What does it mean to be a Canadian citizen?

What does it mean to be a Canadian citizen?

Canada’s controversial new bill claims it’s a privilege  and not  a right

By Gemma Rains

What does it mean to be Canadian? It’s a question which has been debated by poets, politicians, and people for decades, striving for an identity which truly distinguishes ourselves from other places around the globe. We don’t possess the same brazen patriotism as our passionate neighbours, or the proud complacency of our colonizers, the British and the French. What we have is something better. We are a country which welcomes people from all around the world, celebrating the diversity of which comprises Canada’s multicultural landscape. To be Canadian doesn’t just mean hockey games, maple syrup and Leonard Cohen – it means embracing the many colourful and eclectic cultures woven together to create a free and open country. It means that you can be Canadian without having to give up any of your ancestral heritage, and celebrate both.

But that is changing. Not in the hearts and minds of Canadians themselves, but behind the walls of Parliament. A controversial new bill, C-24, threatens the citizenship of many Canadians who have lived and worked in Canada or chosen to work overseas, and for many critics it signifies a step in the wrong direction making many Canadians second-class citizens. So what does this mean for the Filipino community?

Second-class citizens

As outlined by Somayeh Bahrami, MA Graduate of the Department of Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies at Simon Fraser University, it means that “second-class Canadians who have dual citizenship or the possibility of dual citizenship… are at risk of losing their citizenship and their right to live in Canada.” Bahrami goes on to clarify that this could happen not because said citizen has committed a crime, or because they have illegally obtained citizenship. But for people who were not born on Canadian soil, and especially for those who choose to work elsewhere in the world as well as possess citizenship to other countries, the right to call oneself Canadian – at least illegally – could be denied. And for specific individuals who need a Canadian passport to enter Canada, it means no return to a land they may have once called home.

This is bad news for the Filipino community. While many second and third generation Filipino families have made Canada home, what does this mean for those with dual citizenship? What about the older generations who have moved here? What about the younger generations who have decided to move to Canada to eke out a living, or those who wish to return to the Philippines but leave open the possibility to return to Canada some day? And worst of all, what does this suggest about what it means to be Canadian? After generations of building an enriched and diverse community, these are questions which also bring disrespect to the families and friends who have worked so hard to make Canada home.

Questioning identity

It isn’t just the legal implications which make this bill problematic. It’s the social ones, too. Canada has always been celebrated as a beacon of diversity, and it has done so without the same baggage as the US and its complex race issues. That doesn’t mean that Canada is a clean-slate. The atrocities of residential schools and the attempted genocide of First Nations, the Japanese internment camps and other human rights failings are all pieces of Canada’s past which the country would like to sweep under the rug, and many will rightfully not consider Canada a truly democratic and fair country until these are sufficiently addressed. But its overall legacy as an accepting and ideal country is rarely disputed by other nations – and that is one of the reasons that so many people choose Canada as their home. Surely, that aspect is not a bad thing.

The bill also discusses what it means to be an exemplary Canadian. If Canada is beyond the question of class and race, then how can the concept of “exemplary” according the government even be applied to something which is beyond an individual’s control? People who are not Canadian by birthright, or who need to go abroad for personal or financial reasons are no less exemplary then the privileged, first-class Canadians who have the convenience of a secure citizenship. This is the first step to diving communities and neighbours. And when this occurs over citizenship, we have to ask what other services will follow suit and how the construct of education, health, and finance will be affected. Will it be more difficult to find a job? Will it be more difficult to find financial help, such as securing a loan or a mortgage? What about Filipinos planning to study abroad in Canada? Although the system has granted a fairly straight-forward permit application system, could this, too, be set to change? For many Filipinos – as well as other nationalities – futures which were once laid out long-term will be in question, and even the idea of “home” will be non-existent.

The future of Canada in question

When Canadians venture abroad, we are welcomed with open arms. We are seen as polite, compassionate, tolerant, intelligent, and humorous. Surely, the Canadians which choose to explore and discover other places are proud representatives of a country, a country which prides itself on recruiting some of the best and brightest minds in the world, and that is suddenly set to change. A change which could not only tear up the framework of multiculturalism upon which this country was built, but deter people from coming to Canada and subsequently resulting in a country which is closing its doors to opportunity and growth.

There does remain a small fragment of hope. Last year, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL), supported by the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) published an article stating that if the bill is passed, then it could be challenged on constitutional grounds. And they certainly are not and will not be the only groups who will take action against this. This is an issue which doesn’t just affect the Canadians working abroad, or the people who have earned citizenship here. This affects everyone – because the moment we allow such a bill to destroy what it truly means to be Canadian, then our country has lost its very identity.