The Canadian Studies Center and Center for Human Rights, housed at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, invite you to join us for the following event:
Roundtable Lecture/Conversation: The “Lost Canadians” with Don Chapman
Wednesday, February 12, 3:30 p.m., Thomson Hall Room 317
RSVP by Monday, February 10, 2020 to
Description
What does it mean to be Canadian? The history of Canadian citizenship is complicated and, since Confederation, was denied to many as a result of archaic and obscure legislation. The legislation was particularly discriminatory against women, children, Asian and Indo-Canadians, as well as Indigenous peoples. Those whose citizenship was revoked or denied as a result are known as “Lost Canadians.” Today, over half a million of them reside in the U.S., probably unaware that they are now Canadian citizens.
Don Chapman, a University of Washington alumnus and former United Airlines pilot, discovered his own revoked citizenship status; thus began his fight to restore citizenship rights to himself and others. Chapman has been the inspiration and force behind seven Parliamentary bills to amend the Citizenship Act, with the result that Canadian status has been granted to somewhere between one and two million people, retroactively. Are you one of them? The answer might surprise you.
It turns out Seattle is a hot-bed of “Lost Canadians.”
Join Don Chapman for an engaging discussion centered around his 2015 book, The Lost Canadians: A Struggle for Citizenship Rights, Equality, and Identity. He will talk about citizenship as a basic human right, what it means to be rendered stateless, present-day discrimination, and his own experiences as a private individual changing federal legislation in Canada.