Citizenship: Canadian Citizenship

Canadian citizenship: Consider this. Under the proposed changes a person will be eligible for citizenship only if they satisfy the minister that they intend to reside in Canada after becoming a citizen, according to The Star. The provision also holds out the implicit threat that if a naturalized Canadian citizen takes up a job somewhere else as many Canadians do , or leaves Canada to study abroad as many Canadians do , the government may move to strip the person of citizenship because they misrepresented their intention to reside in Canada when they were granted citizenship. Whether the government acts on the threat is not the issue; it is enough that people will be made insecure and apprehensive by the possibility that the government may arbitrarily decide to launch revocation proceedings against them if they leave Canada too soon, or remain away too long. Thats not a way to foster a citizenship of commitment. Thats how to foster a citizenship of fear and Immigration Minister Chris Alexanders reforms to Canadas citizenship legislation represent a serious threat to the rights of all Canadians. Although Alexander claims the reforms will strengthen Canadian citizenship, what they really do is make citizens vulnerable to abuse of power by the government. They broadly expand the requirements for citizenship in ways that will make it inaccessible to many while dramatically reducing a persons due process rights when the government seeks to take citizenship away. This only applies to naturalized citizens, of course. The government does not presume to dictate to Canadians by birth whether and for how long they may reside elsewhere. Its reasonable for the government to encourage present and future Canadians to reside in Canada. But thats not what this provision does. Rather, it empowers officials to speculate on a citizenship applicants future intentions, and then potentially deny citizenship on the basis of that conjecture. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.