immigrantscanada.com

Independent topical source of current affairs, opinion and issues, featuring stories making news in Canada from immigrants, newcomers, minorities & ethnic communities' point of view and interests.

Immigration Minister and Minister John McCallum

dual nationals: The most controversial of the Tory changes to the Citizenship Act allowed the immigration minister to revoke the Canadian status of dual nationals convicted of crimes such as terrorism, treason or taking up arms against the country, according to Hamilton Spectator. Critics denounced the move as a slippery slope that created two classes of citizen, a theme Immigration Minister John McCallum reprised as he explained the rationale for seeking to reverse the measure. "From my point of view this is a question of principle, that if one believes that a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian and there is only one class of Canadian, those principles must be applied universally," McCallum said. The Trudeau Liberals moved Thursday to repeal some sweeping Conservative changes to the rules that govern citizenship — one of several issues that have long highlighted the ideological divide between the longtime political rivals. One person promises to be a headache for the Liberals, however: Zakaria Amara, the presumptive leader of the so-called Toronto 18 and the only person in Canada to ever lose Canadian citizenship as a result of the Conservative law. Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel could barely contain her contempt. "There many things that unite us as Canadians and I think one of those things is a respect and deep value for Canadian citizenship," Rempel told a news conference immediately following McCallum's. "When we're talking about principle, I would like to think the first principle we put forward that we're not celebrating people that commit terrorist actions against our country." During last year election campaign, the Conservative law became a flashpoint particularly in ethnic communities, where the Liberals warned of the risk that others could lose their citizenship too. Once the Liberal proposals become law, he will get it back. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.