Hello Everyone,
BIG NEWS: We have an anonymous donor who has pledged to match $5,000 of donations. Please, please donate! We can do this!
We are an adoptive family living in Toronto, Canada. Over the past 15 years we have been advocating for the restoration of full citizenship rights for internationally adopted children.
We are raising funds to file a Charter/constitutional challenge on behalf of internationally adopted children and adoptive families in order to restore our Canadian children's full citizenship rights.
In 2009 a law was passed which limited children born abroad from passing on their Canadian citizenship to their own offspring if they, too, are born abroad. A limitation that does not apply to children born in Canada to non-citizens, children adopted in Canada, or children who are naturalized.
Recently, the law that was passed in 2009 was deemed unconstitutional by the courts and the Canadian government has been forced to write another law.
The new law has been tabled multiple times in the House of Commons and is now it is called Bill C-3 . However, adoptive families and adoption experts across Canada have opposed the bill because the government has refused to include an amendment that would protect internationally adopted children from discrimination.
Bill C-3 will now require that internationally adopted children who receive a "direct grant" of citizenship to "prove" they are Canadian in order to pass on citizenship to their children.
But the new law only applies to a particular group of adopted children - specifically children who receive the "direct grant" of citizenship - meaning they receive their citizenship before they land in Canada.
Why does this matter?
Families who adopt internationally have to comply with multi-jurisdictional laws. And for many families who adopt from countries where the child's citizenship is severed, the only way to come home with our children safely is to apply for the "direct grant."
So what Bill C-3 has done is deem one category of international adoptees as "second-class" citizens simply because they were born abroad and received the "direct grant." of citizenship.
This current bill has broad implications for internationally adopted children as this law does not recognize their protected Charter Rights. Bill C 3 places them in a category of "foreign-born" Canadians who are not imbued with the same rights and privileges, not only of their fellow adoptees but of their Canadian parents.
Our children are not second-generation Canadians - they are first generation adopted children. As Canadian citizens their rights are protected under our Charter of Rights and Freedoms and we are fighting back.
So how could this be fixed?
Easy. The government can either add in an exemption in the bill for an internationally adopted children or just create a "grant of adoption" for families who are adopting internationally through and inter-country adoption and remove us from the broader immigration category. But the government has refused to do this.
So what's next?
The funds raised will go to paying our initial legal costs. Any funds raised over the goal amount will go to additional legal costs and travel to Ottawa if needed.
ALL use of funds will be accounted for to the penny.
As Canadians who pay our taxes, contribute to our society and build our families through a complex, long and difficult process we are devastated that the Canadian government refuses to protect the Charter Rights of our Canadian children.
Anyone can come to Canada and have a child and that child has more rights than our adopted children. And while we celebrate all forms of citizenship - we refuse to let our children be placed in a category subordinate to other Canadian children.
Given the changing landscape of immigration in Canada and around the world, our aim is to ensure our adopted children have equal rights.
Please consider supporting our efforts. And please forward this to anyone you think will help or join our endeavour. We cannot do this alone! We have advocated for 15 years and are now left with no other option but to take this to court.
Links and FAQ below for more information.
Our gratitude,
Katherine Lanteigne & Graeme Ball
1. Is your child a Canadian citizen? Are you Canadians living in Canada?
YES
2. Do they have the same set of rights as other Canadian children living in Canada?
NO
3. Have you tried meeting with MP's and the Minister of Immigration to try and change the governments position?
Yes for 15 years. We have written hundreds of emails, letters, launched petitions and have met with dozens of officials.
We have been told by the Minister's office that we are not "preferred stakeholders". We are the only stakeholder group that were shut out of every single committee hearing both in the House of Commons and the Senate. The only way our voices were heard at committee was due to Senator David Arnot , a former human rights judge, who advocated for an amendment on our behalf.
4. Why is the government saying no?
The answer we receive from the government is that, in their efforts to fix the broader "Lost Canadian" issue, Canadians living abroad can receive the "direct grant" of citizenship for their children adopted or born abroad and therefore it would be unfair that our internationally adopted children being raised in Canada have equal rights. So we are being put in the broader "Lost Canadian" category. Please note, we have many families who adopted prior to 2009 - there was no other way to bring their children home other than the "direct grant".
5. Who else supports your position?
Our Senate of Canada Submission Opposing this Bill (under its previous number)
Senate Committee Report on the Bill - recognizing the gap in protections for adopted children:
Bill C-3 Text of Bill
Background on Court Decision:
https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/government-receives-fourth-extension-to-fix-unconstitutional-lost-canadians-issue/
Ontario Laws on International Adoption: