Achi news desk-
The federal government has canceled an Ajax, Ont., girl’s Canadian citizenship because of a mistake she said she made more than 30 years ago — forcing her to pay hundreds of dollars in an attempt to get it back.
In September, Arielle Townsend received a letter from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), saying her Canadian citizenship was at risk of being revoked, as previously reported by CBC Toronto. The ordeal began when the department said Townsend’s mother may not have been a Canadian citizen when Townsend was born in Jamaica.
In a letter sent to Townsend this week and seen by CBC Toronto, the department said Townsend’s citizenship had been revoked.
“Your citizenship certificate is no longer valid,” he said.
“Townsend’s status in Canada is now a foreign national,” the department said in a further letter to its lawyers.
The news came as a shock to Townsend, who has held Canadian citizenship since he was a baby.
“Applying for citizenship when you’ve been a citizen, or thought you were a citizen your whole life is really shocking,” Townsend said. “This puts me in a very difficult position.”
Townsend and her lawyers say they have provided the government with all the facts, arguing that Townsend’s mother was a citizen when Townsend was born because he received a citizenship card in July 1991, months before Townsend’s birth, her mother has sworn sworn in a signed affidavit. .
In its response this week, the IRCC said that although a citizenship card was created for her mother in 1991, she did not take her citizenship oath until a few months after Townsend was born.
‘Clear error’: IRCC
Townsend’s mother has said in her affidavit that she asked a citizenship officer what she needed to do to get her childhood status in Canada — and she was assured that her daughter was already a citizen. Townsend was granted a citizenship card in August 1992.
“The IRCC recognizes that there was an obvious error in the issuance of Arielle Townsend’s Canadian citizenship certificate,” the department said in an email to Townsend’s lawyer. “However, the legislative provision relating to the revocation of a Canadian citizenship certificate does not allow for any discretion.”
“Despite what is printed on her citizenship certificate, a person is only considered a Canadian citizen after they take the oath of citizenship,” he said, referring to Townsend’s mother.
To get his citizenship back, Townsend must now apply under “special discretionary grounds” so that it can be processed “urgently,” the IRCC said. It will cost more than $600 to apply, Townsend said.
IRCC says decision based on oath
According to the statement of facts that Townsend’s lawyers have submitted to the government, Townsend’s mother had been living in Canada for several years by 1991. She became pregnant that year and traveled to Jamaica, where she could benefit from more of family support in the front- up to the birth of Townsend.
Townsend’s mother’s family in Canada took their citizenship oath in July, around which time Townsend’s mother was given a citizenship card.
Townsend was born in Jamaica in October 1991.
When he was only a few months old, in January 1992, Townsend’s mother returned to Canada for a short time, without her, to sort out her citizenship papers.
According to the statement of facts, she went to the citizenship office in Mississauga, reported Townsend’s birth and asked how she could get status for her daughter, so she could fly her to Canada.
According to Townsend’s mother, the citizenship officer told her that she did not need to apply for citizenship because she was already a citizen.
Despite that, the department said in its letter that it had decided to cancel her citizenship because Townsend’s mother did not take her oath before Townsend was born.
“After reviewing all the information in my possession, I have determined that you were never granted citizenship,” IRCC official Corrina Clement said in the letter to Townsend.
‘It’s not fair to her’: lawyer
Townsend’s lawyer, Daniel Kingwell, says she should never have been put in a position by the government where she has no status. Townsend still holds Jamaican citizenship.
“You go from being firmly rooted in Canada and being a Canadian citizen to being at the other extreme of having even less status than someone who entered Pearson yesterday as a visitor,” he said. .
He said the government should have a better approach to dealing with clerical errors.
“Giving her citizenship should be an immediate priority,” he said. “We are hopeful that it will be resolved, but it is not fair for her to make her wait even a day longer.”
CBC Toronto reached out to the IRCC on Townsend’s case. He said he cannot comment on individual cases due to privacy legislation, which was the same response he gave when CBS Toronto first reported on Townsend’s case.
Now that she’s lost status, Townsend is worried she could lose her job as she technically can’t work in Canada until her citizenship is restored. She also has an elderly father-in-law in the US who she can no longer visit.
“It’s frustrating to think that I have to apply for citizenship that I thought I had all this time,” he said.
“The humanity has really been taken out of this whole process.”
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