‘Lost Canadians’ legislation delayed once again

2025/03/15 Leave a comment

Really have to wonder about Justice Akbarali given only a month or so extension when Parliament prorogued and a likely imminent election call. Her seeing “no evidence” flies in the face of Bill C-71 that died because of prorogation and could quickly be revived, ideally with the residency requirement needing to be met within the same five-year period as for permanent residents:

A court has granted another reprieve for the federal government to make the country’s citizenship law Charter-compliant so children born abroad to Canadian citizens won’t be discriminated against under the current second-generation cut-off rule.

On Thursday, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice gave Ottawa until April 25 to pass legislation that grants citizenship to the so-called “lost Canadians,” who are denied automatic citizenship because their parents also happened to be born abroad.

It was a fourth extension to a court-mandated deadline — most recently set for March 19 — since Justice Jasmine Akbarali ruled in late 2023 the law unconstitutional and initially gave Ottawa six months to fix it. The Liberal government introduced Bill C-71, which died when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suspended Parliament in January.

Earlier on Thursday, the government had sought a further 12-month extension, arguing it intended to continue and expand the interim measures in place right now “to mimic, to the extent possible, the framework established in the remedial legislation” introduced in that bill.

But Akbarali said that wasn’t good enough.

“I have nothing in the evidence on this motion other than broad, aspirational statements from the respondent about what it intends to do to mitigate the impact of the unconstitutional legislation,” the judge wrote in a three-page decision.

“There is no evidence of what policy will be adopted to implement its intention. There is no evidence about how any such policy will be communicated to people affected by the unconstitutional legislation.

“There is nothing to allow me to evaluate how effective the expanded interim measures will be in attenuating the impact of the ongoing rights violations that the respondent proposes.”

Instead, Akbarali ordered the government to file additional evidence of its “expanded interim measures” by April 2 and any further legal argument by April 4. The parties will reconvene on April 11.

“I am prepared to grant the respondent some additional time to adduce the necessary evidence and place it before the court, so that I am able to properly consider all relevant factors in determining whether a further suspension ought to be granted, and if so, its length,” she said in her ruling….

Source: ‘Lost Canadians’ legislation delayed once again

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Court grants Ottawa four more months to fix unconstitutional ‘lost Canadians’ law

2024/08/06 Leave a comment

Expected. Original deadline totally unreasonable given legislative processes:

A court has granted the federal government more time to amend unconstitutional legislation concerning so-called “lost Canadians.”

The deadline extension — to Dec. 19 — is the second the courts have given Ottawa to amend the law, which prevents some Canadians born abroad from passing on their citizenship to children also born abroad.

Bill C-71, which introduces sweeping changes to Canada’s citizenship laws, is set to become law by Dec. 19. The federal government says the legislation addresses the court’s concerns about constitutionality.

In her decision to grant the extension, Ontario Superior Court Justice Jasmine Akbarali said the government was able to address concerns about the hardship Canadians could face if the amended legislation is delayed again.

“The mechanism in place to address urgent cases of hardship is sufficient to ensure that an extension of the declaration of invalidity will not undermine confidence in the administration of justice,” the judge said in the decision.

Justice Akbarali initially gave Ottawa until June 20 to amend the current Citizenship Act after the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled in late 2023 that it violated the constitutional rights of some Canadians born abroad.

The Liberal government did not get the bill passed through the House of Commons before it rose for the summer a few days before the deadline.

The government appealed for a six-month extension. Justice Akbarali handed down a seven-week extension, to Aug. 9.

In granting the original extension, the judge said the government would only have until Aug. 1 to present arguments on why she should consider another extension until Dec. 19.

Justice Akbarali ordered the government to file a plan to address the hardship experienced by parents under the existing law during the extended period and to “ideally” file a report on the steps required to get the bill passed before mid-December.

Sujit Choudhry, the lawyer who represented the families challenging the law, estimates that the current law violates the rights of at least 1.48 million Canadians here and abroad.

An estimated 170,000 women born abroad who are in the age range when people often start families are still being affected by the current law, the judge said in her June decision.

Justice Akbarali added these are not “theoretical or minor constitutional violations” but ones that could lead to “children being stateless.”

“They can lead to women having to make choices between their financial health and independence on one hand, and their physical health on the other. They can separate families,” Akbarali said in the decision.

“They can force children to stay in places that are unsafe for them. They can interfere with some of the deepest and most profound connections that human beings both enjoy and need.”

