Three interviews about Lost Canadians with CBC journalist Curt Petrovich of CBC Television.
Click here to listen the interviews on line.
Interview One
Interview Two - Canada Day 2006
Interview Three With Joe Taylor and War Bride Eswyn Lyster- July 6, 2006, The World At Six
Readers Digest:: How Unjust Legal Quirks Rob Canadians of their Citizenship
The world's most read magazine has finally featured the story of the Lost Canadians on its front cover this December, 2011!
Click here to read more about the article on the Readers Digest website.
Written by Drew Nelles, the six page article Lost Canadians: How Unjust Legal Quirks Rob Canadians of their Citizenship, features an interview with Don Chapman, leader of the Lost Canadians and tells the the true life story of several victims, including Guy Vallieres, a Second World War veteran who died in 2009, disenfranchised from his own country.
"I cry every day and think about dying," Vallieres was quoted as saying in a 2007 presentation to the Parliamentary Committee on Citizenship and Immigration before he passed away.
A side bar contains a list of famous Lost Canadians, including Dan Akroyd, Michael J. Fox, Shannon Tweed, etc.
Do you have your own Lost Canadian story? Share it on line and it could appear on the Readers Digest website. Click here to submit your story to Readers Digest Magazine.
Toronto Star: Suit seeks citizenship for ‘Lost Canadians’
Published On Wed Nov 9 2011
VANCOUVER—Peter Brammah had always considered himself as Canadian as it gets, enlisting in the Royal Canadian Navy and serving as a police officer in Calgary.
But Brammah, now 75 and in poor health, didn’t realize until 2002 that he was not considered a Canadian citizen, even though he has lived in Canada since he was six years old. His parents were both British subjects, but Brammah’s mother came to Canada with him as a child after divorcing his father and then marrying a Canadian citizen
Click here to read original article in the Toronto Star
An advocacy group called Lost Canadians filed an application in federal court Tuesday on Brammah’s behalf, demanding the federal government provide the Navy veteran with his Canadian citizenship.
The group is comprised of people who believe they are Canadians but never actually received their citizenship because of quirks in citizenship legislation, including many born during World War II. In 2009, Bill C-37 was passed, which granted or restored citizenship to thousands affected by such quirks. But others, including Brammah, remain outside of that amended bill because he was born before 1947, the year Canada’s first citizenship act became law.
A statement from the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration department said the minister is aware of the claim and wants to resolve the issue.
“The department is interested in working with Mr. Brammah to find a positive solution to his dilemma. On Monday, the Department offered Mr. Brammah the opportunity to obtain citizenship. He declined,” said spokeswoman Nancy Caron in a statement to the Toronto Star.
Don Chapman of Lost Canadians said they don’t want citizenship to be granted individually to people who file claims. Rather, the group wants instead the government to grant citizenship to all residents who lived in Canada before 1947. Those who lived in Canada or were born in Canada before that year were technically considered British subjects.
Howe Lee, who was born in Canada and served in the Canadian army for 35 years, is helping support the claim because of his concerns that many war veterans may not be considered Canadians.
They include some of the 800 Chinese Canadians who served in the war and died overseas before being officially recognized in 1947. Lee said one soldier, Quan Louie, was in the Royal Canadian Air Force and died in Berlin in active duty.
“He died in a Canadian uniform and served in the Canadian army, but because he died before 1947, there’s the possibility that the Canadian government won’t recognize Quan Louie as a Canadian,” said Lee Tuesday.
Another supporter, Jackie Scott, who was born in England in 1945 and came to Canada , said she had no idea she wasn’t considered a Canadian citizen until she applied for her citizenship card in 2004.
“I think the government is trying to wait us out, all of us who were born pre-1947,” said Scott. “They’re looking at natural attrition, waiting for us to die, so they don’t have to worry about what to do with us.”
Yahoo News: Lawsuit aims to return citizenship to elderly "lost" Canadians
Despite serving this country as both a naval and police officer, he can't actually call Canada his own.
When he applied for a passport in 2002 — more than fifty years after moving here at age 10 — he was swiftly denied. Pointing to an archaic set of laws, the government informed him he's never been a citizen.
Click here to read original article on Yahoo News
So the 75-year-old will file a lawsuit Monday, aiming to set a precedent to force the return of Canadian identities to thousands of other elderly people who similarly believe they've been unjustly excluded.
