Conservatives refuse to recognize WWII veterans as Canadians

OTTAWA– New Democrats are calling on the Conservative government to recognize the children of Canadians who fought for our nation on the battlefields of the World Wars as citizens.

These so-called Lost Canadians are disqualified from citizenship because they were born outside the country prior to 1947, when Canada first established its own citizenship.

When confronted recently by a woman who was fighting for her citizenship, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney blamed “old laws” for this problem and told the women she wasn’t a citizen because her Canadian-born father, who served our country in World War Two, was not technically a Canadian at the time she was born.

“There was no such thing as a Canadian citizen prior to 1947,” Kenny told Jackie Scott, a Lost Canadian, last week in Vancouver. “They [were] British subjects.”

New Democrat Immigration critic Jinny Sims (Newton – North Delta) criticized Kenney for refusing to take responsibility and finally act to solve this problem.

“Minister Kenney keeps acknowledging this problem, but despite introducing a number of new bills, he has refused to fix this injustice,” said Sims. “Conservatives have recently introduced a number of changes to Canada’s immigration laws yet claim they are powerless to help these Lost Canadians who are denied citizenship on a technicality. It is shameful.”

“Heroes like Jackie’s father deserve to be recognized as Canadians,” said Veterans Affairs critic, Peter Stoffer (Sackville-Eastern Shore). “All of them fought and some of them died for Canada. Is this how we thank them?”