Until Bill C-71 is passed, the government can grant citizenship to lost Canadians at Immigration Minister Marc Miller’s discretion.

Source: Court grants Ottawa four more months to fix unconstitutional ‘lost Canadians’ law

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Court grants Ottawa extension to fix ‘lost Canadians’ citizenship rules

2024/08/05 Leave a comment

Original deadline was completely unrealistic given legislative process and flawed draft legislation having no time limit to meet residency requirements, unlike for Permanent Residents (1,095 days within 5 years):

Immigration officials will have until Dec. 19 to enact Bill C-71, which would automatically confer Canadian citizenship on people born abroad to a Canadian parent who is also born abroad before the changes take effect. Until then, lost Canadians can only try to reclaim their citizenship on an emergency basis.

At the same time, officials must also roll out a system for anyone born outside Canada subsequently to prove their foreign-born Canadian parent had a “substantial connection” with the country by meeting a residency requirement, which is 1,095 cumulative days of physical presence in Canada before the birth or adoption of their foreign-born child.

Friday’s decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice is likely going to end a three-year legal saga that started in 2021 by a group of 23 people from seven families who have been harmed by the loss of citizenship as a result of the so-called second generation cut-off rule introduced by Stephen Harper’s Conservative government in 2009.

They claimed the second generation cut-off rule — denying the first generation born abroad the right to pass on citizenship by descent outside Canada to the second generation born abroad — violated their Charter rights based on country of origin and sex.

In December, Judge Jasmine Akbarali ruled the second-generation citizenship cut-off rule was unconstitutional and ordered the federal government to repeal it and amend the Citizenship Act in six months.

In June, officials asked the court for a six-month extension of the deadline, saying they needed more time to pass a new bill to fix the problems. However, the court was not satisfied that the government recognized the urgency of a new law and asked officials to return Aug. 1 with an effective plan to address the hardship that any further delay might “cause people whose constitutional rights are being violated day after day.”

The court held a hearing this week and was presented submissions by the government of the updated procedure and communications to address “special cases of hardship,” as well as the new instructions created for affected citizenship applicants who have an urgent need for family reunification in Canada.

While the revised website and communication may not be perfect, the judge said they “adequately” allow potential applicants to navigate how they can seek a grant of citizenship in urgent cases that may involve a child’s statelessness or hardship in family reunification during the delay.

“The question for me is not whether the respondent could have designed a better process, or whether it is executing the process it has designed in a way that I would, in my discretion,” Akbarali wrote in a decision released Friday.

“The question is whether the process it has designed is good enough to sufficiently address the concerns about the hardship caused by the ongoing rights violations.”

The court heard that the government has made every effort to ensure the passage of Bill C-71 to amend the Citizenship Act, including technical briefings to MPs and to opposition immigration critics about the proposed changes. Immigration officials are also undertaking work to support the implementation of the new law as soon as it is passed.

But at the hearing, Sujit Choudhry, lawyer for the affected families, raised doubts over the government’s commitment to push through the legislative changes, arguing that Ottawa could have prioritized the passage of the bill, first introduced on May 23, before Parliament recessed for the summer on June 20.

Akbarali said she was satisfied with the plan outlined by the government and trusted that it will continue to take steps to advance the legislation.

“It has a tool box at its disposal that it can use to accelerate the passage of Bill C-71,” she wrote. “There is reason to conclude that the Bill will likely be adopted before Dec. 19, 2024.”

Akbarali also awarded $15,000 in indemnity costs to the litigants and credited them for holding the government to account.

Source: Court grants Ottawa extension to fix ‘lost Canadians’ citizenship rules

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Court grants Trudeau government extension to fix ‘lost Canadians’ citizenship rules — with a catch (3 slightly different reports)

2024/06/22 Leave a comment

Appears that Justice Akbarali is being activist, not only in her interpretation citizenship rights but also with respect to setting an unreasonably short timeline for compliance.

She certainly would know that developing, passing and implementing legislation takes longer than six months and a month extension, over the summer months when Parliament sitting, is meaningless. Given the possibly large numbers involved and the policy and operational implications (judges tend to underestimate the latter), thorough review will be needed.

The numbers we have are provided that the advocates indicate a likely upper limit of 1.5 million, not negligible in terms of impacts. It is striking that IRCC has not yet provided its estimates of the number of persons affected, including those of women first-generation born abroad of child bearing age (estimates of the total number of expatriates are imprecise with StatsCan settling on 4 million).

