Graphic courtesy of the Art Department at Defend Canada
Tuesday night update: Dion says back off – he’s staying binational
Well, that didn’t take long, eh? The PMO’s favourite hitman journalist, Ezra Levant, writing in the Calgary Sun, today caused a storm by revealing Stephane Dion carries dual citizenship. Canada and France.
So, Levent asked, does the new Liberal leader have potentially traitorous tendancies as a result? “When it comes to making decisions about the war on terror, and Canada’s role in Afghanistan, will Dion be unduly influenced by France,†Levant pants, “a country that has taken up the role of lawyer and arms dealer for every terrorist state in the world, even defending Saddam Hussein until the even of his overthrow?â€
Gee, Ezra, we thought he was a formerly geeky college prof who spent the last decade toiling away as a Canadian cabinet minister. We just didn’t realize he was a terrorist. Or at least that he was a puppet of France, you know, the terrorist-loving country over there on the left hand side of Britain. Do you think he should be arrested when he walks into QP today?
Seriously (if it’s possible), this crap out of Levant – as consistent as it may be with his usual crap – is very disturbing. It’s the kind of personal attack which is over-the-top, and that radio talk show hosts have disturbing dreams over. Shame on him for even suggesting Dion would undercut our troops in Afghanistan because he has a French passport beside his Canadian one in that rumpled knapsack he carries around.
There’s no evidence to suggest Stephane Dion is any less loyal to Canada than Stephen Harper, Jack Layton or Gilles Duceppe. Er, scrap that last thought. (Has anyone asked the Bloc leader if he has dual citizenship, by the way?)
But, but, but, this is an issue that Dion needs to address and clarify. If he thinks he’s got the remotest chance of becoming the Canadian prime minister, then the appropriate thing to do is give up that French wad and stay as a simple colonial. It may be cool on campus to be a citizen of the world, or at least the world’s most self-possessed country, but in cold Ottawa, we stay vanilla.
101 comments ↓
Seriously (if it’s possible), this crap out of Levant – as consistent as it may be with his usual crap – is very disturbing.
Garth spare us the rhetoric. The opposition parties would have launched the same attacks through the Globe and Mail had they this kind of dirt.
BTW, I noticed that you were surfing my blog this morning from the House of Commons. I see you like my little Dion/France collage. I’m flattered that you’d use it.
I hope it brings you many comments.
Defend Canada
Oh yes – ALSO, when you were over at my site borrowing my amateur artwork, did you happen to notice that my web poll shows 77% of the 205 respondants oppose the current SSM definition?
Gee, you sound peeved I went to your site. But I love you coming to mine! As for your poll, 205 is a very small sample, and I would think (gven your tone) they might all be acorns form the same big oak. — Garth
Does Ezra Levant complain about every MP who carries duel citizenship. There must be more then 1 who has this. It is sad when partizenship takes over and people will look through the cracks to find something to try to discredit somebody about.
This Ezra fella right something bad about you?
So, I agree with your comments on Ezra. But, not sure I get your view on Dion needing to give up his French citizenship if he seeks to be Prime Minister. Are you saying that the highest elected official in Canada needs to be solely Canadian? If so, do other elected officials need to be solely Canadian? Minister of the Crown? Provincial politicians? Local politicians?
I agree. This is a little over the top. Dion should be forced into giving up his French loyalties, similar to that of our GG. I can’t stand the Libs and their opportunistic ways, but I’m sure Dion will do the right thing — and move back to France…oops, I mean give up his French passport.
Evra should be more careful when writing such racist remarks. Just because he’s part french doesn’t mean he has some undue loyalties. This is the type of attitude that got the japanese interned. Keep it up and we might just see the teeth of bill C-250.
I’m really sick of this attitude that if you’re a dual-citizen that you’re somehow less than 100% loyal to Canada or somehow less than 100% Canadian. Bollocks.
As a multi-cultural mosaic of a country we should embrace dual-citizenship, not attack it.
These comments are truly shameful.
I find it very disturbing that this kind of crap and politically motivated gossip remains in our system but it does and in our silly society I am afraid remains.
I could care less about this issue or how good his English is ( it is far better than my French).
The issue is what leader and what party can demonstrate the integrity we are looking for so much.All the past history is going to come out about Dion and if there is one hope it was tried in London North with the Pearson campaign and rejected.
I would like to think that the majority of Canadians are fed up with this approach. Time will tell I guess.
Dion is not the great charismatic leader and I don’t think ever will be but he will improve.Is he intelligent? is he a leader? can he communicate the need to change? That is what is important to me.Whether it be Conservative; Liberal; NDP; Green whatever I want to see a new generation of people with some intelligence and genuine concern for our country and the direction it takes from here. That is why Elizabeth May interests me but she needs to put a strong group of people together to make progress.
