On Jan. 24 in a special and moving ceremony in Vancouver a 60-year wrong was finally made right.
Taylor, who was stripped of his citizenship as a toddler when his English mother returned to her home land in early 1947 after a failed marriage was given back his Canadian citizenship by permission of Diane Finley, the minister of citizenship and immigration. Taylor the son of a Canadian who fought for Canada in the Second World War, took on his mother's nationality because his parents were refused permission to marry by the senior Taylor's commanding officer. Taylor, along with many other persons with similar stories, was unaware that he wasn't a Canadian until he attempted to return to Canada as an adult and was told he would need to apply to be an immigrant.
Taylor subsequently sued the Canadian government to regain his citizenship and won. As reported in Coast Reporter Sept. 28, 2007, Justice Luc Martineau declared Taylor a citizen and said Citizenship and Immigration Canada's decision (not to restore Taylor's citizenship) had contravened the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In addition, the judge ordered the government to pay Taylor's costs of an estimated $50,000.
Last November the government won the appeal of Martineau's decision. Ironically the defence was that the Charter wasn't in effect at the time so it didn't apply.
Taylor's ceremony last Thursday attracted national media attention and representation of all political parties except the NDP who were unable to reschedule a timing conflict. Headlining the politicians were members of Parliament, Liberal Andrew Telegdi and Bloc Quebecois Meili Faille, the vice-chairs of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. Telegdi who came to Canada as a refugee from Hungary almost four decades ago remembered literally walking in his parent's footsteps to avoid landmines in his beleaguered native county.
Along with the politicos were Taylor's wife Wendy, high-ranking bureaucrats, six Chinese veterans who served along with Taylor's father, Don Chapman the Gibsons' man who has worked tirelessly to advance the cause of the Lost Canadians, First Nations representatives and other Canadians and Lost Canadians from around Canada and the United States.
The ceremony opened with a native blessing delivered by Clan Chief Adam Dick from the Qualicum First Nations. Dick along with Kim Recalma-Clutesi from the Kwagnilth Nation bestowed on Taylor the honorary name of Killer Whale. In her opening remarks Recalma-Clutesi related, "Our own father who was a hereditary chief had a difficult time establishing his own citizenship in Canada many years ago. We feel strongly for what you have gone through and that is why I have come to speak to the citizenship standing committee many times. Even hereditary chiefs have fallen through those cracks in the citizenship law."
Taylor has a condo on Vancouver Island, which was why the Island First Nations were invited to participate in the ceremony. Recalma-Clutesi thanked the Coast Salish people for allowing her and Adam to participate in the ceremony on their land."We are the first immigration officers of this land," she reminded those present.
Judge Sandra Wilking officiated for the ceremony. A warm, friendly woman, Wilking joked that she managed to butcher three languages (English, French and M.P. Ed Komarnicki's Ukrainian surname) during the ceremony. "Mr. Taylor, your ceremony this morning brings together Canada's past, its present and its future," she began.
Komarnicki, the parliamentary secretary for immigration and citizenship represented Minster Finley who was unable to attend because of a medical reason.
He acknowledged the challenges Taylor faced in his quest to have his citizenship restored.
In speaking about the court cases Komarnicki said, "Please understand Mr. Taylor that the government appeal was not a personal matter ... as a government we have always had sympathy for your case because we understood your genuine desire to become a Canadian citizen."
He added he was proud of his government's decision to grant Taylor's citizenship.
"It's genuine, it's compassionate and it's the right thing to do," Komarnicki said.
After Taylor took the vow of citizenship surrounded by his father's former comrades-in-arms (who were only allowed to become Canadian citizens if they survived the war) Taylor expressed his joy at finally attaining his goal.
I'm on top of the world. It's the happiest day of my life," he said.
Although Taylor was finally able to pledge his allegiance to Canada, many in the audience have not been so lucky. Both Chapman and Telegdi expressed hopes that Bill C-37 introduced in Parliament before adjournment in December will be passed quickly to allow others to reclaim what in many instances was thought to be their birthright.
"Let's get a citizenship act that is fair to all Canadians. (An act) that embodies the hopes and dreams of every Canadian that's ever been discriminated against," Telegdi said.