The suit in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver comes days ahead of Remembrance Day.
Brammah is part of the so-called "lost Canadians," people whose nationality was stripped or never granted in the first place owing to kinks in citizenship legislation.
He was left out even after the 2009 passage of Bill C-37, an amendment that rectified several long-standing inequities and retroactively brought what's believed to be hundreds of thousands of people back into the fold.
That's because Brammah was born before 1947, the year Canada's first citizenship act came into force.
Brammah was born in England to British parents, but the marriage broke up when Brammah was a small child. His mother became involved with a Canadian soldier and the couple later had a daughter.
Marion Vermeersch, Peter's half sister, said in an interview that military rules prevented her parents from marrying until after the war — a year after she was born.
Once married, the family moved back to Ontario and from the age of six, Peter's Canadian father was the only one he ever knew.
"It was such the shock of our lives in 2003 when Peter was told he was not a Canadian," Vermeersch said in an interview.
Her brother had applied for a passport for the first time after spending years travelling the world on naval papers.
"When he joined the Canadian navy in 1952 and they went through all his documents, there was no question he was a Canadian," said Vermeersch.
Don Chapman, who has long advocated for improved and more equitable citizenship laws, said Peter's case highlights the absurdity of the government's position.
"Should Peter go to his grave after serving and being honourably discharged from the military and be told 'You're not Canadian?'" asked Chapman.
"As we honour all the Canadian soldiers — but particularly those that died for Canada in World War One and World War Two — they're all going to be deemed not Canadians ... if the government wins this suit."
Chapman, once a lost Canadian himself, says he's buried four war veterans lacking status since Jason Kenney took over as Citizenship and Immigration Minister in the Conservative government.
Though a driving force behind Bill C-37, Chapman was frustrated that about five per cent of all people affected by the convoluted laws remained disenfranchised.
Going to court is the only avenue Chapman feels they've got.
"This has got a lot of tentacles and it's going to affect a lot of people and potentially cost a lot of money," he said, adding the suit is only the first in a series of planned legal manoeuvres.
Asked whether the government has considered bringing the remaining thousands of people into the fold, Remi Lariviere, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, said the amended legislation resolved the vast majority of cases including people born before 1947.
He said the information available suggests those still left out is small.
"Anyone who has been living in Canada most of their life and has the mistaken belief that they are a Canadian citizen, may be eligible for a discretionary grant of citizenship," he said in an email. "Such grants are made on a case-by-case basis by the Governor in Council to relieve special and unusual hardship or to reward exceptional service to Canada."
The courts have tested issues similar to Brammah's before, the highest-profile case being that of Joe Taylor. The son of a British Columbian D-Day vet and British war bride mother was also denied citizenship by the courts.
The law excluded him because he was born before his parents married and because he left Canada as an infant with his mother before the 1947 citizenship act was passed.
Taylor initially won back his birthright in a Federal Court ruling, only to have it overturned by the appeal's court. He was looking towards taking it to the Supreme Court of Canada when his certificate was bestowed under the special grant by cabinet described by Lariviere.
According to a 2008 news release from then-Immigration Minister Diane Finley, "the government felt it had to pursue the court case because the issue had legal implications which went beyond Mr. Taylor."
That was just before Bill C-37 came into effect. Brammah's case will be the first major action since.
"I think it will affect all of us," said 66-year-old Jackie Scott, herself a lost Canadian who's been fighting for her citizenship since 2004.
She plans to attend the filing of Brammah's suit in support and is hoping it will help bring resolution to her own feeling of lost identity.
"You're being told you're being thrown away, this isn't your home, go away," she said. "You love your country, you're proud of your country, I'm proud of where I grew up and of my parents.
"They're saying I don't have the right to do that."
Chapman said he knows the laws inside and out and feels confident in the power of the new case, but he still sees Ottawa as his biggest obstacle. More than anything, he said he feels his cause is simply being ignored.
He said after the first wave of people were handed back their citizenships, some people came back home to receive benefits. But most of those who were given their Canadian status already live here and are afforded the same rights as others. Extending citizenship to people like Brammah won't cost much extra, he said.
"Dr. Willard Boyle came back. He won the Nobel Prize. Canada is now claiming him as one of their own," Chapman said.
