Dealing with Dual Citizenship

Ariel Katz
Friday, July 28, 2006

Professor Audrey Macklin wrote the following op ed that appeared in the Toronto Star today, titled "Dealing with Dual Citizenship".

Should dual citizens of Canada be entitled to the same treatment as other citizens? Prime Minister Stephen Harper wisely resisted calls to revise existing policy in the midst of the  evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon, but announced his government's intention to review Canadian practice now that the evacuation is nearing completion.

Among those who questioned the evacuation, explicit concerns centred on those Canadians in Lebanon who had been living in that country for many years and had more or less relinquished their physical connection to Canada.   

Some contended that Canada had no duty to evacuate these non-resident Canadians. Others insisted these Canadians at least ought to pay the government for the cost of evacuation.

The underlying claim is that certain rights of citizenship ought to be tied to ongoing residence in Canada. Living here, the argument goes, expresses one's commitment and membership to Canada. Choosing to live elsewhere signals greater affinity and loyalty to another state, and Canada need not take responsibility for citizens who choose another country over Canada.

Canada's New Terrorism Bills: Slow Down and Debate

Kent Roach
Monday, October 29, 2007

Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day tabled new legislation in the House of Commons last Monday to allow British-style special advocates to play a role in security certificate cases that are used to detain and deport non-citizens suspected of involvement in terrorism. The bill responds to the Supreme Court of Canada's decision earlier this year that the existing legislation was unconstitutional.

On Tuesday the government tabled another bill in the Senate to revive investigative hearings and preventive arrests. These Criminal Code powers were introduced after 9/11 but expired in March, 2007 after the government failed to convince Parliament to renew them for three years. The government now proposes to include the powers in the Criminal Code, subject to a some changes and a 5 year renewable sunset.

The official opposition - the Liberal Party - has indicated some preliminary support for both bills and they appear likely to pass. There is a need to slow down and carefully consider both bills, as well as important work already done by Parliamentary committees on anti-terrorism law.

A Malignant Vestige Of 'Tradition'

Anver Emon
Tuesday, December 18, 2007

This commentary was first published in the National Post on December 14, 2007.

The tragic death of Aqsa Parvez has been on my mind incessantly since I heard the news that the Mississauga, Ont., teenager had been killed -- allegedly by her traditionally minded Muslim father. As a professor of Islamic law, I teach my students about its history, doctrines and modes of analysis. We shift back and forth from common law reasoning to Islamic doctrines. We analyze the differences between the values of the Islamic system and our own value commitments.

But then an extreme episode such as the death of Ms. Parvez arises, and we move beyond the academic exercises of the classroom to pangs of outrage and heartbreak.

One hopes that no religion would sanction the killing of a child. And, indeed, the Islamic tradition does not condone the crime Ms. Perez's father is alleged to have committed against his rebellious daughter. But is it possible that there's something in his Muslim faith that influenced him to act so outrageously?

Discussion of Prof. Ayelet Shachar's New Book

Monday, August 17, 2009

As noted in an earlier post, Prof. Ayelet Shachar recently published her latest book, The Birthright Lottery. It has received a considerable amount of attention.

A story on the front page of the "Insight" section of the Saturday Toronto Star ("Born lucky? Then pay for it," May 2, 2009) discussed Prof. Shachar's book and proposals in detail, and concluded that "Shachar has raised the bar on the discussion of equality." Read the full article on the Toronto Star website.

It was also the subject of a feature review by Andrew Coyne in the July/August 2009 issue of the Literary Review of Canada (LRC).

Prof. Shachar's work has also been profiled in the Spring 2009 issue of Edge, the magazine about research at the University of Toronto. Read the Edge profile (PDF).

Prof. Ayelet Shachar's New Book: "The Birthright Lottery"

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Shachar_birthright Prof. Ayelet Shachar's new book, The Birthright Lottery, has been published by Harvard University Press.

From the publisher:

The vast majority of the global population acquires citizenship purely by accidental circumstances of birth. There is little doubt that securing membership status in a given state bequeaths to some a world filled with opportunity and condemns others to a life with little hope. Gaining privileges by such arbitrary criteria as one’s birthplace is discredited in virtually all fields of public life, yet birthright entitlements still dominate our laws when it comes to allotting membership in a state.

Minister Kenney’s Ban on Face Coverings is Ultra Vires

Audrey Macklin
Friday, February 17, 2012

Not only is Minister Kenney’s ban on face coverings a gratuitous insult to Muslim women, it’s ultra vires.

In the wake of all the publicity about the Minister of Immigration’s decree that no one shall be allowed to go through the citizenship ceremony with her face covered, I thought I'd find out how the ban on face coverings was authorized in law. It appears that the ban is buried in the Operations Manual on citizenship ceremonies.  The Operations Manual provides guidance to citizenship bureaucrats (including Citizenship Judges) about how to interpret and apply the law -- the Citizenship Act and the Citizenship Regulations.  Since they are only guidelines, they do not have the force of law, and are invalid to the extent that they contradict the statute or the regulations.

You can find the citizenship manual here (PDF) (see s. 6.5). The manual contains an elaborate set of instructions about how citizenship officials shall respond if a woman is both uppity and oppressed enough to show up with her face covered.

In the New York Times, Prof. Ayelet Shachar debates Olympic citizenship requirements

Friday, July 27, 2012

In the "Room for Debate" section of the New York Times, Prof. Ayelet Shachar has contributed to the discussion "Which Country Did You Say You Were Playing For?" about Olympic citizenship requirements. Her contribution, "Serious Moral Quandaries," (July 27, 2012) picks up on her article "Picking Winners" in the Yale Law Journal. (See also the Nexus magazine article, "Picking Winners", about Shachar's work).

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