Of course, like so many of these initiatives, there is an assumption than many, if not most, “lost Canadians” want to be “found.” Whenever the government makes a change to address “lost Canadians” or expand voting rights to expatriates, the actual numbers are relatively small as seen through citizenship proofs and expatriate voting rights.

More to come over coming months:

Starting with The Star:

The federal government has been given a last-minute reprieve to roll out a new law to restore the citizenship rights of “lost Canadians” born outside Canada.

That’s despite its failure to have a proper plan in place to address urgent cases affected by the delay.

Six months ago, Ottawa was ordered by an Ontario court to repeal what’s known as the “second-generation cut-off” rule and amend the current Citizenship Act by June 20, after a judge ruled it’s unconstitutional for Canada to deny automatic citizenship to children born abroad because their parents also happened to be born overseas.

On Wednesday, at the eleventh hour, the government pleaded for a six-month extension of the deadline, arguing that it had already introduced an amendment bill, C-71, in May to confer citizenship to those affected by the current law and address the legislative gaps to ensure others won’t fall through the cracks in the future.

Officials contended that the legislative process takes time and it is a “complex undertaking” that would involve preparing training materials for immigration staff, forms, website pages and co-ordination, among other things.

However, Judge Jasmine Akbarali only agreed to grant the government seven weeks’ relief, until she can reassess the progress made to create an interim plan to handle urgent citizenship requests by lost Canadians and to push for the passage of Bill C-71 by Dec. 19.

In reaching her decision, the judge said she had to balance the government’s need to properly fix the problems and the hardship affected Canadians will continue to suffer as a result of the delay.

“While it has been working on the legislation, the respondent has not proceeded with any sense of urgency to rectify the unconstitutional aspects of the legislation,” Akbarali in her decision released Wednesday evening. 

“It does not propose an effective mechanism to address the hardship that a further six-month suspension will cause to people whose constitutional rights are being violated day after day.”

An estimated 170,000 women in the first generation born abroad, who are in the age range at which people often choose to start families, are still being affected by the current law when making those important life decisions, the judge noted.

In chiding the government for its tardiness, the court referred to a couple of other bills that officials successfully pushed through recently, including Bill C-62, an Act respecting medical assistance in dying, which went from first reading to royal assent within the month of February.

“There is no explanation as to why this bill is languishing since May 23, 2024, when the government was aware of the date on which the suspended declaration of invalidity was set to expire,” said Akbarali.

“The unconstitutional law remains on the books, and continues to interfere with the Charter rights of Canadians to make important decisions about where to live, and where and when to have children, all of which have implications for the financial, physical and emotional health of the people involved.”

She said it’s insufficient for the government to grant citizenship to lost Canadians at the immigration minister’s discretion, as proposed, during the interim before the amended bill is enacted, supposedly by Dec. 19, because that process is “ineffective, and also poorly communicated.”

Toronto lawyer Sujit Choudhry, who represented the six lost Canadian families in the constitutional challenge, said his clients are pleased with the court decision, which also included granting three of the families the sought-after citizenship and $35,064.47 in partial indemnity costs.

“They now have the full benefit of the court’s judgment,” Choudhry said in an interview. “They are not second-class citizens anymore. It was very important for them that there be accountability. They led this fight not just for themselves, but for everyone like them.”

The parties are to reconvene on Aug. 1 to hear the government’s updates on its interim plan to deal with pending citizenship applications of lost Canadians and steps to pass Bill C-71 by the proposed extended deadline. The court will then make a final decision on the full extension to Dec. 19.

The “second generation” cut-off against Canadians born abroad was first introduced by the then Conservative government, which also removed the so-called “connection test” for these descendants to reclaim citizenship based on their ties to Canada. Despite several amendments to the act, there remain many lost Canadians.

Source: Court grants Trudeau government extension to fix ‘lost Canadians’ citizenship rules — with a catch

CBC:

So-called “lost Canadians” will have to wait longer to obtain their right to citizenship now that a court has granted the federal government more time to fix legislation it ruled was unconstitutional.

The courts initially gave the federal government until today to replace legislation that prevents Canadians born abroad from passing on their citizenship to children also born abroad.

In May, the Liberals introduced Bill C-71, which introduced sweeping changes to Canada’s citizenship laws. The government says the legislation addresses the concerns of the court.

But the Liberals did not get the bill through the House of Commons before it rose for the summer on Wednesday. MPs will not return to the Commons until mid-September.