"So the ramifications, really, if there's anything, it's only a positive for Canada."
Click here to read original article on Yahoo News
CTV: Lawsuit seeks citizenship for elderly 'lost' Canadians
Despite serving this country as both a naval and police officer, he can't actually call Canada his own.
When he applied for a passport in 2002 -- more than fifty years after moving here at age 10 -- he was swiftly denied. Pointing to an archaic set of laws, the government informed him he's never been a citizen.
So the 75-year-old will file a lawsuit Monday, aiming to set a precedent to force the return of Canadian identities to thousands of other elderly people who similarly believe they've been unjustly excluded.
The suit in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver comes days ahead of Remembrance Day.
Brammah is part of the so-called "lost Canadians," people whose nationality was stripped or never granted in the first place owing to kinks in citizenship legislation.
He was left out even after the 2009 passage of Bill C-37, an amendment that rectified several long-standing inequities and retroactively brought what's believed to be hundreds of thousands of people back into the fold.
That's because Brammah was born before 1947, the year Canada's first citizenship act came into force. And he was born abroad to British parents who later moved their family to Canada.
"Should Peter go to his grave after serving and being honourably discharged from the military and be told 'You're not Canadian?"' said Don Chapman, who has long advocated for improved and more equitable citizenship laws.
"As we honour all the Canadian soldiers -- but particularly those that died for Canada in World War One and World War Two -- they're all going to be deemed not Canadians ... if the government wins this suit."
Chapman, once a lost Canadian himself, says he's buried four war veterans lacking status since Jason Kenney took over as Citizenship and Immigration Minister in the Conservative government.
Though a driving force behind Bill C-37, Chapman was frustrated that about five per cent of all people affected by the convoluted laws remained disenfranchised.
Going to court is the only avenue Chapman feels they've got.
"This has got a lot of tentacles and it's going to affect a lot of people and potentially cost a lot of money," he said, adding the suit is only the first in a series of planned legal manoeuvres.
Asked whether the government has considered bringing the remaining thousands of people into the fold, Remi Lariviere, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, said the amended legislation resolved the vast majority of cases including people born before 1947.
He said the information available suggests those still left out is small.
"Anyone who has been living in Canada most of their life and has the mistaken belief that they are a Canadian citizen, may be eligible for a discretionary grant of citizenship," he said in an email. "Such grants are made on a case-by-case basis by the Governor in Council to relieve special and unusual hardship or to reward exceptional service to Canada."
The courts have tested issues similar to Brammah's before, the highest-profile case being that of Joe Taylor. The son of a British Columbian D-Day vet and British war bride mother was also denied citizenship by the courts.
The law excluded him because he was born before his parents married and because he left Canada as an infant with his mother before the 1947 citizenship act was passed.
Taylor initially won back his birthright in a Federal Court ruling, only to have it overturned by the appeal's court. He was looking towards taking it to the Supreme Court of Canada when his certificate was bestowed under the special grant by cabinet described by Lariviere.
According to a 2008 news release from then-Immigration Minister Diane Finley, "the government felt it had to pursue the court case because the issue had legal implications which went beyond Mr. Taylor."
That was just before Bill C-37 came into effect. Brammah's case will be the first major action since.
"I think it will affect all of us," said 66-year-old Jackie Scott, herself a lost Canadian who's been fighting for her citizenship since 2004.
She plans to attend the filing of Brammah's suit in support and is hoping it will help bring resolution to her own feeling of lost identity.
"You're being told you're being thrown away, this isn't your home, go away," she said. "You love your country, you're proud of your country, I'm proud of where I grew up and of my parents.
"They're saying I don't have the right to do that."
Chapman said he knows the laws inside and out and feels confident in the power of the new case, but he still sees Ottawa as his biggest obstacle. More than anything, he said he feels his cause is simply being ignored.
He said after the first wave of people were handed back their citizenships, some people came back home to receive benefits. But most of those who were given their Canadian status already live here and are afforded the same rights as others. Extending citizenship to people like Brammah won't cost much extra, he said.
"Dr. Willard Boyle came back. He won the Nobel Prize. Canada is now claiming him as one of their own," Chapman said.
"So the ramifications, really, if there's anything, it's only a positive for Canada."
