Immigration and Citizenship Law

Minister Kenney’s Ban on Face Coverings is Ultra Vires

Audrey Macklin
Friday, February 17, 2012

Not only is Minister Kenney’s ban on face coverings a gratuitous insult to Muslim women, it’s ultra vires.

In the wake of all the publicity about the Minister of Immigration’s decree that no one shall be allowed to go through the citizenship ceremony with her face covered, I thought I'd find out how the ban on face coverings was authorized in law. It appears that the ban is buried in the Operations Manual on citizenship ceremonies.  The Operations Manual provides guidance to citizenship bureaucrats (including Citizenship Judges) about how to interpret and apply the law -- the Citizenship Act and the Citizenship Regulations.  Since they are only guidelines, they do not have the force of law, and are invalid to the extent that they contradict the statute or the regulations.

You can find the citizenship manual here (PDF) (see s. 6.5). The manual contains an elaborate set of instructions about how citizenship officials shall respond if a woman is both uppity and oppressed enough to show up with her face covered.

In the New York Times, Prof. Ayelet Shachar debates Olympic citizenship requirements

Friday, July 27, 2012

In the "Room for Debate" section of the New York Times, Prof. Ayelet Shachar has contributed to the discussion "Which Country Did You Say You Were Playing For?" about Olympic citizenship requirements. Her contribution, "Serious Moral Quandaries," (July 27, 2012) picks up on her article "Picking Winners" in the Yale Law Journal. (See also the Nexus magazine article, "Picking Winners", about Shachar's work).

Prof. Audrey Macklin - "The government has not kept its word in the Omar Khadr case"

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

In a commentary in the Toronto Star, Prof. Audrey Macklin takes the federal government to task for its lack of action in bringing the Omar Khadr case to its promised resolution ("The government has not kept its word in the Omar Khadr case," July 17, 2012).

Read the article on the Toronto Star website, or below.

Prof. Ayelet Shachar on using citizenship as an Olympic recruiting tool

Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Picking Winners

As the 2012 London Olympics approach, Nexus magazine takes a look at the touchy issue of citizenship as a recruitment tool, and its increasing use and abuse in the worldwide hunt for triumph ("Picking Winners," Spring/Summer 2012).

Prof. Ayelet Shachar has looked at this issue in depth, arguing that passports are becoming a powerful form of international currency. Elite athletes who have no real ties or connections to the countries that covet them are being wooed and enticed—offered the precious prize of citizenship in exchange for a whiff of gold. 

Prof. Ayelet Shachar quoted on fast-track citizenship in " Passports ... for a Price"

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Prof. Ayelet Shachar was quoted in a Reuters article on buying citizenship ("Passports... for a price," Feb. 13, 2012). Prof. Shachar notes:

"The idea that someone can gain fast-tracked citizenship in a country they have no ties to based on a wire transfer of funds or cash is a far cry from the vision of equal and participatory membership in a political community that is still reflected in many citizenship and naturalization laws," says Ayelet Shachar, a professor of law, political science and global affairs at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law.

Prof. Audrey Macklin interviewed on CBC radio about C-31 Immigration Bill

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Prof. Audren Macklin was interviewed by host Matt Galloway on CBC Radio's Metro Morning about the federal government's controversial new immigration and refugee Bill C-31 (June 20, 2012).

Listen to the interview on the CBC website (7:26 minutes)

Prof. Ayelet Shachar - "The Solution to ‘Brain Drain’"

Thursday, May 31, 2012

In the "Room for Debate" section of The New York Times, Prof. Ayelet Shachar has contributed to a discussion about "Can Dual Citizens Be Good Americans?" Shachar argues that "the strategic value of dual nationality is immense," pointing to advantages for nations both sending and receiving immigrants ("The Solution to ‘Brain Drain’," May 22, 2012).

Read the full commentary on The New York Times website.

Prof. Audrey Macklin makes submission on behalf of Asper Centre about proposed refugee bill

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

By Louis Century, JD/MGA student and Research Assistant at the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights

On April 30 of this year, Prof. Audrey Macklin made submissions on behalf of the Asper Centre before the House of Commons' Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. The Committee was considering Bill C-31, Protecting Canada's Immigration System Act, a sweeping piece of legislation with far-reaching changes to refugee determination, detention of newcomers and family reunification, among other issues.

SJD student Y.Y. Brandon Chen - "Refugee health-care cuts threaten everyone’s access"

Thursday, May 24, 2012

SJD student Y.Y. Brandon Chen has written a commentary in the Toronto Star looking at the impact on provincial health-care systems of the federal government’s recent decision to scale back temporary health-care coverage for refugees and refugee claimants ("Refugee health-care cuts threaten everyone’s access," May 23, 2012).

Read the full commentary on the Toronto Star website.

Prof. Audrey Macklin on TVO's "The Agenda" discussing "Realigning Canadian Immigration"

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Prof. Audrey Macklin was part of a panel on TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paikin on the topic of "Realigning Canadian Immigration" (April 13, 2012). 

Watch the program on the TVO website.

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