A Call to Action on Bill C-37: An Act to Amend the Citizenship Act

Source: www.adoption.ca

Publication date: 17 July 2009

(came into force in Canada on April 17, 2009)

NEWS ITEM UPDATE: July 17, 2009

The Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration makes the following

recommendation:

The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada grant children

adopted abroad by Canadian parents ordinarily residing in Canada the same legal

status as children born in Canada.

The full report is available

here.

The Adoption Council of Canada (ACC) is thrilled by the committee recommendation and

Sandra Scarth, ACC President, notes: “I think it is heartening that the Committee listened,

acknowledged the concerns, and has made recommendations for the changes adoptive

parents have asked for.”

The ACC is now in the process of following-up with the government to ensure that this

recommendation is put into the regulations and/or the legislation is amended accordingly.

NEWS ITEM UPDATE: June 24, 2009

On Thursday, June 11, 2009, the ACC made a presentation to the Standing Committee on

Citizenship and Immigration.

Detailed information about the meeting is available via the following links:

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?

DocId=3981984&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=2

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?

DocId=3979528&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=2

French Links

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?

DocId=3981984&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=2&Language=F

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?

DocId=3979528&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=2&Language=F

NEWS ITEM UPDATE: June 10, 2009

A petition is now also available in French:

http://www.petitiononline.com/C397/petition.html

NEWS ITEM UPDATE: June 1, 2009

Olivia Introduces Bill to ensure all children born of Canadians will be citizens

May 27, 2009-Ottawa

Ms. Olivia Chow (Trinity—Spadina, NDP)

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-397, An

Act to amend the Citizenship Act (persons born abroad).

ACTION IN PARLIAMENT:

Petition: Restore Equality to Children Born Abroad of Canadian Citizens (Support Bill C-397)

NEWS ITEM UPDATE: May 4, 2009

Olivia Chow, Member of Parliament for Trinity-Spadina, Advocate for Child Care, and,

Citizenship and Immigration Critic in the NDP Shadow Cabinet, plans to introduce a motion

and a private member’s bill to amend Bill C-37. If you have stories of how this new

Citizenship Act impacts on your families, please share them with Olivia:

chowo1c@parl.gc.ca

. Thank you for your continued support.

NEWS ITEM UPDATE: March 26, 2009

The Adoption Council of Canada (ACC) submits a letter to The Honourable Jason Kenney,

Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). To read the letter, click

here.

NEWS ITEM UPDATE: March 17, 2009

NOTE: following questions and comments received on C-37, the CIC website has been

updated to provide additional information. Please see the links below.

New text:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/law-citizenship.asp

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/scenarios-citizenship.asp

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/routes-citizenship.asp

Updates to existing text:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/adoption/choose.asp

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/adoption/apply-citizenship.asp

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/rules-citizenship.asp

NOTE : Ceci est pour vous aviser que suite aux questions et commentaires que nous avons

reçues à propos de C-37, le site internet de CIC à été mis à jour pour fournir des

informations supplémentaires. Voyez les liens ci-dessous.

Nouvelles informations:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/francais/citoyennete/loi-citoyennete.asp

http://www.cic.gc.ca/francais/citoyennete/scenarios-citoyennete.asp

http://www.cic.gc.ca/francais/citoyennete/voies-citoyennete.asp

Mis à jours:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/francais/immigrer/adoption/choisir.asp

http://www.cic.gc.ca/francais/immigrer/adoption/demande-citoyennete.asp

http://www.cic.gc.ca/francais/citoyennete/regles-citoyennete.asp

NEWS ITEM UPDATE: January 29, 2009

Important Notice:

Douglas Chalke, Executive Director of Sunrise Adoption and ACC Member, has compiled a

comprehensive overview of Bill C-37 and its implications for adoption.

The Adoption Council of Canada (ACC) strongly encourages everyone to read the following

in its entirety prior to reading the rest of this news posting:

http://www.sunriseadoption.com/articles/citizenship2009

Position of the Adoption Council of Canada (ACC)

The Adoption Council of Canada (ACC) is concerned about the proposed regulations for Bill

C-37. This law was supposed to streamline and simplify the citizenship process for

internationally adopted children, but the legislation instead takes away citizenship rights for

some of these children. Adoptive parents across Canada have also expressed concerns,

citing that their adopted children are being relegated to an inferior class of citizenship under

the Bill.

Although the Bill has already been passed in the legislature, the ramifications were not fully

understood until well after the regulations were circulated in mid December 2008.

