Part-time Gibsons resident Don Chapman, the leader of the Lost Canadians wants to see the federal leaders taking citizenship issues much more seriously during this election campaign.
Chapman didn't realize he had lost his citizenship - the United States did not grant dual citizenships at the time - until he tried to return to Canada at the age of 18. After discovering he didn't qualify for his planned return north of the border, Chapman built a life in Phoenix, Ariz. but didn't give up on his quest to become a Canadian, again.
He compiled a list of 12 ways one could lose their citizenship - those born out of wedlock, a woman who married a non-Canadian prior to 1947, or foreign-born Canadians who weren't in Canada on their 24th birthday, for example - and began to advocate. Chapman has worked hard on behalf of himself and hundreds of thousands of other Lost Canadians who he feels have been abandoned by the country and their federal leaders.
"This issue is far from over. I give John Reynolds, our former MP a lot of credit for his efforts and for championing this cause and for getting 95 per cent of this corrected," said Chapman in an interview with Coast Reporter April 11. "But the government has been lying all these years and I opened up a can of worms of this issue. The government corrected the law, but did it in a sling shot manner where today we are creating a whole new clause of Lost Canadians."
TheCitizenship Actsof 1947 and 1977 contained intricate rules that determined how Canadian citizenship could be obtained and how it could be lost. As a result of these complex rules, it has been argued that hundreds of thousands of people worldwide believed with good reason that they were Canadian citizens, but in actual fact were not.
Although in 2008, Bill C-37 restored citizenship to many of these people retroactively, thanks to Chapman's efforts, it left out some who consider themselves to be Lost Canadians and still treats some individuals differently depending on which parent had Canadian citizenship and whether or not their parents were married.
Chapman is wondering why the federal leaders are not talking about this issue during the campaign.
"They forgot the reason they are there [in Ottawa] is to represent Canadians," he said. "I have the solution to the problems, but no one seems to be listening. It's so easy, yet people are dying and being denied their citizenship."
In March, the Liberal government cam forward stating that if they were elected their government would ensure that there is an effective path for Lost Canadians to obtain citizenship.
"The rules regarding Canadian citizenship must remain consistent with the values of theCharter of Rights and Freedoms," said Liberal Citizenship and Immigration Critic Justin Trudeau. "To have people treated differently depending on which parent had Canadian citizenship or whether or not their parents were married is anachronistic at best, and at worst, a violation of theCharter.
"Any rules regarding Canadian citizenship that result in different treatment based on gender must be changed."
While Chapman welcomes the support from Trudeau and the Liberals, he feels all of the federal parties are to blame and wants to see this issue finally resolved once and for all.
"I feel abandoned by our riding MP. It's that plain and simple. I feel John Weston and the Conservatives don't care," said Chapman. "But the other parties are not doing enough either. I don't belong to any political parties, but this is an issue that all Canadians should be aware of during this election campaign and we should be voting for the party that will take this issue seriously."
You can learn more about Chapman's journey and that of thousands of other Lost Canadians by going to www.lostcanadian.com.