In handing down the extension to Aug. 9 on Wednesday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Jasmine Akbarali slammed the pace of the legislation’s passage through the House. She noted that other pieces of government legislation moved swiftly to the Senate, while a citizenship bill responding to the violation of a legal right still remains in its early stages.

“I am troubled by the fact that, after taking over five months to introduce Bill C-71, in the almost-month that has passed since then, the bill has not reached second reading,” Akbarali said.

“There is no explanation as to why this bill has been languishing since May 23, 2024, when the government was aware of the date on which the suspended declaration of invalidity was set to expire.”

In the meantime, Akbarali added, Canadians’ rights are being violated.

“The unconstitutional law remains on the books and continues to interfere with the Charter rights of Canadians to make important decisions about where to live, and where and when to have children, all of which have implications for the financial, physical and emotional health of the people involved,” the justice wrote.

Akbarali said these are not “theoretical or minor constitutional violations” but ones that could lead to “children being stateless.”

“They can lead to women having to make choices between their financial health and independence on one hand, and their physical health on the other. They can separate families,” Akbarali said in her decision.

“They can force children to stay in places that are unsafe for them. They can interfere with some of the deepest and most profound connections that human beings both enjoy and need.”

In a previous ruling, Akbarali said the current law forces women in their reproductive years to choose between travel, study and career opportunities abroad, and passing citizenship on to their children.

Thousands of so-called “Lost Canadians” have lost their citizenship, and in some cases been deported, due to a complicated section of the Citizenship Act. Now, the federal government is trying to pass new legislation to prevent people from falling through the cracks.

In December, Ontario’s Superior Court struck down Canada’s old citizenship law, Bill C-37, which prevented parents born outside Canada from passing on their citizenship to children also born abroad. The court ruled that it violated their rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It gave the government six months to enact Charter-compliant legislation.

The Liberal government said in May its legislation to respond to the judgment, Bill C-71, would fix those problems and automatically confer citizenship rights on children born since 2009 once enacted.

In granting the extension, Justice Akbarali said the government would only have until Aug. 1 to present arguments on why she should consider another extension until Dec. 19. The judge ordered the government to file a plan to address the hardship experienced by parents under the existing law during the extended period and “ideally” file a report on the steps required to get the bill passed before mid-December.

Sujit Choudhry, the lawyer who fought the constitutional case for the families, called for these conditions. Choudhry estimates that the current law violates the rights of at least 1.48 million Canadians at home and living abroad.

Source: Court grants government another extension to fix unconstitutional citizenship law

CTV:

An unknown number of young people born abroad to Canadian parents could wait until at least December to be eligible for citizenship.

Last year, the Ontario Superior Court ordered Ottawa to reverse restrictions imposed by the previous Conservative government in 2009, which limited citizenship by descent to children born in Canada if their Canadian parents were born outside the country.

The court declared the 2009 change unconstitutional for creating two classes of citizens and gave Ottawa until June 19 to implement a solution. On Wednesday, the court granted the government’s request to extend that deadline to Aug. 9.

In a statement to CTVNews.ca, an Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) spokesperson explained there were conditions attached to the new Aug. 9 deadline.

“The Judge also ordered a hearing on August 1, 2024 to determine if an extension to December 2024 would be appropriate,” the IRCC spokesperson told CTVNews.ca. “She has asked to be presented prior to the hearing with a report explaining the progress made on Bill C-71 since May 23, 2024 ‘and ideally, intended next steps to pass the bill by December 19, 2024.'”

Bill C-71(opens in a new tab), An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act, was introduced in late May(opens in a new tab). If passed, citizenship would automatically be granted to anyone affected by the 2009 change. Going forward, Canadian citizens who were born abroad will also have to spend at least three years in the country before a foreign birth or adoption to be able to pass on citizenship rights to their children.

“There’s no doubt that Canadian citizenship is highly valued and recognized around the world,” Immigration Minister Marc Miller previously said. “We want citizenship to be fair, accessible, with clear and transparent rules.”

With the House of Commons adjourning for the summer on Wednesday(opens in a new tab), the bill is expected to remain on hold until members of Parliament resume legislative business in mid-September, likely necessitating another court extension.

“Many individuals who considered themselves Canadian were excluded from citizenship simply due to their place of birth,” Toronto-based immigration consultant Al Parsai told CTVNews.ca. “By declaring it unconstitutional, the court recognized the adverse impact on Canadian families and their ties to their heritage.”

The government has no idea how many so-called “Lost Canadians” are impacted. All are aged 15 and younger.

