The Daily Gleaner
Thursday May 31st, 2007 , A6
Citizenship Act changes will shut out hundreds - historian
By KATE WRIGHT
wright.kate@brunswicknews.com
A New Brunswick advocate for Canadians stripped of their citizenship is furious that proposed changes to the Citizenship Act will shut out hundreds fighting to be recognized as Canadians.
Citizenship and Immigration Minister Diane Finley told a Commons committee Tuesday she will introduce changes this fall that would restore citizenship to "most" people that had lost it through sections of the 1947 Citizenship Act.
The act revoked the citizenship of many wives and children of Canadian soldiers who were born abroad and people considered to be born out of wedlock to a non-Canadian mother.
The proposed changes would restore citizenship to people born after Jan. 1, 1947.
Melynda Jarratt, a Fredericton resident and historian with the Canadian War Brides, said the changes are simply "window dressing" and don't go far enough to award citizenship to many who were born before that date.
"We're absolutely not satisfied; this is not addressing the issue," said Jarratt.
"I don't know why they're continuing with this ludicrous waste of taxpayers' dollars. These people want to live a normal life. They don't want that upheaval in their lives."
The confusing citizenship rules have created countless headaches for Plaster Rock resident Doris Lloyd and her family.
Lloyd's husband came to Canada from England when he was eight months old. He fought for Canada in the Second World War and when applying for a passport in 1976, was told he wasn't a Canadian citizen.
"He was angry; he had been here all those years. He fought overseas for the country," she said. "It doesn't seem fair when you're told you are Canadian when you come here and government is allowed to change their minds."
Lloyd's daughter also learned her citizenship was in jeopardy and fought for more than two years to be recognized as a Canadian citizen.
She was given citizenship last year.
Jarratt said the proposed changes will shut out hundreds of Canadians, including Joe Taylor, the man behind a precedent-setting citizenship case that is being appealed by the federal government.
Taylor is a Canadian born out of wedlock to a Second World War Canadian soldier and his war bride in 1944. He failed to reapply for citizenship in time to retain his citizenship.
The 1947 Citizenship Act contains an obscure rule that Taylor had to apply by his 24th birthday to retain citizenship.
Federal court Judge Luc Martineau recently ordered the government to restore Taylor's citizenship, but the federal government appealed.
Finley told the Commons committee that she would like to help residents born before 1947, but won't do anything until the Taylor case is settled in court.
Doing anything before that, she argues, could be in contempt of court.
Observers estimate there are thousands of people who have lived their lives in Canada only to find out when applying for passports, drivers' licences and pensions, that they lost their Canadian citizenship years ago.
In some cases, they are discovering they were never Canadian citizens in the first place.
