Oh, it gets even better ...

This morning I received an excerpt from a transcript from a meeting of the Parliamentary subcommittee for Citizenship and Immigration. The following quote was an example being put forward by the Honourable Andrew Telegdi who was one of the vice-chairs of the committee (a Citizenship and Immigration subcommittee is currently not sitting because our chicken-a$$ Prime Minister suspended parliament) Mr. Telegdi was apparently expressing his concern with the impending changes to the Citizenship Act:

"Suppose, for example, a Canadian couple are spending a few years working abroad and give birth outside Canada to a baby. Let's call her Anna. It could actually be a soldier. She is a Canadian citizen through her parents. The family returns to Canada when Anna is six months old and she grows up in Canada. And we heard from Mr. Teichroeb, who had a similar situation. As a young adult, she chooses to study abroad and finds herself pregnant. If she gives birth to her child outside Canada, the child is not a Canadian citizen under the terms of Bill C-37.

If the baby--let's call her Mary Ann--happens to be not entitled to any other citizenship, she will be stateless. Bill C-37 does have provisions to allow Mary Ann, and others like her, to apply for Canadian citizenship if they are stateless; however, there are a number of conditions that must be met, including the requirement that the stateless child of a Canadian citizen should have resided for three or four years preceding their application. This means the child will have to remain stateless for at least three years.

This bill also fails to explain on what basis Mary Ann would be allowed to enter Canada in order to meet the three-year residency requirement. Even if Anna attempts to sponsor her child as an immigrant under family class, she will face a challenge in finding travel documents for Mary Ann so she can travel to Canada as a stateless person. She is not entitled to a passport."

Our adopted daughter is caught up by the same problem with the legislation as the fictional girl "Anna" in the example above (having been born abroad, but the child, in our case adopted, of Canadian parents). The plight her child "Mary Ann" faces could be the same as that of a future grandchild for us. While it's unlikely that our daughter will give birth abroad, it's not an impossibility and our own government has just set up the mechanism by which our grandchild could be a stateless individual caught in limbo with no means by which to even enter Canada and attempt to obtain her citizenship.

I have sent some letters, but I am doubtful they will change anything. This garbage has already received royal ascent and comes into affect in April, just in time for our daughter's birthday. Nice gift.