So I am interested to see where Dion goes from here and if he gets rid of some of the old guard and replaces them with a new fresh team.
I agree – Dion must give up his French citizenship and belong to one Nation
Ezra Levant = “Scary” “Right wing-nut”
Garth,
I am quite pleased you addressed this silly issue as you have. Ezra Levant is one of the personalities that totally turns people away from big C conswervatism. He is usually a joke, but albeit no larger or smaller a joke than his on air opponent LeDrew!
I think I have heard Ezra make two intelligent statements on Global National in the past year.
LeDrew just likes taunting. He could have easily been in Spamalot as the Frenchman atop the castle! LOL
As to Ezra
I shall in both their general directions! LOL
(Crossing my fingers and hoping the HTML works?)
(Drats…I did not)
Okay…for the folks here they are!
Ezra “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of Elderberries”
http://www.intriguing.com/mp/_sounds/hg/hamster.wav
“I shall fart in both their general directions!”
http://www.intriguing.com/mp/_sounds/hg/fart.wav
(Sheesh)
Garth,
“they might all be acorns form the same big oak. — Garth”
And you can bet they didn’t fall far from it either! LOL
I am not sure whether many Canadians take the “Stockaholic” too seriously. He is too “over the top” on many issues. If Dion does hold French citizenship, in my opinion, it would be better for him to give it up as did the husband of the GG.
Did Dion have or does he still have a French passport. An European passport is an advantage when you are travelling in that part of the world as I am sure an asian passport would be for any who are eligiable. I was born in England therefore any of my children could apply for an EU passport Mr Dion’s mother was French therefore while he was studing in Paris it was more convient to have a french passport. Does anyone know for sure that he ever renewed it?
Garth, no I’m not peeved. I am hoping you’ll post this new graphic on your blog. (I know you love images of yourself) ; )
Oh and on your dismissal of the 205 person sampling – it’s funny – the poll that touts the Liberals are leading by 7 points was only done on 1000 respondants…. My poll is only off by a factor of five.
Things to think about…
Defend Canada
Give it up. Half of Canadians or their parents have dual citizenship. None of us are from here originally. I’m an anglophone living in Vancouver. My mother was from Newfoundland before it was part of Canada. I lived in the U.S. for three years and took out dual citizenship. Doesn’t mean I support George Bush. In fact I marched in all three peace marches here against the invasion in Iraq. It’s a good idea to have many passports. Dion knows more about the world than he does Canada – a good quality to have when the world is so global. People who travel and see the world are more tolerant. It is the best education in the world. I lived in the Orient for a while and when we returned to Richmond, BC after China took over Hong Kong, thousands fled to Richmond. My two little Caucasian children were a “minority” in Richmond and they weren’t in Hong Kong. The world has changed. In another decade or two we will all look “asian”. You can’t tell who anyone is anymore.
It is a political problem for sure, people are quite right to ask exactly why he’d have dual citizenship. Is from early days looking for work, is it from later days and thinking he’d rather be in France than a sovereign Quebec or somewhere in the rest of Canada.
I think its fair to ask those questions, thats what free speech is for. Sometimes I get the feeling this was just a setup to hand Harper the PMO with a majority, and evidence keeps leaning that way. It’s almost like the liberals are thinking of giving four years of a majority government to REALLY piss off canadians and then they’d win in a walk with whatever replacement comes up.
But there are two issues there, the other one about the ‘fear mongering’ and sorry to disrupt the status quo that seems to dog all political parties, but there are LOTS of canadians who do not support this or any other occupation. Hell, I would vote for the President of France before I’d vote for Stephen Harper if he came over here and campaigned. To call France supporting terrorists with all the facts pouring out over the US illegal wars is downright bizarre. If anything France has been vindicated and not all us canadians are fox watching jingoistic fascists. That’s the part that’s over the top, dare we comment on the guys name?!
Well then by that standard, citizens who carry dual citizenship shouldn’t be allowed to vote. Sheesh.
I suppose if PSH had an AMERICAN dual-citizen that would be OK! (I think not) Garth you would be all over it.
Has anybody asked him WHY he has dual-citizenship??
afterall Dion says we are the greatest country in the world. Yes he should renounce the French PASSPORT
Garth, no one is suggesting Dion is a terrorist. Watch the histrionics.
What Levant is (quite correctly) suggesting is that Dion should not hold dual citizenship if he represents the official opposition. Considering he also hopes to one day be prime minister, he should give up his citizenship. It’s not hard.
Maybe I should put the tongue-in-cheek bits in bold, just so you won’t confuse them with serious comment, like the part where I said he would be best to give it up. — Garth
Why the heck should he give it up even if he does have it. I have no problems with it.My interest is his dedication to Canada and for me there is no doubt there.
