Squamish’s Byrdie Funk will soon be a Canadian citizen, once again.
The local counsellor has been fighting to regain her citizenship, and change the Canadian Citizenship Act, for close to a year.
“I am thrilled that this has happened,” Funk told The Chief on June 7 after she found out she would no longer be stateless.
Funk was born in Mexico and moved to Canada when she was two months old.
She was shocked to discover, in April of 2016, that she had lost her Canadian citizenship due to an arcane law that required citizens born outside of Canada between Feb. 15, 1977 and April 16, 1981 to reapply for citizenship prior to their 28th birthday.
Unaware of the rule, Funk didn’t reapply. Nothing seemed amiss until she received a letter from the federal government in the spring of last year that she was no longer a citizen, and hadn’t been since 2008, when she turned 28.
In the intervening years she had lived, worked, bought a home, voted and travelled on a Canadian passport without incident.
Section eight of the 1977 Citizenship Act was overturned in 2009 but wasn’t retroactive, so an unknown number of Canadians who were 28 or older and born abroad are caught up in this gap.
Those left stateless are known as “lost Canadians.”
On June 7, Funk got the call from the chief of staff to Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen that her discretionary grant of citizenship had been approved.
“I’ve been waking up everyday this past year bracing myself for the day, but not this morning,” she said of her surprise to get the personal call.
She was granted citizenship on the grounds of special and unusual hardship.
“I am relieved. At least this part of it will be over,” she said. “I’m continuing the fight for legislation change and ultimately a fresh new Citizenship Act.”
She will likely become a citizen in a ceremony on July 1 in Vancouver, she said.
Funk credits other lost Canadians, in particular Don Chapman who has become an outspoken advocate and leader of the stateless, with giving her the strength and support she needed to be heard in Ottawa.
“I don’t think I’d be able to share news like this today if it weren’t for my voice joining Don’s and Don’s relentless advocacy,” she said.
For his part, Chapman said he was happy for Funk, but that the fight is far from over for others in similar circumstances.
“It is so messed up,” he told The Chief. “Byrdie is just our first age 28 stateless person, we still have several waiting in the wings. She is one of many, in many different categories.”
The office of Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen told The Chief that
the 2009 and 2015 legislative changes restored or gave citizenship to the vast majority of people who had lost citizenship or never received it due to outdated legislation.
“These amendments extended citizenship to many “Lost Canadians”, including to some born prior to 1947, when the first Canadian Citizenship Act took effect, as well as to their children who were born outside Canada in the first generation,” read the emailed statement to The Chief.
For the “small number” who are still lost Canadians, the discretionary mechanism exists, the Ministry spokesperson said. “If someone believes that they are entitled to citizenship under the current legislation, they are encouraged to contact Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to get the appropriate clarifications and information.”
New Democratic Party MP Jenny Kwan has introduced legislation Bill C-333, that, if adopted, would restore citizenship to most lost Canadians.
“Prior to the 150th anniversary of this country, we need to restore citizenship to those who have lost it because of these archaic laws,” Kwan said in the House of Commons in December.
Sea to Sky MP Pamela Goldsmith-Jones said she would continue to advocate for changes to the Act alongside Funk.
“I can’t really speak for the department of immigration, I can just keep this issue alive,” she said, adding that over the summer she would work with Funk and the community in preparation for the fall when the issue would likely be brought up again in the House.
*Please note: this story has been updated.
