Being a Canadian - What's in a Name

I may have pondered this question before - but if I have, I am clearly no closer to understanding it than I was the last time. Quite simply, I don't understand dual citizenship. Most of us (or our families) came from somewhere else. Whether our ancestral roots lie in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, the lower Americas or Africa - if we live in Canada - we are Canadians. I am really glad that so many people from so many parts of the world have chosen to live here. The fact that all of us are here is what makes Canada so great. I can appreciate that those who have moved here have pride and an interest in the country of their origins. I can understand those people wanting to visit that country and even doing business with that country. But I am unclear why so many people have two citizenships. Either one is Canadian or one is not. One can't be Syrian and Canadian at the same time. It feels as if people can't really decide who to be and therefore they are hedging their bets.

I suspect that at least one of the reason why people maintain citizenship in their country of origin is that is economically advantageous to do so. It is easier to enter and do business in one' s birth country if one still is a citizen of the country. I would guess that for most purposes, no one knows who has dual citizenship. No one at least until that person gets into trouble with the state and then asks for help from Canada to rescue them.

Two examples - Some of the citizens of Hong Kong have, for the past eleven weeks, have held massive demonstrations against the Chinese government in Beijing. Some of the protests have turned violent with the Chinese authorities using aggressive crowd control techniques to discourage the protests. The protesters have even closed down the international airport. The Canadian government has announced that it is working on plans to ensure that Canadian citizens living in Hong Kong can get out if the situation worsens. My question is why are Canadian citizens living in Hong Kong. The answer would appear to be obvious - they can live in Hong Kong making money and living in a culture they are comfortable with while at the same time have all of the advantages of being a Canadian. I'm sorry - but this just feels wrong. If someone wants to live in China - great. If they want to live in Canada -that is equally as great. But they need to decide which. They cannot be the Canadian's government responsibility if they chose to live elsewhere.

The other example regards a young man who is a holder of both a British passport and a Canadian passport. Or at least that was true until Britain stripped Jack Letts of his citizenship - leaving the Canadian government to figure out what to do. Letts who had gone to Syria to be part of the ISIS "movement" and who has been branded as a terrorist. He is presently incarcerated in a Kurdish prison. He has never lived in Canada but because his dad is a Canadian he gets a Canadian passport. By what stretch of the imagination (never mind logic) is Letts a Canadian? There is no way that Canada should assume any responsibility for his release. It is simply not our problem.


In both of the above examples, a few Canadians are using their passports as alternatives of last resort. They are/were quite content to be citizens of another country until that country either fails them or life becomes dangerous. Then they will expect the Canadian government to rescue or protect them. Quite frankly - they should have thought about which country was their true home before deciding that they had the right to have the best of both worlds.