Count Chapman in with 'lost' Canadians

BY BRENT FOX

The Advertiser

NovaNewsNow.com

There could be up to a quarter of a million Canadians who aren’t recognized as such.

The issue is more important as border regulations become tighter.

Those who could find themselves stateless include war brides and their children, children of parents who took out American citizenship, those born in American border towns because the community hospital happened to be over the border, children of people who took out American citizenship in order to qualify for defense industry jobs in the States, illegitimate children born to Canadians out of the country, and others.

The 1947 Citizenship Act retained old, discriminatory language and attitudes that weren’t really eliminated in the 1977 act. These pertained to gender as well as legitimacy. There were also age-defined deadlines for seeking citizenship many people didn’t know about.

A commercial pilot by profession, Don Chapman was in the area Wednesday, Nov. 14, to check on commercial property he owns.

With roots in Antigonish and Pugwash, Chapman says this issue is important to regions such as the Maritimes, where many went to the Eastern United States for work - sometimes staying for life, sometimes for shorter periods.

Citizenship issue overlooked

Under the laws of the time, Chapman automatically became an American when his father, a former wartime army medical colonel, took out citizenship in Washington State in the 1960s. Chapman sought to regain his citizenship a number of times since his 18th birthday, without success.

“I never went to court,” he acknowledges, but others are doing so - with some success.

Chapman said, born in Canada, he grew up in the United States and visited Canada frequently. Living in Northern Washington during his youth, he played hockey in British Columbia, spent every Christmas in Canada and visited relatives in the country. He has seen both countries as an insider: Americans know who they are, Canadians don’t seem to.

Chapman suggests the matter of lost citizenship has been overlooked so long in part because of Canadians’ perceived mildness. Maybe his being so vocal about his situation is because he was brought up in the United States.

“I wish Americans could be more like Americans,” he says, “and Canadians could be more like Americans.”

Meanwhile, he continues his efforts to get his citizenship reinstated, and for his children to get theirs. He divides his time between British Columbia and Arizona.

Chapman acknowledges Canadian governments may have been reluctant to recognize the “lost” Canadians because of potential costs in providing services to them.

But, he notes, there is another side. At a time when Canada needs more workers, perhaps these Canadians or their children could be that pool. For example, the bottom has just about fallen out of the building sector in the United States at a time it’s booming in Canada, particularly in British Columbia and Alberta, and there aren’t enough workers.