Revoking the citizenship of a Canadian citizen and worse, deporting a Canadian-born person is the most aggressive anti-immigrant act seen in recent times. It’s like there was a war on the immigrant family.
It really casts a line between “old stock” Canadians and new Canadians, because it’s not just about people who willingly have dual citizenship but people whose country of origin (or their parent’s country of origin) may decide to recognize them as citizens whether they want that or not.
Of course it’s draped in the language of law and order, but think about it. Let’s take Jimmy the son of white Anglo-Saxon protestant parents whose family have been in Southern Ontario for five generations, and Deepak the Canadian-born son of a couple who moved here from Tanzania. Of Indian origin, they had been in that East African nation for two generations. If as teenagers Jimmy and Deepak fell in with the wrong crowd, and got into some bad trouble, Jimmy would get sent to jail, but Deepak could be deported to Africa or India.
So to look at this through a political lens and bring it home to Conservative Senators: Regardless of the crimes they may get convicted of, Senator Mike Duffy will never get deported to the British Isles, but Senator Don Meredith can get deported to Jamaica. Rob Ford would never get deported if he bought illicit drugs, but if his supplier was foreign born, he’s on his way. And that’s why this two-tiered citizenship is so dangerous and is getting many immigrant families very worried.
