OTTAWA — An Ontario Superior Court docket choose has “reluctantly” given the federal authorities one other three months to cross laws aimed toward granting citizenship to the so-called misplaced Canadians.
That is a time period for individuals who had been born exterior of the nation to Canadian mother and father who had been additionally born out of the country.
In 2009, the previous Conservative authorities modified the regulation so individuals who had been born overseas couldn’t cross down their citizenship except their little one was born in Canada.
That was dominated unconstitutional, and the court docket gave the federal authorities a deadline to cross new laws to deal with the difficulty.
It has launched a invoice within the Home of Commons to create citizenship guidelines for the misplaced Canadians — however the invoice is stalled and the Liberals have requested for an extension 3 times since then.
In her choice Friday, Justice Jasmine Akbarali says she wouldn’t have granted this newest extension primarily based solely on the federal government’s argument that it is attempting to advance the invoice within the Home of Commons.
She stated she’s reluctantly agreeing to maneuver the deadline to March 19 partly due to the broader implications of what is going to occur if the present laws is struck down.
If the deadline was not prolonged, the federal government says an “unknowable” variety of individuals will routinely turn out to be Canadian residents and a “legislative hole” can be created, the place citizenship guidelines can be utilized inconsistently.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Dec. 17, 2024.
David Baxter, The Canadian Press