NDP immigration critic Jenny Kwan helped draft the bill alongside the Liberals. She attempted to push it through by asking for unanimous consent from MPs, but Conservatives voted against it twice.

“I’ve talked to family members who’ve been separated from their loved ones because of this unjust law that Conservatives brought in 15 years ago,” the Vancouver East NDP MP said last month(opens in a new tab). “I’ve talked to family members where their children are deemed stateless, lost in the system, because of this unjust, punitive, unconstitutional law.”

If the federal government is not given another court extension before Bill C-71 passes, it may be up to the immigration minister himself to decide individual citizenship cases.

“If it doesn’t come through we’re sort of in no man’s land,” Miller said before Wednesday’s court extension. “Basically, it’s my discretion deciding who’s Canadian or not. Obviously, that shouldn’t be up to the discretion of a minister.”

If the bill does pass, anyone affected by the 2009 change would be able to apply online for a Canadian citizenship certificate(opens in a new tab). The government also has a digital tool that can help you find out if you are Canadian(opens in a new tab).

Parsai expects to see a surge in citizenship applications, which could strain government resources.

“The Ontario Superior Court’s ruling in 2023 was a pivotal moment, acknowledging the unfairness of the 2009 policy,” Parsai said. “This change will be immensely positive for Canadians and their families, restoring their sense of belonging and legal recognition.”

Source: Canada’s new citizenship rules for kids born abroad delayed

Filed under C-71, Citizenship Tagged with , , ,

Feds won’t appeal landmark #citizenship ruling for ‘Lost Canadians’

2024/01/23 Leave a comment

sigh….

Will see how the government intends to meet the required change, whether through the short-cut of S-245 or a separate bill that would follow established parliamentary committee hearings:

The federal government will not appeal a court ruling that found part of Canada’s Citizenship Act to be unconstitutional.

Last month, an Ontario Superior Court justice found the federal government violated Charter rights with its “second-generation cut-off” rule, which denies automatic citizenship to children born abroad if their Canadian parents were also born abroad.

In an interview with CBC News Sunday, lawyer Sujit Choudhry confirmed federal government representatives informed him last week that there would be no appeal.

Ottawa had 30 days to appeal the ruling — a deadline that passed on Thursday.

“My clients are relieved. It’s been a long, hard fight,” said Choudhry, who is representing families affected by the law.

Choudhry filed a constitutional challenge in December 2021, suing the federal government for denying his clients the right to transmit their citizenship to their foreign-born offspring.

Critics have long said the law creates two tiers of citizenship, creating different rules for Canadians depending on whether they were born abroad.

In her December ruling, Ontario Superior Court Justice Jasmine Akbarali agreed, writing that foreign-born Canadians born abroad hold “a lesser class of citizenship because, unlike Canadian-born citizens, they are unable to pass on Canadian citizenship by descent to their children born abroad.”

The case is lauded as a win for up to 200,000 “Lost Canadians” — groups of people not considered citizens because of gaps or contested interpretations of citizenship law.

The second-generation cut-off was created in 2009 as part of a crackdown by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government on Canadian citizens who lived permanently outside of the country. The move came in response to an $85-million evacuation of 15,000 Lebanese Canadians stranded in Beirut during the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

In her ruling, Akbarali noted public anxiety over the Beirut evacuation, but wrote “the highest the evidence goes is to show that some people were concerned about it… there is no evidence to demonstrate that there are citizens without a connection to Canada, nor that if any such citizens exist, that their existence or citizenship creates any kind of problem.”

Federal government must act

The federal government has six months to repeal the second-generation cutoff in the law — a move that will require either fresh legislation, or potentially the passage of a bill already being debated.

Senate Bill S-245 was amended in committee to remove the second-generation cut-off rule and replace it with a “substantial connections test” to pass on citizenship to the children of foreign-born Canadians who were born abroad.

In her ruling, Akbarali described S-245 as a “head start” for Parliamentarians to amend the Citizenship Act law to make it fully constitutional within six months.

How the federal government will respond is unclear. The office of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Minister Marc Miller declined to comment.

The court also ordered the federal government to grant citizenship to the four foreign-born children of three Canadian families involved in the case. Choudhry says they received certifications of their citizenship last week.

“They’re beyond elated,” he said.

