Canadian servicemen born while they were on active service abroad were to be deemed, when landing n Canada, as non-immigrant and have the same status as their father. In other words, I was supposed to be treated as if I was born in Canada--and I underline that--and therefore not subject to the 1952 regulations, which have been used to prevent me from being a Canadian and living in the country for which my father gave so much. These regulations were legislatively designed to affect children who were born abroad and not deemed to be born in Canada. The regulations should not be applied in circumstances such as mine.

I now have an application, which was lodged in November 2003 and is still awaiting processing at Sydney, Nova Scotia. Letters and e-mails to two previous citizenship and immigration ministers and some members of this committee have not even received replies. I would not be a burden to Canada as I will have my own pension income, which was earned by contributions paid over the years in England, and I currently own my homes in both countries.

But there are some important general issues arising from my personal situation. Canada seems to remove citizenship from its people more easily than most other countries, which gives the impression to the outside world that Canada treats its own people unfairly, contrary to the principles of natural justice.

Australia is currently drawing up legislation to unreservedly return citizenship to any of its former citizens who have at some stage lost this status.

In the year 2000, Trinidad and Tobago passed a similar law, which was very simple, and merely gave back citizenship to any former national who had lost their status. This legislation restored citizenship with effect from the date on which it had been lost. This amendment to their citizenship act was only half a page in length and demonstrates that it should not be too difficult to welcome your own children home.