Gradually, as adoptive parents heard about the effect of the legislation, the news has

spread and there has been a groundswell of e-mails asking what can be done about this.

The law was drafted to prevent “Canadians of convenience”, i.e., families who pass on

citizenship over several generations without ever living in Canada.

In attempting to solve this problem, the government has created regulations that are

confusing and create inequities for internationally adopted children.

Sandra Scarth, ACC President, notes: “the numbers of those affected may not be very high,

but the original intent of the legislation as we understood it was to simplify the citizenship

process to treat children adopted abroad more equitably.”

Mrs. Scarth further states: “Before bringing this law into force, the government should

consult with the adoption community to address these legitimate concerns."

The ACC also has questions about the retroactivity of the rules and would like to have

clarification from CIC about the finer points of the Bill as it relates to adoption. (see Q8 in

Sunrise’s posting:

http://www.sunriseadoption.com/articles/citizenship2009).

Response from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)

Over the past few days, the media has run several stories relating to Bill C-37 and how the

limit to citizenship by descent introduced by this Bill will have an effect on children adopted

by Canadian parents. Some news items contained inaccuracies and CIC has prepared the

following in response to these stories:

As you may be aware, changes to Canada's citizenship law will come into effect in April of

this year.

Some concerns have been raised about how recent changes to citizenship legislation may

affect adoptees born outside Canada. The new law was passed by Parliament in spring 2008

and comes into effect on April 17, 2009. It will simplify citizenship rules. It also seeks to

protect the value of Canadian citizenship by making sure it is not passed down endlessly

through generations living outside Canada.

In almost all cases, the ability for people born outside Canada to acquire citizenship by

descent will be limited to the first generation. (Note: this limit is not a result of proposed

changes to the regulations that were pre-published in the Canada Gazette in December

2008.)

Limiting citizenship by descent means that once the new law comes into effect, children

born outside Canada will only acquire Canadian citizenship automatically if one of their

parents was born or naturalized in Canada (this includes adopted people who first became

permanent residents and then later, citizens).

To ensure fair treatment, the limitation will apply equally to children born outside Canada to

a Canadian parent, and to foreign-born children adopted by a Canadian parent and granted

citizenship through the adoption law effective December 2007.

One objective of the December 2007 changes was to reduce the distinction in eligibility for

citizenship between foreign-born adopted children and children born abroad to Canadian

parents. The April 2009 changes will continue to do this.

Once the new law is in force, children born outside Canada to both groups of people will not

be eligible to claim Canadian citizenship through that parent (although, if the other parent

was born or naturalized in Canada, the child would be able to claim citizenship through that

parent).

Foreign-born children adopted by both groups of people will not be eligible for a grant of

citizenship under the December 2007 adoption provisions.

Children born or adopted abroad who do not acquire Canadian citizenship because of this

new limitation may be eligible to be sponsored as permanent residents and then apply for

citizenship as soon as they become permanent residents.

In some rare cases, the new law could create stateless children if they don’t obtain

citizenship from either of their parents or from their country of birth. In such a case, the

parent could sponsor the child for permanent residence and then immediately apply for

citizenship for the child.

As an additional safeguard, the new law includes a statelessness provision that offers

another option to gain Canadian citizenship. This provision fulfills Canada’s obligations

under the UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

For more information, please visit the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website:

www.cic.gc.ca

Moving Forward

If you are concerned about the proposed regulations and wish to see children adopted

abroad treated equitably, the ACC encourages you to contact the following individuals:

1) Your local MP:

To locate and contact your local MP, please

visit:

http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCod

e.aspx?Menu=HOC

2) A Senator in your area:

You may also want to contact a Senator in your area:

http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/senmemb/senate/isenator.asp?Language=E

3) The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (CIC):

The Honourable Jason Kenney, P.C., M. P.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Ottawa, Ontario

K1A 1L1

Minister@cic.gc.ca

Questions?

Should you have any questions about Bill C-37 and/or the ACC’s position, please do not

hesitate to contact the ACC office: 1-888-542-3678 or

info@adoption.ca.

You may also contact Douglas Chalke, Executive Director of Sunrise Adoption in British

Columbia, for additional information:

Sunrise Adoption

Suite 102 - 171 West Esplanade

North Vancouver, BC

Canada V7M 3J9

Telephone:

604-984-2488

Toll free within Canada

1-888-984-2488

Fax: 604-984-2498

doug@sunriseadoption.com

http://www.familyhelper.net/news/090129citizenship.html

***The ACC will update this article as new information becomes available***

Countries: Canada