The issue for Brats, born on overseas bases between the years 1947 an 1977, is that some have lost the ability to prove their status as Canadians. The 9/11 Trade Centre Attacks in New York and the more stringent regulations now in place have exasperated this. Many have found that they have been denied passport renewal or having original passports denied. Provincial applications for replacing lost Social Insurance Cards, Medicare and updated driver's licences refused. The issue is the same. The RBA (Registration of Birth Aboard) was not being accepted as primary proof of status.
The Citizenship Act was amended in 1947 to include the following: Between 1947 and 1977, when Canadians had a child abroad, the birth had to be registered with citizenship officials and the RBA was issued (the requirement to register the birth of a first-generation Canadian born abroad ended with the new laws introduced in 1977). The military in particular were quite thorough in ensuring that RBAs were issued and the exceptions where documents were not issued are rare.
There is also some confusion about the fact that many children born to military personnel abroad were also issued a Certificate of Birth by the Department of National Defence. DND 419. The Department of National Defence Certificate DND419 was instituted in 1963 more as an inter-base record of birth for dependents but was never given legal status as proof of birth. This document is not, and has never been, proof of citizenship nor is it a legal birth certificate.
The Brats Status Citizenship Status Committee was formed in July of 2006. Christine Eden is the chair. On July 17, she met with her M.P.Russ Hiebert, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, and laid out the issues as this committee saw them. As pledged by MP Hiebert in October 2006, DND and CIC had a fact-finding meeting and agreed on the issues. However, many Brats were still being turned away by CIC and Passport offices as not being Canadians. On Monday, February 26, 2007. Christine Eden took this issue to Ottawa, appearing before the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration http://www.gic.gc.ca/English/press/speech-2007/2007-02-26.html. As a result of this appearance, CIC pledged to address the issues and to ensure that their staff was fully aware of the procedures in place. They also appointed a senior official to work with Christine Eden to address any cases that might need special attention.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks acknowledged by CIC is that some of their front counter people are not aware of the RBA and are turning people away. They are working on this to ensure that adequate information is out there. CIC now has on record all the RBA's issued and, should you not have a copy in your possession, CIC can access this in Ottawa. However, should you run into this obstacle, you can reach our DND rep and she will assist you in every way. She has a contact person at CIC who is working only on these issues.
Your DND rep Jane Houser Assistant to Laurie Hawn, MP
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
PH:(613) 992-4524
FX:(613) 943-0044
EM: hawnL@parl.gc.ca
An RBA is proof of citizenship and can be used today, for example, to apply for a passport. If an individual has lost this document, or if it is in poor condition, they can apply to Citizenship and Immigration Canada to replace it with the current Citizenship Certificate. However, the RBA is not accepted as primary proof of birth or status by some provincial agencies and it is highly recommended that all replace it with the citizenship card. Many have been misinformed and think that by applying for the citizenship card they are actually applying for citizenship. This is not the case. In actuality they are applying for Proof of Status as Canadians. Here is the correct form that you should use in applying for the Citizenship Card. Application for a Citizenship Certificate from Inside Canada (Form CIT 0001) and the web site address is http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/applications/certif.html. certifi.html What we are suggesting to all is that you also print the page Just the Facts and include it with your application. We have found that this helps should your application reach a citizenship person who is not aware of our situation. http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/facts/proof.html. We do not recommend that you send the original RBA with your application but take it and get a certified copy. CIC is noted for not returning them to you.
What all of you must remember is that you need a birth certificate. You do not have one. The RBA is proof of Canadian Status. Your foreign birth certificate is not accepted. The easiest and simplest way to resolve this issue is to apply for the citizenship card. If you do not have the RBA in your possession then all you need to do is ask CIC to do a search of documents as that RBA is on file with Ottawa. If for any reason you find that it is not on file there is a special part of the citizenship act that will address this. To date we have had only 1 in 252 that was not in the records so don't panic. That is when you contact Kirsten VanderHoek, assistant to Russ Heart, and also Christine Eden at christina2031@shaw.ca. Christine’s phone number is 604 5841 9846. If she is not home leave a message and someone will call you back.
Whilst we have addressed this issue on a Federal level we now have to work on the Provincial level. This is going to be difficult for Christine Eden and her committee to do because we reside in B.C. We are researching all the provincial requirements for what is needed as primary proof of identity. We need people in every province, other than B.C. to contact their Medicare and motor vehicle licencing agencies to see if they accept the RBA as primary proof of status. In B.C. you are required to provide 2 pieces of primary I.D. The RBA is not accepted. Email Christine Eden with your findings. Also let her know if you are willing to take this information to your MLA and stress the need to have them address it. Ask them to contact Christine Eden for further information on the Provincial issues and she will send it to them.
Information provided by Christine Eden
May 30, 2007 - Today Ann Heathcote, Senior Advisor to C.I.C., phoned Christine and advised that the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration appeared before the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and reported that there will be amendments to the Citizenship Act by the fall. Part of those amendments will address ensuring the citizenship status to children born to military overseas. This is great news.
The committee is working on the provincial issues around driver's licences and Medicare applications.