Read more: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20111106/peter-brammah-lost-canadians-lawsuit-setup-111106/#ixzz1cxvN5Wqx
Coast Reporter: Back to court for Lost Canadians
Ben Ingram / Staff Writer
The leader of the Lost Canadians, Don Chapman of Gibsons, said he once again intends to take the government of Canada to court over citizenship discrimination.
Having taken up the cause of 10 people he said were undeservingly stripped of their citizenship, Chapman described the group’s position as being indisputable.
“What they're doing is they're actually now going to challenge us. And if they challenge us, we're really ready for the fight,” Chapman said. “We've just got them left, right and centre on this.”
Lost Canadians is known for its previous efforts leading up to the passage of Bill C-37 in April 2008. The legislation retroactively granted citizenship to thousands who had previously struggled to qualify, including Chapman.
But for him, the bill does not go far enough. According to Chapman, holes still remain in the legislation, allowing for true Canadians to fall through the cracks.
Armed with what he describes as an open-and-shut case, Chapman claims he has been ignored by a government failing to come to terms with unquestionable evidence.
“The government has not wanted to meet with me. They refused for three years since our bill passed,” he said, describing the remaining gaps in the legislation. “I'm trying hard to get the government to listen to me so we don't have to go to court.”
One of Chapman’s current concerns is 66-year-old Jacqueline Scott.
The daughter of a Canadian Second World War veteran, Scott’s mother was an English war bride. The year after her birth, Scott’s parents were married.
Scott grew up in Canada, and in 2005 found out that because she was born out of wedlock, she would no longer be considered a Canadian citizen.
“Essentially they were saying ‘you're a bastard’,” she said. “All my family is Canadian but me. My children were born in Toronto.”
Back in 2006, Scott heard of the case of Joe Taylor, one of the central disputes leading up to Bill C-37. She attended a hearing and met Chapman.
Soon after, she decided her only recourse was legal action. Like Chapman, Scott echoed frustrations at the government’s unwillingness to listen.
John Weston, the member of Parliament for West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country, said Chapman is well known to him and his staff.
Weston said Chapman has had consistent access to him over the years. He added his willingness to take up cases like Scott’s, but alleges Chapman has routinely failed to deliver the proper paperwork.
“We met him as recently as Aug. 4 and asked him at the time, as I have continually done, to provide names and privacy waivers for people he claims to represent,” Weston said. “Typically he fails to follow through.”
When asked about the Scott case in particular, Weston described her circumstances as unfair.
“[It] should be dealt with. I would want to take that up. Again, I would need a name and a privacy waiver and the background information,” he said.
Chapman and Scott, who lives in Vancouver, were meeting with their lawyers this week.
Vancouver Observer: Lost Canadians to take Canadian government to court, advocate tells war vets
As Lost Canadian advocate Don Chapman announced that his group expects to take the Canadian government to court over ongoing discrimination, a wave of approval went through the room of Chinese-Canadian war veterans. Chapman looked out at the group of Chinese-Canadian war veterans of Pacific Unit 280 and members of Chinese Canadian Military Museum Society assembled at Foo's Ho Ho Restaurant. "We're 100 per cent behind you on this, Don," Alfred Woo, a member of the Chinese Canadian Military Museum Society, said.
"You people were the only ones who supported the Lost Canadians as a group early on -- I thank you so much for that," Chapman answered.
Click here to read original article in the Vancouver Observer
Lost Canadians are a group of Canadian citizens stripped of their citizenship by the 1947 Canadian Citizenship Act and subsequent amendments to the law.
Addressing the cases of famous Lost Canadians, such as Jackie Scott, who was the child of a war bride, and World War II veteran Guy Valliere, Chapman spoke about the sexist and racist policies that have led to legitimate Canadians being denied citizenship. The Chinese-Canadian war veterans, some of them wearing their medals, nodded as they listened. Themselves denied the right to vote in Canada until 1947 -- two years after serving the country during the war -- many older Chinese-Canadians understood what it was like to be denied equal rights.
Gim Wong, an 88-year-old former air force member and war veteran, stood up to share his story of how he was turned down from signing up for the army based on his race. A talented air gunner, he wasn't allowed to vote at the time that he signed up for the army in 1943, and fought with the government on citizenship issues such as immigration and the Chinese head tax throughout his life.
The group discussed posthumous citizenship for Chinese-Canadians who fought in the war and died during combat.