Rumour has it that Dubya is going to give Steve a Green Card! That is about as green as Steve will ever be I suppose!
Heck, Georgie may even grant Steve U.S. Citizenship, eh? What are friends for?
This would be good then Steve could use NAFTA to find a job after this Spring!
Bill,
That was a shallow comment.
First off the Priminister is not JWB’sfriend.
The Priminister has tried to improve relations on a diplomatic level.
Secondly, If you think PSH does not care aout the environment you are sadly mistaken, and will be supprised. It a big issue that will take time.
It amazes me the xenophobia expressed here. like the part where I said he would be best to give it up.. Rediculus!.
I’m appauled that anyone would call for someone to give up a peice of their identity as critical as citizenship to participate in our society. Especially you Garth.
Dion should not renounce his citizenship, for to do so would admit there is something wrong with being a dual-citizen, of which there is not.
If the small-c or big-c conservatives want to attack people based on their race, so be it; but the liberal party, and tolerant Canadians should stay far away from playing in this game.
To say that Dion should not be a french citizen or that there is something wrong with being a french citizen is quite simply racist and cannot be tolerated in this society.
Canada is supposed to be a society free from discrimination where someones race is not a prediction of any behaviour, period. This is a charter right people!
I would hope that any comments on Mr Dion’s citizenship and the implications therein from the Conservative party will be appropriately checked for compliance with bill C-250.
Attacking such an identifiable group, and saying they are therefor disloyal to Canada, in my understanding would violate section 319 (2) of the criminal code.
I have an issue with any politician having obligations conferred on them by another country (English monarchy aside). Canada’s own immigration department rightly points out that whenever you are in a country that recognizes you as a citizen, its laws take priority over the laws of any other country of which you may be a citizen. While this may not be an issue for Canadians not holding public office, it reeks of conflict of interest (even if only a perceived one) for politicians.
A few points about Mr.Dion french citizenship that nobody in conservative talk shows or newspaper likes to mention:
-He acquired his french citizenship because her mother was a french citizenship. It’s like if you’re canadian your children are canadian no matter where they were born. It’s different from process of naturalization which was the case with GG (due to her husband’s french citizenship).
-He never had a french passport.
-He never voted in a french election.
-He was only in france when he was studying for his PhD.
Clarification: Dion does not own a French passport. He is a citizen of France, because one or both of his parents were a citizen. He never applied to be one nor has he applied not to be one.
Ray – I always figured that the children were citizens of the country in which they were born. For example, I am Canadian-born but if my child was born in Sweden, he or she would have Swedish citizenship.
Is this not why many people illegally cross over into the USA so that their children will be born in the USA and be American? I thought this was one of the problems with illegal immigrants. I could be wrong, though.
By Kevin
Evra should be more careful when writing such racist remarks.
I ask/comment
Keven I don’t think the french are a race — they have many races in there country (But the “true french” don’t seem to accept them as an equal part of society. Like the Jakes P of the PQ who did’t want immigrants diluting his voting power in quebec. Just who are the racists anyway?
And Keven says,
I’m really sick of this attitude that if you’re a dual-citizen that you’re somehow less than 100% loyal to Canada or somehow less than 100% Canadian. Bollocks.
As a multi-cultural mosaic of a country we should embrace dual-citizenship, not attack it.
I ask/comment
But if you are a dual citizen who looks after you when you are out of the country? If Mr Dion is in France and there is a riot and he is thrown in jail by mistake is it the French or Canadians?
And who pays — you or the French
You get the citizenship of the country you are born in, and (might depend on country), the citizenship of your parents.
Bill
Ezra “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of Elderberriesâ€
Now I thing you are as bad no worse than Ezra stick to the facts and avoid the name calling.
From your previos posts I thought you were above that. Maybe (I hope you thought you were just being funny)
I am old enough to remember these kinds of insinuations, questioning a person’s loyalty to one’s country. I am referring to the time when Jewish persons’ loyalties were questioned (I remember it well).
I guess that Ezra Levant is too young to know that! I’d suggest that he study the history of what led to WWII and the Holocaust.
Kevin Said: “If the small-c or big-c conservatives want to attack people based on their race, so be it; but the liberal party, and tolerant Canadians should stay far away from playing in this game”
Kevin… GIVE IT UP.. Liberals wrote the book on this sort of thing.
“America is our neighbor, not our nation!”
Does that ring any bells?
WINNIPEGBOY-Actually only a few countries including US and Canada have the right of citizenship by birth, which means if you’re born in canada or US, no matter what was the status of your parents citizenship in these countries (legal or illegal immigrant, visitors, …), you’re a US or Canadian citizen. I think no European countries right now has this law (UK had it till 1975). But the case is different with Mr. Dion case, suppose you’re a Canadian working in Germany and you have a kid there, your kid is not a German Citizen but he is canadian.