TO DATE:
Ontario accepts the RBA as proof of status for Medicare/unsure as to driver's licence applications
Saskatchewan does not accept the RBA but does accept Driver's licence, and Social Insurance Cards
New Brunswick does not accept the RBA, only the citizenship card but will accept old passports. However thank you to Bob Doucette for acting on our behalf with Service New Brunswick. As a result they are now addressing accepting the RBA.
Nova Scotia does not accept the RBA but does accept the citizenship card or a passport
Alberta does accept the RBA
British Columbia does not accept the RBA.
Ann Heathcote is taking the provincial issues to the appropriate person in government and hopefully we will see more resolution in the near future. Given that we have been working on this for 11 months, I feel we have come a long way.
Information provided by Christine Eden
Alberta - Proof of Status
Tuesday, June 12,2007
After several lengthy telephone conversations yesterday with the Department of Motor Vehicles in Alberta, I have provided them with our information around the RBA (Registration of Birth Abroad). Today they called and have agreed to put the RBA in their system as Proof of Status for driver's licence applications. This is a huge step forward. - Christine Eden
Nova Scotia - Proof of Status
June 14, 2007
Nova Scotia has just responded to our request. They do not have the RBA on the list of documents for Proof of Status, but have advised Christine that they have accepted it for Medicare when nothing else is available. - Information provided by Christine Eden
June 18, 2007
Donna Sutherland, Manager, MSI Registration & Enquiry has just informed us that the Province of Nova Scotia has agreed to accept the Registration of Birth Abroad as acceptable documentation for Medicare applications.
July 19th meeting re Province of B.C. recognizing RBA
R.B.A. (Registration of Birth Abroad Certificate) is NOT a primary proof of citizenship.
Thursday July 19 - I met with the John Les, Solicitor General; Brian Sims, the Ministerial Assistant to the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General; and Jennifer Hall, I.C.B.C. (Insurance Corporation British Columbia) Driver Licensing Policy Manager with regard to having the R.B.A. (Registration of Birth Abroad Certificate) Form C15, put into the Provincial system as primary proof of citizenship status. While I am sorry to advise that their answer is "No", I have to agree with them.
Their reasons are as follows:
The RBA is between 30 and 60 years old. It is a hand typed document that is very easy to forge and thus creates a huge security risk. A driver's license is used as primary I.D. for many government applications. There is the intent to have all the provinces on board with same regulations as to driver's license applications due to the increased security measures.
The U.S. government is proposing a new program of a cross border driver's license. This license would enable one to drive across the border without a passport. The Registration of Birth Abroad would not be applicable for this application. While no one in the US Government is saying when this will happen, the general consensus of opinion is before the end of this year.
All three at this meeting generally agreed that the solution is for all who have an RBA, but not the Citizenship Card, need to apply for a Citizenship Card ASAP. They will be in contact with Citizenship and Immigration Canada (C.I.C.) stressing the need for that agency to assist in broadcasting this fact.
For me, it is clear that they do not have the staff to handle the volume as it is. However, if the cross border license comes available, then there will be a rush of applications for the citizenship card so it is best to do it now.
We all agreed that it is the best interests of those Brats in this SNAFU for us to get the message out that they need to apply for the Citizenship Card ASAP. The Province will help in any way to bring this to the public's attention. I will be contacting all the local newspapers here and attempting to go on radio talk shows and bring awareness to all. I would ask that if you have a radio talk show in your area that you do the same.
Plus, if you could contact your local newspaper, find the appropriate reporter, explain the situation, get this published in print media.
Should you need assistance, I am willing to make myself available to share my findings and assist wherever I can. You can reach me at 604 541 9846
After that folks, we can do no more. I would ask you to remember that the $75 fee for the citizenship card is in reality a delayed payment as your parents never paid for your original birth certificate! I also will remind you that our success in getting the Federal Government to address this in less than one year, is in my opinion, because we kept this non political and didn't fire off any insults to them. So this is how I plan to continue on with this issue.
Christine Eden
Thursday July 27/07 - Today there was an article in the Province Newspaper dated Thursday, July 26, titled "Feds' 'hesitancy' on enhanced licences is unforgivable." The author is Michael Smyth
This article basically is criticizing the Federal government for not acting quickly on the US government's proposed enhanced drivers' licenses. It states that the BC government and the state of Washington is ready to proceed with this program. This is what I have been told by both the US border people here at Peace Arch Borderr Crossing and John Les the Solicitor General.
Christine Eden
Photos
Photos and Signatures
We have had several enquires in regard to Brats who,through medical issues, are unable to be taken to a photographer for picture taking and/or are also unable to sign his or her name. Here is the response from C.I.C. as to the protocol.
"There is some flexibility with the photo and it could be taken inside the institution as long as the dimensions are as close to our photo specifications sheet as possible.
The signature is not required as long as there is confirmation that the client is not able to sign his name.
In order to ensure that this application is not returned in error, when sending in the application to CPC Sydney, the envelope should be addressed "Attention: Rose Anne Poirier" with the mention of "To be opened by addressee only"."