Deny assistance to Canadians living abroad? It won’t work – The Globe and Mail

There is a real issue here, both financial and philosophical (what should be the extent of consular service provided to Canadian citizens that have minimal connection to Canada). Saunders is a bit too dismissive of the officials who quite properly identified the issue and possible options, although he does have a point on implementation challenges and risks. And a nice plug for the upcoming Citizenship Act proposed extension of residency requirements (which will not solve the consular issue, however):

And it would need to be very well-run indeed, because the risks are horrendous: Do we really want to create a situation where we will refuse to come to the aid of a Canadian citizen in deep trouble, just because she has a good job abroad and hasn’t had the wherewithal to take a trip home for a couple of years? Do we want to risk having a Canadian die abroad of a treatable malady, or suffer torture in a foreign prison, because we have inaccurately gauged their days spent in Canada?

It would be near-impossible to implement, open to tragic flaws, and probably unconstitutional.

Far better to deal with the problem of “Canadians of convenience” using a policy change suggested by Chris Alexander, the minister of citizenship and immigration: Change the rules for obtaining Canadian citizenship so that you’re required to have lived in Canada for four out of the last six years, rather than three out of the last four years.

This longer residency requirement would put Canada in line with many other Western countries. And it would solve the problem at its source, rather than through an awkward, expensive, inhumane and probably illegal attempt to deny assistance to Canadians abroad.

Deny assistance to Canadians living abroad? It won’t work – The Globe and Mail.

The background article is here.