Maybe I should put the tongue-in-cheek bits in bold, just so you won’t confuse them with serious comment, like the part where I said he would be best to give it up. — Garth
You probably need to make only serious comments Garth because it so easy to be missinterpreted when not in face to face communication.
Whoops — did I just slip in another potential brewhaha that is comming soon to a blog near you?
Bill says
Rumour has it that Dubya is going to give Steve a Green Card! That is about as green as Steve will ever be I suppose!
Heck, Georgie may even grant Steve U.S. Citizenship, eh? What are friends for?
This would be good then Steve could use NAFTA to find a job after this Spring!
Is that Stevie Dion or Stevie Harper?
I had no problem identifying Levant as a bit of a snake long ago. What’s wrong with the right wing’s perspicacity?
I’m not in love with the idea of a Minister of the Crown or any federal politician holding dual citizenship. How the hell do you swear or maintain “true allegiance” to two heads of state/countries? But I would not descend to trying to make political hay out of it before it becomes a problem. Dion will sort it out when necesary (like about now,) and then what do you do for an encore attack?
Got better things to comment on!!!!!!!!!
Ken H says
Canada’s own immigration department rightly points out that whenever you are in a country that recognizes you as a citizen, its laws take priority over the laws of any other country of which you may be a citizen.
This is probably the key point here.
Good comment Ken
It’s non-issue.
Please be a bit smarter than much of the media and spell his name right:
Stéphane Dion
Defend Canada, I don’t condone anyone making these types of arguments, but that said discussing americanism issues is very very different than attacking a dual-citizen. We can dislike american foreign policies without attacking the american people and we certainly can’t hold someone to any particular standard because of who their parents are.
Do you support a caste system?
And yes the French [as in people from france] are a race, just as there is an American race, Canadian race etc, and yes, they are protected by the charter.
But if you are a dual citizen who looks after you when you are out of the country? If Mr Dion is in France and there is a riot and he is thrown in jail by mistake is it the French or Canadians?
And who pays — you or the French
Immigration and foreign affairs policy is way outside the debate of whether Dion is fit to govern being a dual-citizen, or even the debate if he should give it up.
However, our policies on this matter are very clear, if you are in another country and are a citizen of that country their laws have preferential jurrisdiction. If they are a Canadian citizen and are in need, we should help them regardless.
But if there is sufficient concern for the cost [i'm way more interested spending money evacuating Candians from lebanon than spending money on transit security], the we can create added participating citizen legislation where it makes sense.
IE social programs could be inaccessible to citizens that have not contributed to them for more than 5 or 10 years. Same for foreign aid or whatever. These are policies that should look at what it means to be a citizen of Canada, not whether or not there is something wrong with also being a citizen of another country. One satifies fundamental fairness and the other asks people to chose the linage of one of their parents, which is sick in a sophies choice kind of way.
Richard,
you say — It’s non-issue.
Say you were ain the US or France and your son was born there. Now you and your son (age 21) are holidaying in the US or France and war is declared and the US or Fance implements a immediate draft and sates all ablebodied men age 16 to 33 must report in the next four hours to be placed on active duty — and flight out of country except for non citizens are cancelled. An extreme example BUT???
Would you still consider the fact that the US bestowed citizenship on your son a non-issue?
You are automatically a citizen of a country if you are born there. Canadians were in shock about the number of Lebanese hailing from Montreal. 20 years ago there was a cival war in Lebanon-it is a French colony so it makes sense to immigrate to a province where people speak French. Guess what, when the kids are out of school for the summer they go and visit the relatives in Lebanon where they were born, hence dual citizenship. Montreal by the way has the best donairs in Canada made by Lebanese. I don’t know why people are making an issue of this. Dion’s mother is from France. Most of us caucasians have relatives who came from Europe. Quebec is full of Irish who came during the potato famine. People don’t give up the citizenship of the country they came from – they take out new citizenship with the host country. I guess there isn’t much “news” out there to talk about.
“But the case is different with Mr. Dion case, suppose you’re a Canadian working in Germany and you have a kid there, your kid is not a German Citizen but he is canadian.’
By Ray on 12.05.06 2:52 pm
The child is neither German or Canadian until the parents applies for citizenship first.
Just Wondering,
“Is that Stevie Dion or Stevie Harper?”
We do not have Stephane officially designated as Steve or Stevie. Probably never will unless he and Dubya get to be bosom buddies. Not too much chance of that happening. Dion has a brain. Bush has an ego…Not the same thing!
Just imagine that meeting, eh? It would take two interpretors…One for Dion’s accent and one for Bush’s whateveritis accent! I would place my money on Dion coming out the winner.
On the top side, Dion could confuse Bush easily by pronouncing his name as Stetson, which Bush would at least recognize.
