With estimates of at least 40,000 dual Lebanese-Canadian citizens currently in Lebanon, Canada has been debating whether to help evacuate all dual Canadian citizens, even those with permanent residence in Lebanon. The Canada government has generally been proud of its openness to dual citizenship, but some now raise concerns about the cost of the evacuation and question whether Canadian citizens living permanently in Lebanon are “true” Canadian citizens. Not only does the issue raise interesting legal and moral questions about dual citizenship, but it could have an impact on elections, given the number of foreign-born electors in the Canadian population and the current government’s minority status.

[From The Globe and Mail, electronic edition URL below; print edition 26/07/06 Page A1.]
Ottawa to review help for non-resident citizens
ALEX DOBROTA AND GLORIA GALLOWAY
CAMBRIDGE, ONT. and OTTAWA — Canada will re-examine the practice of paying to rescue its citizens who have made lives in other countries, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said yesterday as the evacuation in Lebanon winds down.
Nearly 40,000 Canadians have registered with the embassy in Beirut, most simply making known their presence in Lebanon, since Israel began shelling towns there two weeks ago. But many have sought help in fleeing the violence.
The potential cost of evacuating huge numbers of Lebanese Canadians, including some who moved permanently to Lebanon when the violence of the 1970s and 1980s abated, has prompted some critics to suggest that Mr. Harper was being overgenerous in saying Canada would foot the bill for their rescue.
“The government has taken the view on this particular occasion that, given the circumstances, given how suddenly it came upon us, that we would spare no expense to protect and to secure the safety of any Canadians who wanted to come to Canada,” Mr. Harper told reporters yesterday.
[.]

But Mr. Harper’s suggestion that the government will review the policy of helping to evacuate Canadians who have relocated to their countries of origin is unlikely to sit well with the immigrant communities he has been courting in his bid to win a majority government. His remarks represent another example of his willingness to take a strong and occasionally controversial stand on issues of principal or that appeal to his core constituency.
[See the full story at The Globe and Mail (Toronto)]