02 July 2009
In response to the New Citizenship Act that could affect grandchildren of FS serving abroad, PAFSO has written to the Minister of Citizen and Immigration and the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (see below). Letters were also written directly to Minister Cannon and Minister Day. We are waiting for a reply.
Letter to Minister of Citizenship and Immigration:
June 17, 2009
The Honourable Jason Kenney, P.C., M.P.
Minister
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
365 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, ON K1A 1L1
Dear Minister Kenney,
I am writing to raise a problem created for public servants serving abroad as a result of recent amendments to the Citizenship and Immigration Act through Bill C-37, now in force.
I am President of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO), a collective bargaining association representing Canada’s Foreign Service Officers who serve in Canada and abroad. Our members principally serve in your Department and in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and represent the majority of civilian public servants serving abroad.
Under amendments introduced through Bill C-37, children born to public servants while they are serving Canada abroad will have a restricted form of Canadian citizenship. Although the children themselves (i.e. the first generation born abroad) will be citizens of Canada, they will not be able to pass that citizenship on to their own children (i.e. the second generation born abroad) unless those children are born in Canada. This applies effectively retroactively since anyone born to Canadian parents outside of Canada is now affected. This difference has practical consequences: compared to their Canadian born peers, children of public servants born during overseas assignments will have to be more careful when they choose where to live and whom to marry.
The effects of this legislation are not confined to Foreign Service Officers. It will have a particularly serious effect on members of the Canadian Forces. For example, I understand that from 1983 to 1994 there were almost 4,000 children born to Canadian Forces members serving at the Canadian Forces Base in Lahr, Germany. Under the new legislation, all of these children, now in their late teens to mid twenties, have “second-class” citizenship as they have lost the freedom to pass on their Canadian citizenship to one of their children born abroad.
Other Departments and Agencies with public servants that could be affected when they serve abroad include the Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian International Development Agency, Agriculture and Agri Food Canada, Heritage Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. They all may find that staffing overseas positions becomes more difficult under the new legislation since it creates a disincentive to serve abroad and an incentive to cut a posting short and return to Canada in case of pregnancy. I am copying the Ministers and Deputy Ministers of those other Departments and Agencies so that they are aware of this issue.
Bill C-37 was meant to address the situation of people who are citizens on paper but have only a tenuous connection to Canada. Canadian public servants serving abroad are the exact opposite: their connection to Canada is so strong that they are devoting their careers to serving their country. It therefore does not make sense for their children to be penalized for being born abroad.
I assume that the gross inequity of this result was not intended by the amendments brought about by Bill C-37. I therefore urge you to take legislative action at the earliest possible opportunity to correct this problem. One solution might be to amend the Citizenship Act to state that children of Canadian public servants serving abroad would be “deemed” to have been born in Canada for the purposes of the Act. Since I expect that any changes would require amendment to the Citizenship Act, I also copy members of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.
I would appreciate hearing from you regarding any action that you propose to take to solve this problem. I would also be happy to meet with you or your officials to discuss this matter.
Yours sincerely,
Craig Weichel
President
cc:
The Hon. L. Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs
The Hon. S. Day, Minister of International Trade
The Hon. P. Mackay, Minister of National Defence
The Hon. B. Oda, Minister, Canadian International Development Agency
The Hon. G. Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. S. Rigby, President of Canada Border Services Agency
Mr. L. Edwards, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, DFAIT
Mr. L. Lévesque, Deputy Minister of International Trade, DFAIT
Ms J. Charette, Deputy Minister, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
Ms M. Biggs, President, Canadian International Development Agency
Mr. R. Fadden, Deputy Minister, Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Ms Y. Baltacioglu, Deputy Minister, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Ms J. LaRocque, Deputy Minister, Canadian Heritage
Mr. D. Tilson, Chairman, Standing Committee on CIMM
Mr. M. Bevilacqua, Vice-Chairman, Standing Committee on CIMM
M. T. St-Cyr, Vice-Chairman, Standing Committee on CIMM
Mr. P. Calandra, Member, Standing Committee on CIMM
Ms O. Chow, Member, Standing Committee on CIMM
Mr. R. Dykstra, Member, Standing Committee on CIMM
Ms N. Grewal,, Member, Standing Committee on CIMM
Mr. J. Karygiannis, Member, Standing Committee on CIMM
Ms A. Mendes, Member, Standing Committee on CIMM
Mr. P-P. Paillé, Member, Standing Committee on CIMM
Mr. D. Shory, Member, Standing Committee on CIMM
Ms A. Wong, Member, Standing Committee on CIMM
June 17, 2009
Mr. David Tilson
Chairman
Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration
House of Commons
6th Floor
131 Queen Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Dear Mr. Tilson,
Re: Bill C-37 – Impact on Public Service/Military Employees Serving Abroad
We would like to bring to your attention the unfairness the proposed legislation has created for public service employees and military personnel that give birth to their children abroad.
In that regard we have forwarded letters that we are sending to the Ministers of the departments involved asking for their support for change to the legislation. We would be very pleased to appear before your committee to pursue our concerns further.
Yours sincerely,
Craig Weichel
President
Att’d
c.c. Mr. M. Bevilacqua
Mr. T. St-Cyr
Mr. Paul Calandra
Ms. Olivia Chow
Mr. Rick Dykstra
Ms. Nina Grewal
Mr. Jim Karygiannis
Ms. Alexandra Mendes
Mr. Pascal-Pierre Paillé
Mr. Devinder Shory
Ms. Alice Wong