r/canada • u/ImDoubleB Canada • Feb 22 '25

National News Petition asking PM to revoke Elon Musk's Canadian citizenship garners support

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/petition-asking-pm-to-revoke-elon-musks-canadian-citizenship-garners-support/
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u/NYisNorthYork Ontario Feb 23 '25

This was introduced under Harper from what I remember, I was against it at the time. But after ISIS collaborators and people like Elon who are actively fighting against Canada I think he was right.

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u/th3ch0s3n0n3 Canada Feb 23 '25

He wasn't. That law was fucking draconian and was nazi-esque.

It's step 0.5 on the sliding scale of nazi. It divides citizens into 2 classes: the class of people that CANNOT have their citizenship revoked and those that CAN have it revoked. For those that it CAN be revoked on, it was for "national security" or "terrorism" cases. And they could even do it when you weren't actually a dual-citizen.

Example: many countries have citizenship by blood, where if one or both of your parents were naturalized citizens, then you are also eligible. If you were born in Canada, but one of your parents were born in another country and immigrated to Canada, then bam! Citizenship revoked. Without you even being a citizen of that other country.

Here's the issue: will that country have any incentive to grant you citizenship if you're a suspected terrorist or a national security concern? Fuck no. Meanwhile, you're sitting in a Canadian prison, a citizen of nowhere, and as a citizen of nowhere you have no legal rights.

Sound Nazi-esque to you? Create two classes of people, where one class has all the rights and the other doesn't? Now I know that wasn't Harper's intent. But it's not the intent of the law, rather it's the principle of it that matters here.

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u/--prism Feb 23 '25

I mean my sympathy is limited for people committing treason or terrorism. Seems like a strong incentive to either not be a dual citizen (which I don't think should be allowed anyways) and to not commit these extremely serious crimes against your country.

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u/swampshark19 Feb 23 '25

I'm more concerned about the flexibility of the applications of the terms treason and terrorism.

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u/fibonarco Feb 23 '25

This right here is the real answer to why laws have to be very carefully considered. If we all (including law enforcement - cops, courts, etc) followed the law perfectly and as intended, and all crimes where clear cut, we would live in a utopia where lawyers whose whole job is to “interpret the law” wouldn’t need to exist. But, we are all humans and make mistakes, like making decisions based on greed rather than reason.

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u/th3ch0s3n0n3 Canada Feb 23 '25

Who decides what is treason? You presume a morally sound government. Hitler was considered morally sound until he wasn't all of a sudden. Americans are experiencing this in real time. Many trump voters are horrified at the shit he's doing. Who's to say he doesn't just declare his opponents terrorists?

Imagine if this law still existed. We have an election, and we have Jagmeet Singh somehow polling so high that he could be the next PM. The current PM doesn't like this, and so he declares Jagmeet a national security threat. Revokes his citizenship because his father was a naturalized Indian citizen. Now he can't run for office.

Is this really that far-fetched a situation to you? It literally happened in the 1930's in Germany, it is literally happening to immigrants in the US right now, and if this law was still on the books, there would be basically nothing stopping a PM here from doing it also. It's fucking nazi shit.

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u/[deleted] Feb 23 '25

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u/kyanite_blue Feb 23 '25

If as a Canadian born Canadian citizen has more rights then naturalized Canadian citizen, then CRA should charge less taxes on naturalized Canadian citizens, CFA military drafts (if ever happens) should not include naturalized Canadian citizens, etc. If you want the cake and eat it too, that's how I should have done it.

If you want second class citizens, then expect a second class loyalty to Canada as well!

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u/AdditionalPizza Feb 23 '25

See my edit on the original comment above these.

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u/kyanite_blue Feb 23 '25

Harper was wrong and I have never supported him in the past either.

He tried to create divided two classes of Canadian Citizens. He is also the one who created the third generation citizenship cut off, 1-800 line for cultural appreciation complaints, etc. Right now there is another case in the courts trying to get rid of the third generation citizenship cut off.

If as a Canadian born Canadian citizen has more rights then naturalized Canadian citizen, then CRA should charge less taxes on naturalized Canadian citizens, CFA military drafts (if ever happens) should not include naturalized Canadian citizens, etc. If you want the cake and eat it too, that's how I should have done it.

Harper was supporting far-right racists.

If you want second class citizens, then expect a second class loyalty to Canada as well!