German cabinet gives go-ahead to dual citizenship | GlobalPost

2014/04/10 Leave a comment

A significant change for Germany, recognizing the complex realities of people’s lives:

The draft law approved by the government allows young people to opt for two passports if, at the age of 21, they can prove they have lived in Germany for at least eight years, gone to school in the country for six years, gained school-leaving qualifications here or completed vocational training in Germany.

“That’s a great signal for many young people in our country. Hundreds of thousands of them can breathe a sigh of relief,” said Aydan Oezoguz, Germany’s federal commissioner for migration, refugees and integration.

German cabinet gives go-ahead to dual citizenship | GlobalPost.

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We’re cleaning up the Liberals’ immigration mess | An Immigration System strangling in red Tape

2014/04/04 Leave a comment

The duelling narratives on immigration and related policies, starting with Costas Menegakis, parliamentary secretary to CIC Minister Alexander:

In doing so, the Liberals will prove again that they are the party of missed opportunities and the same old group of do-nothing hypocrites who repeatedly slashed immigration levels, settlement funding and resources to tackle long wait times for newcomers. Our Conservative government will take no lessons from them on matters of immigration.

We’re cleaning up the Liberals’ immigration mess | iPolitics.

Followed by John McCullum the Liberal critic for CIC:

At a time when Canada competes with other countries for immigrants and visitors, speed is of the essence. On this score, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his former longtime Immigration minister, Jason Kenney, have failed miserably.

From visitors and skilled immigrants to non-economic immigrants and citizenship candidates, processing times have mushroomed on their watch, typically rising by 50 per cent to 100 per cent or more.

An immigration system strangling in red tape | iPolitics

My sense was that CIC officials largely favoured some of the “supply management” restrictions decided by the government given the backlogs and lengthy processing times, largely unmanageable.

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Canada welcomes more new Canadians – Citizenship Stats

2014/04/02 Leave a comment

The usual monthly update on citizenship processing, showing CIC on track to eliminating the backlog through a doubling of the number of new Canadians:

Approximately 33,700 people from 199 countries became Canadian citizens at citizenship ceremonies held across Canada in March 2014. This is almost twice as many compared to March 2013 when 17,089 people were granted citizenship across Canada…

So far in 2014, Canada has welcomed more than 75,900 new citizens at 759 ceremonies across Canada. Comparatively, in the first three months of 2013, Canada welcomed 35,320 new Canadians.

Canada welcomes more new Canadians – Canada News Centre.

Still would like to see a commitment to service standards!

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De l’exclusion des expatriés | Le Devoir

2014/04/01 Leave a comment

An opinion piece by Eric Laporte on voting rights for expatriates and a good short comparison table. I am comfortable with Canada’s five-year rule. While one can keep in contact with the politics and culture back home, the reality is that one does become more distant over time and, apart from the US, most expatriates pay taxes to the country they reside in, not their country of citizenship. No representation without taxation.

Un Américain, un Français, un Allemand, un Britannique est fier que l’un des leurs aille à l’étranger pour représenter son pays et aussi, ce qui est le plus important, aille à l’étranger pour aller chercher de la nouvelle expertise. C’est comme ça que les États-Unis se sont bâtis, en allant chercher l’expertise étrangère, non seulement avec l’immigration, mais aussi avec les contacts à l’international. On ne peut pas donner de signe plus clair à un citoyen qu’on ne le soutient pas qu’en lui enlevant ses droits démocratiques.

De l’exclusion des expatriés | Le Devoir.

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Is multiculturalism stifling bilingualism? | Globalnews.ca

2014/03/31 Leave a comment

National Household Survey data on languages spoken in Canada will be released Wednesday, and will likely provoke debate over the declining importance of French. Official Languages Commission Fraser is not concerned:

Other languages and cultures have always been popular in Canada, and in some communities those third languages are in the majority, he continued.

But no single “other” language is giving French or English a run for predominance across the country or even in a single region. And none of those languages has the staying power of French or English.

“Historically, the pattern in Canada has been that immigrant community languages do not survive to the third generation as a language spoken at home,” Fraser said.

While his point is valid (Ukrainian Canadians being the prime example), not quite so sure that this will apply to the same extent in the future, given that cheap travel, free communications, and myriad language specialty media make integration and identity more complex and varied.

Is multiculturalism stifling bilingualism? | Globalnews.ca.

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In Canada, we’re Canadians | Tarek Fatah

2014/03/29 Leave a comment

I’m with Tarek on this one. It is one thing to celebrate and recognize cultural and religious holidays, quite another to celebrate the national days of countries of origin. Let’s celebrate by all means the rich cultural heritage that different communities bring to Canada, but let’s ensure that is separate from national holidays.

