Multiple citizenship: I am Canadian ... am I not?

by Audrey Macklin and François Crépeau

This commentary was first published in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald on July 2, 2010.

Federal Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney introduced Bill C-37: Strengthening the Value of Canadian Citizenship Act earlier this month. According to the government, the legislation will "streamline the citizenship revocation process, crack down on crooked citizenship consultants and better protect the value of Canadian citizenship." The aim, said the minister, is to strengthen the worth of Canadian citizenship.

Scratch beneath the surface of any debate about citizenship and you will quickly expose an array of questions about its very nature. What is it? Why does it matter and how much should it matter? Who is and who ought to be entitled to obtain it, retain it and transmit it?

In spite of popular anxiety around multiple citizenship, it is neither necessary nor helpful to insist that one declare whether being Canadian, for example, is always and everywhere more "important" than being, say, female, or Quebecois, or Hindu, or disabled, or an artist, etc.

Canada certainly has a legitimate interest in encouraging citizens to love Canada. However, legal rules for the acquisition or retention of citizenship are inherently limited in their capacity to guarantee, monitor or enforce the effective attachment, personal loyalty, and sense of engagement that we might consider desirable traits for all citizens of Canada. The same applies to proposals to discriminate against non-resident dual citizens in the provision of consular assistance as a penalty for allegedly insufficient attachment or inadequate fiscal contribution to Canada.

In the context of naturalization, we subscribe to the premise animating Canadian policy up to the present: Acquisition of Canadian citizenship is an important vehicle for enhancing, promoting and deepening the connections and engagement with Canada. In this sense, legal citizenship is not the prize for integration: It is part of the process of integration.

In Canada, multiple citizenship is here to stay. It reflects the growing diversity of our population as well as the changing nature of identity. It is also an asset for the country in terms of better understanding the world and being able to maintain strong trade and cultural links with numerous other countries.

Therefore, Canadian citizenship policy should not discourage multiple citizenship. On the contrary, it should celebrate this embodiment of the Canadian mosaic and take advantage of the numerous opportunities that it affords.

An amendment to the Citizenship Act in 2009 now absolutely prevents Canadians born abroad from transferring Canadian citizenship by descent to their children who are also born abroad. Denying parents the ability to demonstrate a meaningful connection to Canada in order to be able to transfer their Canadian citizenship seems arbitrary. Shortly after the 2009 law, the media reported the case of a baby born in China to a Canadian father and a Chinese mother who was rendered stateless by the elimination of second generation citizenship by descent.

The 2009 act also creates anomalous outcomes with respect to babies adopted transnationally. One should anticipate the creation of many more difficult personal situations by this restriction on citizenship by descent. Unfortunately, the recent bill does not address these problems, except in protecting Canadian government employees abroad from the second-generation rule.

We believe that Canadian citizenship does matter and ought to matter to those who possess it and to those who seek to attain it. We also believe that multiple citizenship does not undermine Canadian citizenship and, as a matter of public policy and legal regulation, should not be restricted.

Citizenship means different things to different people at different times, and the law’s role is crucial yet limited in shaping that meaning. Canadian law enables individuals to embrace or reject multiple citizenship for themselves. Canada has been at the forefront of the global trend toward the recognition and acceptance of multiple citizenship, and we should take pride in this fact as the rest of the world catches up.

Audrey Macklin and François Crépeau are the authors of the IRPP study "Multiple Citizenship, Identity and Entitlement in Canada." François Crépeau is Hans and Tamar Oppenheimer professor of public international law at McGill University.