Thank you, Chair.
I would like to thank each and every member of this committee for having allowed me to come and appear before you and explain a little bit about my personal experience with the first Citizenship Act that Canada enacted after the Second World War.
I was born in Canada, and I have lived here ever since my birth on November 10, 1951. My father was a U.S. citizen. He came to Canada during the Second World War to work on the trains. My mother was a Canadian citizen, born in Canada, in Manitoba.
A few years ago, a private member's bill dealing with the “lost” Canadians issue was tabled. At the time, the Liberal Party of Canada formed the government. Although our policy was for members to have a free vote on private members' bills, it was recommended to us in caucus to vote against the bill. I had a brief discussion with Mr. Chapman back then. At any rate, I voted against the bill.
Subsequently, my citizenship came into question. Some people thought I was born in the United States to Canadian parents. I immediately corrected that impression. That gave me an opportunity to think about my citizenship. It bothered me so much that I began to do my own research. That's how I found out that Mr. Chapman and a number of other people who had lost their citizenship through no initiative or decision of their own were right when they said that the law was obsolete and paternalistic, and that it should be changed, and that those who had lost their citizenship unintentionally should have it restored retroactively.
Six weeks ago, I participated in a Webcast radio interview. My citizenship was once again questioned. It appeared that certain provisions of the act required a Canadian citizen born in Canada but of foreign parents to make a formal declaration on their permanent place of residence. Since I hadn't done that, I immediately called the 1-800 or 1-888 number.
When I asked about that, I was simply asked whether I was born in Canada, and I answered yes. Then I was asked whether I had always lived in Canada, and I answered yes. The woman then told me I was a Canadian citizen. However, she quickly changed her mind and asked me whether I had ever obtained the citizenship of another country, and I said yes. She then asked me under what circumstances that had occurred, and I told her that it was in connection with my marriage in 1974 to an Italian citizen who was a permanent resident of Canada at the time. She then told me that she didn't know whether I had lost my citizenship at that time and that she would have to check with the experts.
Unfortunately, this was a phone call during business hours. You all know what kind of work we have to do as members of Parliament. So I couldn't stay on hold. I had to call back. The same thing happened. Finally, I was asked to reveal my identity because they didn't know who I was. Then I was told that my file was quite complicated.
The person on the other end of the line asked me if it was okay with me for them to send an e-mail with all the information to the Nova Scotia office so that real experts could study the case. Subsequently, I received a telephone call from the Registrar of Citizenship. He asked me several questions. He said he thought I was a Canadian citizen, but that since the act was very complicated, he would have to check everything to do with my obtaining Italian citizenship through my marriage in order to verify whether or not I lost my Canadian citizenship at that time.
Secondly, if you didn't lose your citizenship then, whether you lost your citizenship when you applied for an Italian passport--and please get me the exact date of that. At that point there were serious doubts as to whether or not I was a citizen. When you have the registrar of citizenship saying, “I think you're a citizen, but I have to go back and study the law”--he's the expert--that shows you how complicated this law was and is.
At that point, I realized that if I were told I was not a citizen, then I was no longer a member of Parliament, because a precondition to be qualified or admissible as a candidate for election to Parliament is that you are a Canadian citizen. I immediately made an appointment with the Clerk of the House in order to sit down and say that I was questioning the propriety of my continuing to sit in the House, to take part in debates, and to be in committee. I had an appointment to see her on the afternoon of February 22. That same day I received a call from the registrar informing me that subsequent to all of his research, I was a Canadian citizen and had always been a Canadian citizen. I asked him to provide me with it in writing, because after the experience that I had lived, and only over a short period of time, I didn't want anyone in the future to put my citizenship in doubt. I'd be more than happy to provide a copy of this to the members of the committee.
The reason I asked to be here, which I did before I was confirmed as a Canadian citizen, was to share my experience with you. As a result of my going public about the doubts as to my own citizenship, I've received calls and e-mails from many Canadians across the country saying that their situation is similar and they are now having doubts as to their citizenship. They're afraid to call the hotline in case they are told they are not a citizen. I felt it was important for me to go forward. I have siblings who are in the process of doing their verification with Citizenship Canada as to whether or not they are still Canadian citizens. They were all born in Canada but some of them have lived in the United States for a number of years.
I will end with one last point. Mr. Chapman and I have had many discussions over the last weeks and months. He is suggesting a series of amendments to the legislation that would provide citizenship retroactively to every Canadian who lost their citizenship through no act of their own. I've had an opportunity to review it, and I support it wholeheartedly and I hope the committee will as well.
Thank you.