"These people fought for Canada and paid the ultimate price," Chapman said. "They are Canadians of the highest order."
Although an amendment to the 1947 Citizenship Act granted citizenship to the majority of Lost Canadians in 2009, Chapman said the legislation created a new class of stateless individuals and continues to leave out five per cent of Lost Canadians who were born prior to 1947. He said that he would continue to pressure the government until all legitimate Lost Canaidans are granted citizenship.
Read more about the Lost Canadians in other Vancouver Observer stories.
Huffington Post Canada: On Canada Day, Lost Canadians Sit on the Sidelines
Click here to read original article on Huffington Post website.
Almost 50 years ago the civil rights movement was gaining tremendous strength in the United States. It was about an egregious issue -- an abomination if you will -- called discrimination. The pressing question was, should all people be afforded equal rights?
We as Canadians readily admit that everyone should be equal, but when Canadians learn about our country's ongoing discrimination in citizenship law, they seem content sitting on the sidelines in silence.
In 1963 U.S. President John F. Kennedy gave his famous Civil Rights Address. In 2011 -- on this Canada Day -- regrettably a lot of his words are just so apropos.
In what I'm about to say, I'll change a few of President Kennedy's words to make it Canadian specific- but sadly, his message is as true today in Canada as it was half a century ago in the deep south:
More legislation is needed,
but laws alone cannot make men see right.
Today, Canada is confronted with a moral issue.
The heart of the matter is, should all Canadians be treated with equality, so that each and everyone of us is afforded the same opportunities.
Should we treat all Canadians in a manner that we ourselves wish to be treated?
Some of the remaining Lost Canadians cannot send their children to a public school.
They cannot collect the pension they've paid into for most of their lives.
They can be denied medical coverage.
Or they cannot travel outside of Canada because they can't get a passport.
Consider: They can't even vote against the very politicians allowing these injustices to continue.
In short, who amongst us would willingly trade places with one of the five per cent of Lost Canadians who still remain disenfranchised from their own country? If it was you or your child being denied citizenship, would you be satisfied with the continued bureaucratic and political delays to correct the discriminatory legislation which has been enforced in Canada since 1868, or just one year after Confederation 144 years ago?
Or do you believe that Canada, and Canadians, can do better? Shouldn't the example we bestow to the world, is a Canada that at the very least nurtures and protects its own people -- regardless of age, or gender, or race, or whether a person was born in or out-of wedlock.
Proudly, it was a Canadian who wrote the first draft of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, yet today our own government refuses to abide by its provisions.
When confronted with the facts about citizenship and belonging, Canadians often turn a blind eye. To the Lost Canadian it's a deafening silence. Dr. Martin Luther King once said, "The greatest tragedy in this period of social transition was not the strident clamour of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good."
Canadian human rights activist June Callwood said, "Once you know about the abuse you become a part of it." In that sense all of you now share some responsibility for the outcome of your fellow Canadians.
One question remains: How many of you will come forward to help Lost Canadians? They too are part of our Canadian family -- except that our government continues to discriminate based on gender, age, and family status, while steadfastly refusing to recognize their citizenship. As I said, its an abomination.
Please, step forward and help me. Together there's much we can do. Individuals, especially with community support, can make a huge difference. A shining example of this was Denmark during WWII, where the Danish people so protected their fellow Jewish citizens. That lesson, of 'doing what is right,' should not be lost here in Canada.
On this Canada Day, let me end with two more quotes from President Kennedy:
"Those who do nothing are inviting shame. Those who act boldly are recognizing right, as well as reality."
And, "Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country."
Reaching out to help a Lost Canadian in need is a really great place to start.
Click here to read original article on Huffington Post website.
Vancouver Observor: More Equality Needed for All in Canada
That's what it's like to be a Lost Canadian.
Almost 50 years ago the civil rights movement was gaining tremendous strength in the United States. It was about an egregious issue -- an abomination if you will -- called discrimination. The pressing question was, should all people be afforded equal rights?
We as Canadians readily admit that everyone should be equal, but when Canadians learn about our country's ongoing discrimination in citizenship law, they seem content sitting on the sidelines in silence.
In 1963 President John F. Kennedy gave his famous Civil Rights address. In 2011 -- on this Canada Day -- regrettably, a lot of his words are just so apropos.
