Dual citizens, immigrants could lose Canadian citizenship under new law

CANADA: Dual citizens and people who have immigrated to Canada can have their citizenship taken away, according to a new bill that went into effect last week in Canada.

The Canadian government has justified creating a two-tier citizenship system by saying it would counter the threat of "jihadi terrorism."

The C-24 Bill could also easily be used against non-terrorists -- for example a journalist who is convicted of a “terrorism offence” in another country for reporting on human rights violations by the government.

Under this law, the only Canadians who can never lose their citizenship are those born in the country and who do not have another nationality (and are not eligible to apply for another nationality).

Read: Australia to introduce counter-terrorism citizenship changes

Regardless of the crimes they may be accused of, these first-class citizens can never have their citizenship taken away. Meanwhile, Canadians with another nationality (and those who are eligible to obtain another nationality) now have second-class status, even if they were born in Canada. They can be stripped of their citizenship under Bill C-24.

Currently, citizenship can be taken away mainly on the basis of crimes that are considered threats to Canada’s national security, like terrorism or espionage, or demonstrations of disloyalty to Canada, like treason.

Legal experts warned, however, that the list of offences could lead to the removal of citizenship may be expanded in the future. Additionally, Bill C-24 punishes criminal activity with exile.

Further, the Canadian government seems to think that removing the judge improves the process, but it is argued that this makes the process unfair and likely unconstitutional.

The new Bill C-24 has turned millions of Canadians into second-class citizens with reduced rights and as a result, the value of Canadian citizenship has been reduced.

This article originally appeared on BCCLA