What does it mean to be Canadian?
The history of citizenship in Canada is complicated and, since Confederation, was denied to many as a result of archaic and obscure legislation that was particularly discriminatory against women, children, Asian and Indo-Canadians, and Indigenous peoples. Those whose citizenship was revoked or denied as a result are known as “Lost Canadians.”
Today, hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. qualify for Canadian citizenship, many unaware of their status as Lost Canadians. A new bill, Bill C-71, is before Parliament which could restore citizenship rights to those born abroad to Canadian parents also born abroad.
Don Chapman, a University of Washington alumnus and former United Airlines pilot, discovered his own revoked citizenship status and began his fight to restore citizenship rights to himself and others. Chapman has been the inspiration and force behind the 11 Parliamentary bills to amend the Citizenship Act, with the result that Canadian citizenship has been granted to somewhere between one and two million people, retroactively. Are you one of them? The answer might surprise you!