Ah, and it is only Tuesday!
Some clarification on Citizenship. Canada, US and probably UK and Australia are the only countries that grant citizenship if you are borned there. Almost all European countries will only grant citizenship to children born there with at least one parent being citizen. Ex., if both parents are imigrants in France (not citizen) and they have a child, the child will only hold the citizenship of the country of origine of their parents.
As for the passport issue, the passport is just a travel document, if one ’s a citiozen of a country, it makes no difference if he holds a passport or not.
Also, if someone holding French citizenship is in France, he’s considered just as any ordinary Frenchmen and all rules of that country apply.
Look, I do not care how many citizenships Dion has, and personally I think that, as long as he’s not the PM, that shouldn’t be a big issue. I would prefer the PM and his cabinet to be Canadian citizens only.
Wonder if the dual citizenship had been American or Israeli the outcry would have been as loud?
The only country who disses France is the U.S.
And I could have sworn I heard that Steve Harper secretly carries a U.S. “get in free” card.
Especially since he praises the American way more than he praises the Canadian way.
Tom,
Now that I can copy the accent mark (which most do not have) no problemo! Thanks!
In going over these many interesting comments, I would have to say that “Houston, we’ve got a problem” when many of those who see no problem with dual citizenship only one week ago had a major problem with Quebecois being a nation within Canada.
Where’s the consistency? Where’s the logic? Where’s the tolerance for the Quebecois holding citizenship as Quebecois within Canada if the leader of our Official Opposition can hold citizenship as a Frenchman outside of Canada?
An interseting point here although it still means nothing to me.
There are some legal issues about dual citizenship and government services. For example, an American citizen holding another nationality and passport will have difficulty getting a security clearance if that person does not surrender the passport of the other country. In Canada, conversely, federal cabinet ministers often have dual citizenship with France or the United Kingdom and this in the past has not been an issue to their security clearances. One small controversy did arise in 2005 when Michaëlle Jean was appointed the Governor General of Canada, Canada’s de-facto head of state. Although Jean no longer holds citizenship in her native Haiti, her marriage to French-born filmmaker Jean-Daniel Lafond allowed her to obtain French citizenship several years before her appointment. A section of the French civil code forbids French citizens from holding government or military positions in other countries and Jean’s appointment made her both de facto head of state and commander-in-chief of the Canadian forces. The French embassy released a statement that this law would not be enforced because the Governor General is essentially a ceremonial figurehead. Nevertheless Jean terminated her French citizenship two days before taking up office to avoid controversy.
In addition to Canadian citizenship by birth, my son and daughter have British citizenship courtesy of me, does that mean that they cannot aspire to be Prime Minister of Canada? Shall we require all parlimentarians to pass a citizenship purity test to make sure that they are pure enough Canadian citizens? [Note that British citizenship can be passed on to a Commonwealth citizen if only one granparent was British.]
So France allows a person born in Quebec can apply for French citizenship. Who wouldn’t?
A section of the French civil code forbids French citizens from holding government or military positions in other countries
Does this law apply to Dion, if so, then he has a problem in france already. No?
Does anyone have a citation for this law?
If this is the case, then the French government should be petitioned to repeal this law. If they will not, then Dion and any other france-canadian citizen who is in office is also guilty of an offense in that country.
Do we have an extradition treaty with france? What is the penalty for this breach of the French law.
While I firmly believe that Dion should not give up his citizenship [it would be offensive to his mother, land and lineage], he must also comply with the laws of the land in all countries in which he is a citizen. Even while traveling or living abroad.
This would seem to preclude him from serving in office as doing so would make him a criminal in france? No? If he does violate a french law, it would seem to mean that any event that was held in france he would not be able to attend or he would be arrested and rightfully subject to prosecution.
The issue now becomes, is Dion a criminal under the laws of his citizenship? [Through his actions, not through his race]
It would be very wrong of us to say that a dual-citizen cannot take office, or that there is any inpropriety involved in so doing. However, it is perfectly reasonable for us to say that a criminal cannot take office, regardless of the location of his crime so long as he is subject to their laws.
So if this law exists, then Dion has a choice to make. Renounce his french lineage [a move that will all-but-guarantee he is unelectable], pressure france to repeal the law, or resign.
Too bad, he seemed like a good Candidate for the liberals.
John Turner. He wasn’t PM for very long but was an MP and Cabinet minister for a considerable period of time.
And John Turner was and is a dual citizen. Canada and Great Britain.
Was that an issue to anyone at any time? I don’t recall that it ever was.
Wahtever the knock on Dion is, raising this particular issue is nothing but a subtle Canadian racist streak that raises its head occsionally. Some dual citizenships it seems are more acceptable than others.
