Canada will reinstate citizenship rights to ‘lost Canadians’
The federal government plans to restore the rights of “lost Canadians” by allowing Canadians born abroad to pass down citizenship, even if their children were also born outside the country.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller tabled legislation Thursday, which would reverse the “second-generation cut-off rule” brought in by the Conservatives in 2009.
Under the new legislation, Canadian parents must show they have spent at least three years in Canada before the birth of their child to extend their citizenship.
“It’s the threshold under the naturalization law. I think it’s a reasonable limit to what is a substantial connection to Canada,” said Miller.
“This is a reasonable approach to something that was unreasonable,” he added.
Last December, an Ontario court found the “second-generation cut-off rule” was unconstitutional and gave the Trudeau government until June 19 to ammend the law.
Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper brought in the 2009 change to crackdown on so-called “Canadians of convenience” stripping the children of Canadians born overseas of their automatic right to citizenship.
The move came after a backlash over the price tag to evacuate Canadian citizens from Lebanon during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. The operation cost taxpayers a reported $85 million.
More to come…
–with files from the Canadian Press
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