I recently found out about Bill C-24.
Here is a Globe and Mail article explaining Bill C-24, and here is the government's take on Bill C-24. Basically, it boils down to an increased ability on the part of the federal government to confiscate and restrict Canadian citizenship. Anyone holding duel citizenship and anyone who has emigrated from another country can have their rights stripped, with little to no oversight.
For anyone interested, here are a few other articles and links for information on C-24:
This bill is, frankly, incredible. As someone who feels very strongly about certain issues and discussion points, immediately this raises red flags for me. However, I also have a personal stake in the discussion. My entire family holds duel citizenship and because of that we are "second class" citizens? My mother is Canadian, born a bread. My father has spent seventeen years married to a Canadian woman, and became a citizen himself last year. My sister and I have had duel citizenships since we were born. I've spent almost half my life in this country, and my sister even more than that.
And now the door is opened for us to potentially have our rights stripped?
Bill C-51 is bad enough, but C-24 is blatantly discriminatory and xenophobic in a way that has the potential to affect anyone in their day to day lives. For a country that was founded by immigrants and, to this day, advertises itself as a multicultural haven, Canada sure seems to be trying to wheedle out any kind of diversity in its population. Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander defended the bill by saying that citizenship is a "privilege, not a right". This is a dangerous precedent to set, besides being downright wrong. If you are going to enfold someone into your country, it should be on an equal basis. If anything, make a firmer entry process, but once a person is in... that's it, there should not be potential for eviction.
I am a second class citizen, with the potential to be ejected from the country at a moment's notice, simply because I happened to be born on a different lump of rock on the other side of a giant puddle?
This bill disgusts me. Are people so brainwashed by the semi-mythical threat of terrorism that they actually buy into this? I could write a whole essay on my opinion about terrorism, but, effectively, it amounts to this... terrorism is not a threat to the average person. You and I aren't going to get blown up on our way to the Seven Eleven across the street. The average person--especially somewhere like Canada--is more likely to drown in their bathtub than be killed by "Jihadi Terrorists." We don't see any anti-bathtub laws, do we?
Okay, I'm being facetious. But the point stands that terrorism really is not a valid threat. With a few exceptions, there have been very few terrorist attacks against western nations, particularly in Canada, and the vast majority of those threats were home brewed. People are afraid of terrorism because that is how the media and the government tells them to be. A population in fear is far more submissive.
This is a link to a petition to try to stop Bill C-24. I am begging you, anyone who reads this post, please sign the petition. Not for me, but for yourselves, as people who believe in and are willing to uphold the principles of democracy, something the current government is simply failing to do.
Well Said Cam...
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