I can’t see how anyone can possibly doubt that Dion is staunch Canadian federalist. He is most certanly not a Quebec souvereigntiste. And he doesn’t support the Quebec as Nation motion.
Can we give this thing a rest? His mother was French. Big deal. So what
Is not the contents of the article of Mr. Levant (Calgary Sun, Dec. 04, 2006)a breach of Section 319 of the Criminal Code?
How do these words affect the newly recognised Nation of Quebec?
Do the words unintended consequences or blow back come to mind?
I really don’t care that a person, Stephane Dion holds France’s citizenship and Canada’s citizenship at the same.
However, I do care that a future possible Prime Minister of Canada has dual loyalties to 2 independant countries!!! Our parliament and judicial system should not be influenced by misguided loyalties of another country.
Would the supporters of Dion’s dual citizenship be OK with an Israeli citizen, who holds Canadian citizenship be a contender for the office of Prime Minister of Canada? Of course not. Case closed.
Mr. Dion give up your citizenship of France or don’t run to be our Prime Minister. It’s the truly the only 2 options you have. You decide – Canada or France.
Kevin you are off the wall and making no sense to me with your comments.
Would the supporters of Dion’s dual citizenship be OK with an Israeli citizen, who holds Canadian citizenship be a contender for the office of Prime Minister of Canada? Of course not. Case closed.
Sure I would, why not. “of course not, case closed”… nope, very much open. Is there something that says a jew [in the nation state sense of the word] cannot be prime minister? We’ve been down this road before and its a dangerous racist one.
You decide – Canada or France.
Bull. The problem is if theres a law against foreign office in france. Theres no such restriction here and rightfully so as it would violate the charter.
We don’t set french law, and we don’t have to live by their laws. That said, Mr Dion is a French citizen and is subject to their laws. So while their laws arent consistent with our charter, they still apply to him.
He has three [or more] choices, ‘you decide’ to give it up, two to resign from office or three to get the french to repeal the law. [something he may have success at doing]
There is nothing that says any person cannot be loyal to two nations; someone can be a loyal qubecois and a loyal Canadian right. What is problematic is that as a french citizen, Mr Dion may be put in conflict with his loyalties to Canada and to France and forced to resign either his citizenship or his office should one nation demand so.
However, to state that because he is a dual-citizen, that, he would therefore be disloyal to either nation, is offensive.
Someone needs to remind Dion that France does income splitting for families!
Kevin – if he chooses to give up his french citizenship (which it sounds like he has from his mother, not because he actively pursued the title), it certainly doesn’t make him unelectable. You’re completely nonsensical.
This just in! NEWS FLASH! Reports state that Stephane Dion has a longer nose hair in his left nostril than his right!
OH NO! The sky is failing! THE SKY IS FALLING! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!
We now return you to the normal blathering!
Blaw, blaw, blaw, blaw, blaw. Don’t you guys have jobs? Get back to work
Oh pleasse, if a conservative held a dual citizenship – say American-Canadian, the media and all of you would be screaming blue murder.
Quebecois may want Canada to be a quaint colony of France, but, not me. It’s time we broke with these continental Europian ties and came to be our own country. We certainly don’t have to follow Europe (ie. France).
BTW: I will NEVER forget that France said “vive le Quebec vivre!” and the fact they tested their nuke off Australian’s waters.
Maybe just let France decide if they want to withdraw his citizenship. No laws broken here.
Ezra Levant is nothing more than a muck racker who epitomizes Yellow journalism with his stupid magazine the Western Standard .
Levant and LeDrew have not been on Global for weeks.They were cancelled .
Tempest in a tea pot .
Shows hoe terrified the ultra-right wing is of Dion they will stoop to any level to try and harm his unassailable image .
To give up citizenship where that citizenship is obtained through bloodright is to turn your back on your heritage.
I can’t see a man like Mr Dion being willing to sacrifice his very identity for public office, and if he is willing; then he’s not electable in my mind.
How can you ask this man to chose between the lineage of his father and that of his mother. It’s not fair to ask; and it would be unethical in my mind to choose.
Ken says, let france decide if they want to withdraw his citizenship; I’m not sure this permissiable without his co-operation, unless a punishment for the holding a foreign office is punishable by exile.
If the law exists, then he has broken it and must be held to account, to do less would undermine the french legal system and set Mr Dion above the law.
If the French want to pardon Mr Dion for holding a foreign government office, and ammend their laws to allow his continued holding of this position; great. But beyond that, he has to choose between sacrificing his french heritage or possibly becoming the next prime minister of Canada. One of which probably precludes the other.
I don’t envy the man today.
Too bad. The man never really even had a honeymoon with Canadians as is usually the case.
As somebody once said, “Perhaps this is not the end, or even the beginning of the end, but it is surely the end of the beginning.”
And what a shaky beginning it was!