I am all for the “Taste of Danforth” festival that celebrates our country’s Greek heritage and culture and the many contributions the Greek-Canadian community has made to Canada.

But Greece’s Independence Day? Were the people waving Greece’s flag citizens of Greece or Canada?

Just another one of the ironies of the Government’s efforts to strengthen Canadian citizenship, implying strong and exclusive loyalty, while being attuned to diaspora politics, and recognizing the reality that people have more complex and varied identities and loyalties.

In Canada, we’re Canadians | Columnists | Opinion | Toronto Sun.

Minister Kenney issues statement recognizing Greek Independence Day

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Citizen of Convenience: An Example

2014/03/28 Leave a comment

A wonderful example of the instrumental approach to citizenship:

In 2009, my elder two daughters both had plans to move to western Europe, so they asked me to apply for Polish citizenship. This would allow them in turn to derive citizenship through me and acquire a European Union passport that allows them freely to live and work in 28 countries.

Poland does not have a first generation limit on passing on citizenship, likely reflecting their wish to maintain strong links with their diasporas as an immigrant sending country. Canada, as an immigrant-receiving country, decided to have a first generation limit to limit access to benefits of citizenship when little or no attachment. Countries a with strong sense of ethnic identity may be more inclined to be encourage citizenship in their diasporas than countries with more civic than ethnic identities.

So Daniel Pipes, a controversial academic and commentator, became Polish as did his children. While obtaining Polish citizenship has an emotional and sentimental connection for him (his parents were Polish), clear that the value of Polish citizenship was the right to live and work freely in the EU.

Not being critical as most of us would likely do the same for our kids if we could.

National Review Online | Print.

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Citizenship Act: Canadian Council of Refugees Submission

2014/03/27 Leave a comment

Submission have started. This one, from the Canadian Council of Refugees, contains few surprises. My sense is that their concerns range from the relatively less significant (e.g., change in residency, fees) to more substantive (e.g., revocation):

Principles

Citizenship rules are fundamental to who we are as a country. We believe it is crucial that the rules:

a) Respect the principle that all citizens are equal.

b) Embrace newcomers and encourage them to quickly become full participating members of our society.

c) Recognize the barriers that some newcomers face to full participation, including the particular barriers faced by refugees who have suffered persecution and long years of deprivation.

d) Respect the principle that citizenship is a status from which rights derive, and is thus similar to our status as human beings. It is not something that can be lost through bad behaviour.

e) Be clear about who acquires or loses citizenship. Individuals should have access to a fair hearing before an independent decision-maker. Decisions should not be made on a discretionary basis by the Minister.

RT @ccrweb: Concerned about changes to #citizenship in Canada? So are we. Read our submission to Parliament: http://t.co/qGwUxcxTNT #cdnimm…

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Sheryl Saperia: The case for revoking citizenship

2014/03/25 2 Comments

The alternate view to that expressed by Chris Selley a number of weeks ago (Actually, my citizenship is a right | National Post)  by Sheryl Saperia is Director of Policy for Canada at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD)

Bill C-24 makes ordinary Canadians safer by adding a new layer of deterrence against engaging in terrorism, treason and armed conflict with Canada; facilitating the removal of people who pose a threat not only to Canada, but to the vulnerable individuals in our society susceptible to radicalization; and removing the coveted Canadian passport from those who would use it as a tool to support or carry out terrorist attacks.

Sheryl Saperia: The case for revoking citizenship | National Post.

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The Lords must vote against Theresa May’s plan to strip Britons of their citizenship

2014/03/24 Leave a comment

More on the debate within the UK on citizenship revocation in cases of terrorist or equivalent activity, and lack of due process (proposed Canadian equivalent has greater due process protections given role of Federal Court and not leaving it to Ministerial discretion):

“[U]se of denationalisation as a punishment [means] the total destruction of the individual’s status in organised society. It is a form of punishment more primitive than torture …”

So ruled the US supreme court in 1958 on the practice of stripping people of their citizenship and leaving them stateless. It is a measure of how far Britain has sunk in the legal and ethical mire of the “war on terror” that the government is now attempting to introduce powers similar to those rejected by the US courts as “cruel and unusual” more than half a century ago.

On Monday, the House of Lords votes on plans that would give Theresa May the power to strip Britons of their citizenship without due process, even if doing so would leave them stateless – deprived of any nationality or the protections it carries.

It is a power that, before this government came into office, had been relatively narrow in scope and little-used. Even during the second world war, Oxford academic Matthew Gibeny notes, “only four people were stripped of citizenship.” Already, he says, “Theresa May has denaturalised more than four times that number”.

The Lords must vote against Theresa May’s plan to strip Britons of their citizenship | Clare Algar | Comment is free | theguardian.com.

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