For Liberal MP Marlene Jennings (Notre-Dame- de-Grâce—Lachine), the concept of citizenship seems to be something that morphs and changes based on what sounds good at the moment.Here's the problem. Marlene Jennings is written up in the Montreal Gazette today, blathering on about how important her Canadian citizenship is, because without it, she'd be stateless:
For the past month, Liberal MP Marlene Jennings has harboured a secret so troubling she didn't dare talk about it with more than a handful of people.
She has lived her entire life in the Montreal area and since 1997 she has been member of Parliament for the west-end riding of Notre Dame de Grace-Lachine.
For the past month, however, Jennings hasn't been sure whether she is in fact a Canadian citizen or whether she is a victim of archaic citizenship rules that have resulted in thousands across the country discovering in recent months they aren't Canadian after all.
"The personal impact for me would be that my whole life that I have lived, believing that I am a Canadian citizen is wrong," said Jennings. "It would also mean that I have no citizenship. Period. ... So I would literally become a stateless person."
Well, apparently she is such an expert on citizenship that she'll be testifying in front of the Standing Committee on Citizenship later this week.
Of course she's an expert on citizenship. By my count, she has claimed three.
First, she said she was an Italian citizen, to the House of Commons, in 2004:
Hon. Marlene Jennings (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, in oral question period, I asked two questions. Those two questions were asked in French. In French, the correct term for the gesture made by the hon. member for Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière is “bras d'honneur”. There is no exact translation in English, so when we refer to this gesture in English, we use the French term “bras d'honneur”.
First, I think that the translation should be changed to accurately reflect the expressions I have used.
Second, since I was born in Canada, I have Canadian citizenship. I have also been an Italian citizen since 1974. As an Italian citizen, I would have been furious to hear someone use, in English, the term used in the translation. I never used that term, either in French or in English. The correct term is “bras d'honneur”. That term has nothing to do with an ethnic group or a foreign country. “Bras d'honneur” is the correct term.
The she decided she was also an American citizen, again in a statement to House, a year later:
Hon. Marlene Jennings (Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister (Canada—U.S.), Lib.):
Mr. Speaker, today, at the Subcommittee on International Trade, Trade Disputes and Investment, I made some comments that raised many questions. I would simply like to say that I had the opportunity to review the transcript and I recognize that I may have used certain words that were a little exaggerated.
I believe it is up to our government and each one of us to undertake to be constructive in our relationship with the United States. It is in our interests. It is part of our Canadian values to cherish the relationship with the United States, as I do as someone who is half American and has family in the United States. I would apologize to the members in this House that my comments were a little bit exaggerated. I apologize.
First Italian. Now American. Then Canadian, but maybe not Canadian, which would make her stateless. Right.
Oh, and by the way, now she's no longer American:
"I don't have American citizenship; I've never applied for American citizenship, so I would literally become a stateless person. It would also mean that I have no residency here. The government could literally say, 'Get out of the country,' and where would I go?"
Start the violins. Marlene Jennings is about to be deported by the Conservatives. What nonsense.
According to her own statements to the House of Commons, she could go to Italy. But then that wouldn't sound as dramatic as being "stateless", so the Italian citizenship is conveniently forgotten.
Assuming it was true to start with, but then you never say a lie to the House.
For me, personally, citizenship is too important a concept to make light of. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned that way.