Is not the contents of the article of Mr. Levant (Calgary Sun, Dec. 04, 2006)a breach of Section 319 of the Criminal Code?
Is the statement of a fact hate?
Catherine you and the others on here making hay of this stupidity make me sick. Give it a rest, how bloody old are you people, 5 yrs old.
No wonder the Conservative party just keeps on diving in the polls after almost a year in office. All they can do is bring stupid childish stuff like this. Sad, really sad.
J Chan says;
Ezra Levant is nothing more than a muck racker who epitomizes Yellow journalism with his stupid magazine the Western Standard .
So have you ever read the magazine?
And now for something completely different …
Anyone else bothered by a Commissioner of the RCMP who sees no evil and knows no evil, but grovels when cornered? I’m sure the RCMP is not supposed to be a force that serves itself and protects its own interests, but we seem to have bad things happening to citizens with no one paying for mistakes or malfeasance, pension funds going into strange channels, horses bought under Adscam, rumours of nepotism, and grave charges not being laid because investigations take longer than allowed under the RCMP Act. And all of this in our model, senior, national police force!
Someone assure me that it is not time to clean house, starting at the head.
Then I say, Mr. Harper has to give up his loyalties to the U.S.A. He seems to like the American way better than the Canadian way.
And all those snow birds who spend 6 months in the sunny American south-spending all those Canadian dollars in a foreign country-perhaps they should renounce their 6 month allegiance to the U.S.A.
How exactly does a piece of paper make you more or less loyal to your country of choice?
Take the hypothetical, that Mr. Dion does become our Canadian Prime Minister, while he is still a citizen of France. Any decisions or legislations he brought forward would be questionable, especially if any decisions and legislations were aligned with France’s – ie NAFTA, NORAD, NATO, etc.
His statement to Jane Taber on Mike Duffy Live “”Everybody knows that my loyalty is 100 per cent to Canada first”. Then logically what’s second? Don’t you think that it should be 100 per cent to Canada AT ALL TIMES!
BTW: I found Jane Taber didn’t do it justice…. she didn’t pursue that question. She dropped it. Seems like they are trying to hush this MAJOR factor.
Just Wondering asks..Is the statement of a fact, hate?
When rumor, inuendo or opinion are placed as a fact, to harass an individual or an entire group of people, for who they are, not because of anything they have done, that would be considered Hate Propaganda.
No wonder the Conservative party just keeps on diving in the polls after almost a year in office. All they can do is bring stupid childish stuff like this. Sad, really sad.
Randy,
Conservatives do not have a monopoly on childish behaviour. I think we all know very well what the Liberal and NDP reaction would be if the leader of the Conservative Party was also an American citizen.
I’m sure, that the day the Toronto Star published that story, the paper would spontaneously combust from the heat that story would release.
My question, if Dion becomes PM and is on a state visit to France, would he be subject to French law, IE, with no ‘diplomatic immunity’? I know this is hypothetical, but is it also problematic?
My thoughts? He should renounce other any other citizenship when/if he becomes PM, at the very least.
If Turner and or others had dual citizenship in the past, I believe that that was a mistake. What’s the expression? One must also avoid the ‘appearance’ of a conflict of interest…
I have no problem with Dion professing a 100% commitment to Canada.
It’s no different than our current minority government talking about “Canada First”-who is then second? America? England? France?
I’ve been told that currently there are 41 MP’s representing all parties, who carry dual citizenship.
CTV reported that there are 41 MP’s with dual citizenship.
Catherine:if you think this is a MAJOR factor you have more issues than Dion.
A lot of Canadians have duel citizenship for work reasons- no visas,greencards or work permits.It’s a flag of convenience.
Catherine,
“Any decisions or legislations he brought forward would be questionable, especially if any decisions and legislations were aligned with France’s – ie NAFTA, NORAD, NATO, etc.”
After you correct that post you are left only with NATO. France has absolutely no say whatsoever in either NAFTA or NORAD!
BTW, NATO, as shown on the background at Riga,spelled backwards is OTAN, which would currently seem to stand for Overthrow The Arab Nations!
Carry on!
Bill – it’s exactly my point! If France, Mr. Dion’s other loyalty, has issues with North American policies, how would Mr. Dion react to France.
BTW: How would have Mr. Dion reacted when France said “vive le Quebec vivre”?
Now that Dion has said that he will not give up his French citizenship, it is a problem.
Any bets on a dual citizen, especially a Quebecois also holding French citizenship, drawing enough votes from coast to coast to become PM?
He shouldn’t renounce it because a confident leader doesn’t respond to the peevish demands of anti-francophone bigots.
Which is patently what these shrill rightwing whiners are, no matter how strongly they claim to be upholding some principle of “loyalty.”
