How do you do, fellow Canadian

Post date: 2026-02-20 10:18:59

What can you tell me about the politics, specifically, the cultural and racial politics behind Canada's new Citizenship Act Bill C-3, which recognizes as Canadian folks outside the country descended from Canadians? Where are good places to learn more about the background politics and current takes?

I'm an American citizen who, I have recently learned, is a "lost Canadian," Canadian by descent through a grandparent or great (etc)-grandparent. It seems there are many of us gathering birth and baptismal records from Canadian archives to use as we apply for proof of citizenship.

I can find plenty of information on how to document the relationships and go through the process to get the citizenship card, especially on some subreddits, but, due to a comment somewhere I can't find anymore, I am curious about the political background of this bill. Specifically, the comment said that opening the doors like this to likely-to-be-mostly-white descendants of Canadians is more politically palatable than opening the door to current immigrants who might be people of color, refugees, or moving from poorer countries, as Canada deals with its own growth of right-wing, anti-immigrant influence. I am very curious to know how much of that was in the water during the legislative process. (I understand there were court cases preceding this legislation.)

I am also generally interested in how this is playing out among Canadians of varying political persuasions, and if it's even on the average Canadian's radar. I'm glad to hear your Canadian takes here or get links to places I can read about this elsewhere.

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