Source: Feds won’t appeal landmark citizenship ruling for ‘Lost Canadians’

Filed under Citizenship Tagged with , , ,

Only path to citizenship for ‘lost’ Canadians can take years and may involve mistakes, court hears

2023/04/22 1 Comment

Useful account of the court proceedings and Justice Akbarali comments and questions. The definition of “lost Canadians” keeps on getting stretched. Agree, of course, on the need for better data, not just relying on personal stories and individual cases:

Government lawyers were challenged in court to justify the options for “lost Canadians” to be granted citizenship and the undue hardship endured by families affected by a rule that limits the passage of citizenship rights by descent for those born abroad.

At a hearing in Toronto on Thursday, federal government counsel argued there’s no charter right to citizenship and alternative pathways are available for children born overseas to foreign-born Canadians who can’t inherit citizenship under the second-generation cut-off rule.

“There’s simply one rule for passing on citizenship for the first generation born abroad, and that’s having a child born in Canada to continue the connection to Canada,” Hillary Adams, one of three lawyers for the government, told the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.

“Or they can have their children born outside of Canada and confirm the connection to Canada by establishing permanent residence here and apply for citizenship, like most immigrants to Canada … The end result is the same. Your child gets Canadian citizenship.”

The lawsuit was brought by 23 individuals from seven families that have been negatively affected by the cut-off rule, arguing the law discriminates against them based on their place of birth, violates their mobility and liberty rights, and disproportionately puts women at a disadvantage when they have to give birth outside of Canada due to circumstances beyond their control.

Government co-counsel David Tyndale said people make personal choices as to where to look for jobs, where to start a family or whether to pursue a career abroad, and the choices have “intersecting effects” on one another.

“They may be difficult. They may involve serious consequences in some area or others of the person’s life. But the fact that life imposes choices on people as to where they live and where they have children isn’t necessarily a breach of the charter,” Tyndale argued.

The government contended that there’s no “blanket prohibition” for the second-generation born abroad to restore their Canadian citizenship through a discretionary grant by the immigration minister or indirectly first as a permanent resident through a family sponsorship before they turn 22 years old. Refused applicants can appeal to the Federal Court.

Noting that these processes could take months if not years, Justice Jasmine Akbarali raised concerns over mix-ups and mistakes in some of those decisions.

“They have to first become permanent residents and we know that hasn’t always been easy to obtain,” Akbarali said. “There’s children who applied for and did not get PR status. There’s no evidence to tell me how often that happens, that children of Canadian citizens obtain PR status on application or not.”

Government counsel Kevin Spykerman responded that there’s no evidence in the submissions but referred to some of the litigants who were granted citizenship by the immigration minister or successfully obtained permanent residence.

“In many of these applications, we see a much shorter processing time. And of course the 27 month processing time is not always 27 months,” said Spykerman. “We see success through this provision.”

But at what cost, the judge wondered.

“The courts are full of self-represented people who can’t afford lawyers. If you need a representative to find someone who knows somebody inside (immigration) to assist you in getting this exceptional grant to citizenship … then what about people who can’t afford it?” asked Justice Akbarali.

“Is it enough that they’re viable if they are incredibly difficult? If they cause hardship?”

Adams said the Federal Court is a better place to hear immigration and citizenship cases because of its expertise and experience in dealing with the relevant law and provincial courts generally defer jurisdiction to the higher court.

“Am I being asked to assume jurisdiction over immigration matters or am I being asked to apply the charter to federal law,” the judge interjected.

“You are being asked to apply the charter to federal law, which, again, you have jurisdiction to do. We’re not debating that,” Adams replied.

The government argued that none of the litigants’ mobility and liberty rights were infringed because at no point were the first-generation Canadians born abroad refused entry or exit from Canada. In addition, their foreign-born children were issued visitor visas to come to Canada.

“The applicants have been able to make fundamental personal choices free from state interference by moving overseas and having children overseas and by returning to Canada,” noted Adams, adding that the law is meant to ensure citizenship by descent is not passed from generation to generation to people without a connection to Canada.

The 23 litigants from multi-generational families, including grandparents and parents, have established ties to Canada before moving abroad and having children overseas.

The court questioned if those ties matter when the pejoratively known “birth tourists” with no connection to this country are able to obtain citizenship for their children by travelling to Canada and giving birth here.

“They have the choice as a birth tourist does to have child in Canada and reap the benefits of citizenship,” Adams answered. “There’s a choice where to have your children.

The litigants are seeking an order to declare the second-generation citizenship cut-off unconstitutional and grant citizenship to the four children in the lawsuit whose citizenship is still pending.

Source: Only path to citizenship for ‘lost’ Canadians can take years and may involve mistakes, court hears

Filed under Citizenship Tagged with , , ,