I’d feel slightly different about this had Dion acquired French citizenship by immigrating to France, but this is part of his heritage, as much as any other Canadian’s.
To all those who, for whatever reason, could not understand my point, the following question:
Why does having dual nationality make Mr Dion, my children and all other similar Canadians so untrustworthy and unCanadian as to make them unsuitable to hold elected office?
Does anyone have a list of the 41 M.P.s who have dual nationality?
Catherine,
You talk about North America, am I to assume that the U.S.A. will always follow Canada’s lead and thus a Canadian government will never have to have different policies?
Catherine,
You apparently like Straw Men, eh? Did you even comprehend what I said?
Catherine,
I did. You obviously did not want to respond and explain the assertion that there are North American policies rather than Canadian ones. Somewhat ironic considering we are talking about loyalty to Canada, would you not agree?
Kevin — ya, theres two people named Kevin here — (I’ve changed my name to Kevin M for the boards) … anyway. No ones talking about loyalty to Canada here. Mr Dion’s loyalties are not up for debate any more than the loyalties of women, homosexuals or coloured people are.
What is up for debate is if he, as a French citizen, is prohibited from holding a foreign government office under their civil code and whether or not his current holding of his seat puts him in violation of this rule.
His loyalties are not at question, for to do so would question him [and every other dual-citizen] based on his dual-race alone, and this is wrong, and possibly illegal under the charter and criminal code.
Re Dion two citizens in one.
All is well in peace time but what happens if things get squirly ?
Don’t forget the Quebecers rioted in the steets against consription into the armed forces in the two biggies even though it meant fighting for the freedon of their ancestral home land and the freedom that we can even discuss this here.
We should also remember what happened recently with the Lebonese, how we saved their bacon, who never paid a dime in taxes to Canada and who complained bitterly that they weren’t brought here on some luxury liner and then 7.000 went back to their “HOME”.
Catherine,
So, you still believe that France affects decisions under NAFTA and NORAD? Okay, whatever you say!
Bill Muskoka, I don’t want other foreign governments to influence policies which are in Canada’s best interest. Bill, you must agree that Quebec is the one province, who stands out the most against Canada’s policies in the North American context. Quebec has ruled the roast for a long time in Canada. Quebec has more ties with France than other any other province in Canada. In fact, if one visits France, many of its citizens don’t much about Canada except for Quebec. That is a fact!
So, by extension, I do worry about a potential candidate for a Canadian Prime Minister is arrogant enough not to renounce his citizenship ties with France.
Surely, as an “intellect”, Mr. Dion must understand that his arrogant stance will turn people away from him. I guess, the Liberal “renewal” didn’t include Liberal arrogance.
Ezra. Get a life.
Catherine,
It looks like your English isn’t as good as Dion’s.
Morris too needs to go back and study Grade 7 English.
Elizabeth, I don’t have spellcheck like the other geeks on this site but you obviously got the message. Why else the snide remark ?
Quebec has been against every war where our troops fought for their freedoms and their ancestral homeland as well Canada’s.
Know letz not wurrie abou’ spelin and read the menin of da message.
Reed wat I siad and not the spellin
Elizabeth, I don’t have spellcheck like the other geeks on this site but you obviously got the message. Why else the snide remark ?
Quebec has been against every war where our troops fought for their freedoms and their ancestral homeland as well Canada’s.
Know letz not wurrie abou’ spelin and read the menin of da message.
Elizabeth, am I running to be a PM? Nope! are we writing english essays here? Nope!
Elizabeth, you just proved the Liberals are slimy – when one can’t defend their position, one resorts to personal slander of the other.
And, hey, you and friends keep defending Dion’s arrogant stance. This is a sure way to split Canada.
Blaw, blaw, blaw,—-by Elizabeth.
No, I don’t got a job. I’m retired and get fed up with dictatorial decisions that just cost me 20 % of my retirement income when they promised they wouldn’t do it.
And u must be a English major and now a teacher in a primary school teaching Grade one.
Will u now make me stand in a corner because I can’t spell ?
Catherine,
So, you believe that France has a direct effect on NORAD and NAFTA? HOW? Is our Ambassador to the U.S. French? You still have me confused, but laughing at your play on mis-spelling…very well done actually!
Our Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II, is more than a dual citizen, she is the head of state of various independent countries: She is the Queen of England, Queen of Australia, Queen of Barbados etc. etc. and yet no one questions her loyalty to any of the independent realms of which she is the Head. As a Canadian, I gladly pledge allegience to her and do not question her own loyalties. Why then are we questioning Mr. Dion’s loyalties? Maybe that’s because the neo-cons just don’t like the French.
If this is the worst thing that Ezra et al can dig up on Mr.Dion then our future Prime Minister is in excellent shape .
Yes, I have read the Western Standard until it made my puke !
What is your point ?