The federal government now has a law in place that allows it to revoke the citizenship of Canadians (who hold multiple citizenships) convicted of terrorism, treason or espionage… At face value this may sound reasonable but I’m worried about how the government (this one and future ones) could abuse this power, after all humans are emotional and can often make rash decisions that they may regret at a later time. Or worse, what if the list of offences are expanded, where is the oversight?
A controversial new law, first introduced last June, went into effect on Friday.
The Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration says there are several serious crimes that could result in dual citizens losing their Canadian status.
The ministry says it would revoke citizenship for anyone found guilty of terrorism, treason and high treason, and spying for a foreign government.
Source: CBC
Right now it targets anyone with multiple citizenships but it just doesn’t sit well with me and what is the appeals process? As I’ve said previously I don’t think as a society we should be willing to trade security for freedoms because once it’s done, we will never get those rights back.
I would agree with this new law in cases where the person was a foreign national (that wasn’t born in Canada) but later achieved Canadian citizenship.
Canadian citizenship is a privilege that should be revoked if the person commits (and is judged guilty in a court of law) such a heinous crime.
It is possible that future gov’t may abuse this power but I would imagine that this risk is low. Perhaps I am naive but I have faith in Parliamentary system.
Thanks for your comment!
LOL I know I sound a bit libertarian with all my government fearmongering recently, socially I’m actually quite left but the ability of the government to now revoke a citizenship still bothers me. The way I look at it a citizen is a citizen is a citizen whether you were born with it or earned it through going in the system and it seems like a double standard. As a mental exercise, is say someone who leaves Canada to fight for ISIS worse than a serial killer who targets people locally?
While I don’t really worry about my government turning against me, it’s more power than I feel it should have to punish criminals.
Hello Mr. Sun!
Well said sir. If it was up to me I would deport all criminals but that’s another discussion lol …
If a person doesn’t honour his Oath Of Citizenship ( I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen) then don’t be a citizen in the first place.
Unless you are a natural born citizen any other status is a “gift” in my opinion. If you abuse this “gift” you must understand that there has to be consequences. Go home to your birth country and be as wild as you want over there.
Haha yes a topic for another discussion.
I would hope that anyone who takes an oath of citizenship would honour what they say however situations change and sometimes it may be worth while. Heck there are documented cases of Americans & Canadians fighting with the Kurdish Peshmerga and that group is listed as a terrorist organization yet those individuals are being celebrated. I guess for me it’s just that the world and its ails are not black and white which is why I’m wary of giving governments sweeping new powers.
Mr. Sun,
Unfortunately what you say is so true. Allies of today could be enemies of tomorrow.
Iraq is a perfect example. When Saddam was fighting Iran the US just adored him. Not so much after Saddam invaded Kuwait.
😉
Looking at history, the Western world’s intervention elsewhere hasn’t gone well and yeah we need to stop making our own enemies. Intervention is necessary at times but a lot of the wars fought recently were mainly political. 🙁