Who cares? You know when Duceppe comes to Dion's defense that this is a non-issue. Shame on NDP MP Pat Martin and Garth Turner for questioning Dion's loyalties. How ironic, that the man vilified in some Quebec circles as the great defender of Canada, is now being questioned about his ultimate loyalties. What if Canada has a dispute with France? Can Dion act in our interest? The answer, oh please!
18 comments:
The Conservatives and NDP will try to blame him for the last 13 years, when he wasn't there. He wasn't even environment minister until 2004.They are cruel, and I hope both those parties, fall flat on their face next election. Garth Turner should know better.
I wasn't for Dion. but I now think that Kennedy did the right thing.
Steve, I don't know where you are, but if you're in the TO area, and that's the Global you're speaking to, watch at about 5:30. CFRB...con radio host, Bill Carroll, is on Global and he is making it his case to slant the network.
He's one mean SOB who adores Harper. He's also, the closest thing, (yep I meant that), that we have to Limbaugh. He brag's about how he'd love to be that for Canada.
I heard people say that they believed that Dion was a spy, for France.
Insanity, at it's finest.
I don't believe that I'm a right wing nut, although I have supported conservative parties most of my life. I think Dion [or Kennedy] would have been the best candidate for the position of Liberal leader for the good of Canada. I'm just curious about why Dion would be a citizen of France as well as Canada. Did he live there at one time or is it a popular thing for many french canadians to seek a dual citizenship? Is there a monetary advantage in doing so, or is it being patriotic to ones ancestrial roots. Just curious. As a canadian whose ancesters came from England, I personally never had any desire to obtain English citizenship. Is this a "Quebec" thing. Perhaps one of the things that makes french speaking Quebecers different from us in the rest of the country. Not trying to ruffle any feathers, just curious .
Rick W in Manitoba
And the swiftboating of Dion has begun.
Can't wait for the liberal media (ha) to air the tons of footage of Dion actually in the fight of his life for this nation. Oh, they haven't, I'm shocked.
See that the NDP has decided to get on board this train too...Guess they've decided to be nothing more than permanent water carriers for Harper's neo-Cons.
BTW; it sickens me to post this, but given enough airplay, this scumbag tactic will work.
Rick W. in Manitoba:
He has French citizenship because his mother was born in France.
His father was born in Canada as was Mr. Dion but that does not seem to matter to these neo-con wingnuts.
As Diana states, this is nothing more than "swift-boating". Fortunately, Canadians are smarter than that and this will only resonate with other parochial, neo-con wingnuts. For the rest of us it will either be ignored or prove once again that the Conservative Party of Canada has no business running Canada.
Thanks for the info, ottlib.
It seems fair enough to me. I have no problem with his dual citizenship. I can't see it ever being an issue unless somewhere down the road, if Dion were to become PM, and we had some major issue with France it may be awkward. As for "those neo-con wingnuts" I'll keep a watch out for them. Although I sometimes think they are not near as plentiful as some would have us believe.
Rick W in Manitoba
So do you think that any reporter will ask Dion
"Do you love Canada"
What ever the outcome of the French citizenship issue, I doubt that any Liberal will question PMSHs patriotism again, in fear of the backlash.
Maybe that was 'the' point of this exercise.
The spy thing likely came from Dion's statement on holding French citizenship:
"Multiple identities should be seen as an asset, not a threat," he said.
"There is nothing wrong with multiple identities. The hearts of people are big enough to accept different identities. Canadian citizenship will give me my rights. Identity is the way I feel about the country."
h/t socialistgulag
As an immigrant, I find questioning the loyalty of someone simply because of his or her dual citizenship personally offensive. Let's hope Dion stands his ground on this one in a way that our Governor-General didn't have the guts to.
Idealistic Pragmatist...by your tag...I would think you would understand why she did what she did. Gut's??? Have you followed her lately? She has what I never will.
ottlib, I thought both of his parents were born in France, but I bend to your knowledge.
He did study there and I would think, in looking for work, while travelling, that would be important.
Again, that this would be an issue, boggles...but keep digging in the manure of your imagination people, keep digging.
"keep digging in the manure of your imagination people, keep digging."
Nice :)
This is a thinly veiled attempt to undermine dual citizenship in Canada - I guess we can blame the Lebanese who appeared on the news during the evacuation criticising the govt. Turner unfortunately has form from the Lebanon evac in respect of questioning the loyalty of dual citizens.
What rattled Pat Martin's cage I wonder? Could he be moving in on Layton? Can't see Olivia Chow being too happy about doubting DCs.
"This is a thinly veiled attempt to undermine dual citizenship in Canada"
Bingo!
Despite being a strong Liberal and one who would never doubt Dion's patriotism, I do believe it is a legitimate concern. What happens if we have a dispute with another country. I think the PM of Canada should be a Canadian only. Now considering Dion doesn't have a French passport and is only eligible it is not a big issue. I am all for dual citizenship, but I do think that if you are a leader of the country you should not have double loyalties, your loyalty must be to Canada first. Lets remember almost any other country in the world would prohibit this for a leader. Also what if he had dual American/Canadian citizenship, is that appropriate. I would be quite angry if we had a PM with American citizenship. I don't have too much of a problem with French citizenship, but I don't think you can allow it for some countries and not others.
"Lets remember almost any other country in the world would prohibit this for a leader. Also what if he had dual American/Canadian citizenship, is that appropriate."
Miles, that is a good point about American citizenship, the optics would be horrible. Maybe, I don't see the French angle on that scale.
The only point about "other countries", Canada is unique in the world in terms of embracing ethnic diversity and multiculturalism. In a way, it seems entirely consistent with Canada having leaders with foreign backgrounds. I guess it is a mute point now, because Dion has agreed to deal with it.
Part of my resistence stems from the fact that the right-wing nutjobs made this an issue for motivations I don't take as pure.
Steve V - I think Ezra Levant is a complete jackass and hypocrit considering he supported Ted Morton who if I am not mistaken had dual American citizenship. Besides I believe French law prohibits French citizens from serving in foreign governments, so he would have it revoked anyways. In addition my understanding is Dion is eligible for French Citizenship, but he never actually submitted any papers to apply, so it is a rather trival question. Had he applied for French citizenship, voted in their elections, and served in their army it would be a different story, but that is not the case.
My real concern is that no one who is a dual American/Canadian citizen becomes PM. I could care less about dual Canadian/French since it is pretty rare we have disputes with France in the first place.
miles
I don't think I could support a dual American/Canadian either, for the reasons you suggest.
I didn't know that about Morton, but hypocrisy and Ezra seem to go hand in hand.
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