Thoughts on dual citizenship

It's been 30 years since Canada allowed dual citizenship. Not sure if it was a hot topic back in February of 1977 but as years went by we ended up with the Governor General holding a dual citizenship. Michael Jean later renounced her French citizenship but the issue of dual citizenship came to light. Then there was a war in Lebanon, when the government had to evacuate thousands of... Canadians with Lebanese passports? Lebanese with Canadian passports? I believe that since they chose to settle in Lebanon, the latter is more accurate. Again, there was some discontent among the people that Canadian citizenship became a mere passport of convenience. And finally we had the Leader of the Opposition having to renounce his French citizenship so the party he leads could have at least some support outside of Quebec.

According to the research conducted by the Dominion Institute, 39% of Canadians believe Canadian citizens should not be allowed to simultaneously hold citizenship of another country. The CBC article doesn't state how many of the remaining 61% are strongly in favour of allowing dual citizenship and how many are simply unsure. However, a near-40% opposition to dual citizenship hints that the government better starts looking for ways to make sure that Canadian citizenship is not taken unfair advantage of.

Some view dual citizenship as divided loyalty. That's not always true. Often the old citizenship is simply too expensive to get rid of. So a man is officially considered a citizen of another country even though his passport has expired long ago and he has no other ties to that country. On the other hand even if one has to renounce the citizenship of his country of origin, that doesn't mean he would automatically cut off all the ties to that country.

Many people ceased to be Canadian citizens between 1947 and 1977 because their parents became citizens of another country, renouncing their Canadian citizenship for themselves and for their children. Some of those who were stripped of their citizenship as children are still unable to return to Canada; often they are required to reapply for immigration - as if they were strangers. That's why I don't support the ban on dual citizenship as it existed before 1977.

At the same time I do believe that Canadian citizenship is granted under certain conditions and should not be used for a sole purpose of a visa-free travel or immunity from prosecution. I believe there must be clear set of guidelines that would allow stripping such "also Canadians" like Khadr & Co of their citizenship and sending them back to a country to which they are loyal.