By Jacqueline St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor OTTAWA\u2014Canada congratulated itself last month for what it called a \u201cfair and important milestone\u201d in citizenship law. Bill C-3\u2014formerly C-71, the so-called Lost Canadians Act\u2014received Royal Assent on November 21,\u00a0restoring citizenship to those pushed out by old rules and creating a new, single-generation standard for\u00a0Canadians born abroad. But while Parliament celebrates its swift repair of one historical wrong, another remains stuck in legislative\u00a0limbo. Bill S-2, the long-fought effort to end the second-generation cut-off for First Nations, still lingers in the\u00a0wings. It won\u2019t reach the House of Commons until spring\u2014after yet another shuffle of amendments, debates and\u00a0political recalibrations. For First Nations families, d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu is the default setting. They have been waiting more than 40 years for this\u00a0change, watching bill… <\/p>\n
By Jacqueline St. Pierre, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Manitoulin Expositor OTTAWA\u2014Canada congratulated itself last month for what it called a \u201cfair and important milestone\u201d in citizenship law. Bill C-3\u2014formerly C-71, the so-called Lost Canadians Act\u2014received Royal Assent on November 21,\u00a0restoring citizenship to those pushed out by old rules and creating a new, single-generation standard for\u00a0Canadians born abroad. But while Parliament celebrates its swift repair of one historical wrong, another remains stuck in legislative\u00a0limbo. Bill S-2, the long-fought effort to end the second-generation cut-off for First Nations, still lingers in the\u00a0wings. It won\u2019t reach the House of Commons until spring\u2014after yet another shuffle of amendments, debates and\u00a0political recalibrations. For First Nations families, d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu is the default setting. They have been waiting more than 40 years for this\u00a0change, watching bill... <\/p>\n