In what I'm about to say, I'll change a few of President Kennedy's words to make it Canadian specific -- but sadly, his message is as true today in Canada as it was half a century ago in the deep south:
More legislation is needed,
but laws alone cannot make men see right.
Today, Canada is confronted with a moral issue.
The heart of the matter is, should all Canadians be treated with equality, so that each and everyone of us is afforded the same opportunities.
Should we treat all Canadians in a manner that we ourselves wish to be treated?
Some of the remaining Lost Canadians cannot send their children to a public school.
They cannot collect the pension they’ve paid into for most of their lives.
They can be denied medical coverage.
Or they cannot travel outside of Canada because they can’t get a passport.
Consider: They can’t even vote against the very politicians allowing these injustices to continue.
In short, who amongst us would willingly trade places with one of the 5 per cent of Lost Canadians who still remain disenfranchised from their own country? If it was you or your child being denied citizenship, would you be satisfied with the continued bureaucratic and political delays to correct the discriminatory legislation which has been enforced in Canada since 1868, or just one year after Confederation 144 years ago?
Or do you believe that Canada, and Canadians, can do better? Shouldn’t the example we bestow to the world, is a Canada that at the very least nurtures and protects its own people- regardless of age, or gender, or race, or whether a person was born in or out-of-wedlock.
Proudly, it was a Canadian who wrote the first draft of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, yet today our own government refuses to abide by its provisions.
When confronted with the facts about citizenship and belonging, Canadians often turn a blind eye. To the Lost Canadian it’s a deafening silence. Dr. Martin Luther King once said, “The greatest tragedy in this period of social transition was not the strident clamour of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good.”
Canadian human rights activist June Callwood said, “Once you know about the abuse you become a part of it.” In that sense all of you now share some responsibility for the outcome of your fellow Canadians.
One question remains: How many of you will come forward to help Lost Canadians? They too are part of our Canadian family- except that our government continues to discriminate based on gender, age, and family status, while steadfastly refusing to recognize their citizenship. As I said, its an abomination.
Please, step forward and help me. Together there's much we can do. Individuals, especially with community support, can make a huge difference. A shining example of this was Denmark during WWII, where the Danish people so protected their fellow Jewish citizens. That lesson, of 'doing what is right,' should not be lost here in Canada.
On this Canada Day, let me end with two more quotes from President Kennedy:
"Those who do nothing are inviting shame. Those who act boldly are recognizing right, as well as reality."
And, "Ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country."
Reaching out to help a Lost Canadian in need is a really great place to start.
Downhome Magazine Features Lost Canadian Isabel Harris of Newfoundland
In the July 2011 issue of Downhome, Lin Crosbie-Marshall delves into the murky issue of Canadian citizenship. She found that some life-long residents of this country have been unpleasantly surprised to find out they are not recognized as citizens. If it happened to them, could it happen to you?
Below you'll find a list of circumstances under which, at one time or another, Canadians could have unknowingly lost their citizenship.
12 Ways to Lose Your Citizenship
Researched and compiled by Don Chapman
1. As a minor child, one’s father took out citizenship in another country.
2. You were a foreign-born Canadian, and on your 24th birthday you weren’t domiciled in Canada.
3. You were a war bride who never became naturalized.
4. You were a war-bride child who never was naturalized.
5. In certain circumstances, you were a second-generation, born-abroad Canadian and you didn’t reaffirm your citizenship by your 28th birthday.
6. You were a border-baby, meaning you were born in the U.S. (mainly because the nearest hospital was in the States rather than Canada), and you were never properly registered. People from Quebec were particularly affected.
7. In certain circumstances, your connection to Canada came through a woman rather than a man. This mainly affected foreign-born, born in-wedlock children to Canadian mothers and foreign fathers. In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled CIC was guilty of gender discrimination, thus granting citizenship to this group on application. However, in 2004, CIC decided to ignore the Supreme Court’s ruling, thus Canada went back to blatantly discriminating against women.
8. You were born out of wedlock.
9. You were born to a Canadian serviceman outside of Canada, commonly referred to as “military brat.”
10. You are a woman who married a non-Canadian prior to 1947.
11. You are a child of a woman who married a non-Canadian prior to 1947. (It doesn't matter that you’ve spent your whole life in Canada or were born in Canada!)
12. You took out citizenship in another country prior to 1977.
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