Osoyoos Lost Canadian

It's been a very exhausting few days for one Osoyoos woman as she fights to regain her birthright.

Barbara Porteous recently discovered she's not considered a Canadian citizen by the government, despite the fact she has lived here almost 50 years.

Now 70, she was born in Portville, Washington to a Canadian father, and in 1955 she married David Porteous, a Canadian Citizen.

She is considered a 'Lost Canadian,' a person who has unknowingly lost their Canadian citizenship due to a little-known provision to the Canadian citizenship law enforced between 1947 and 1977.

The provision states that children of Canadian parents who are not living in Canada at the time of their 24th birthday must indicate their desire to retain their citizenship.

"I was living with my husband in the States when I was 24. I had been told by the American government in 1957 that I wasn't allowed to have dual citizenship. I had a choice to make and I chose to be Canadian, to keep the citizenship I was born with,” says Porteous.

She says she wasn't told of the provision requiring her to inform the Canadian government of her decision to keep her citizenship while living out of the country.

“I moved back to Osoyoos with my husband to have a baby in 1959. Since then, I have voted in every election and worked as a poll clerk and a census taker," says Porteous.

She says she and her husband had made many trips across the border over the years with no problems until 2005 when her laminated citizenship card was questioned.

"I called Passport Canada to ask about my card and was told I should apply for a replacement citizenship card, so I filled out the application and sent it off in February of last year. In July I received a letter saying I had lost my citizenship on June 14, 1960. They said I had violated the provision by living out of the country on my 24th birthday and hadn't told the Canadian government I wanted to keep my citizenship," says Porteous.

She says she has tried to go through the local constituency to resolve the situation.

"We have had no results because Citizenship and Immigration Canada has said my only option is to apply to become a landed immigrant. If I do that, after a year I can apply to be a resident. I have lived here continuously for the last 46 years, so I found that to be an insult," says Porteous.

She says she has decided to go public with her situation after learning that thousands of other people are going through the same thing.

"Thousands of people have lost their citizenship and birthright through no fault of their own because of the old citizenship law," says Porteous.

She says she is very disappointed with the Canadian government.

"The government is very slow in moving on this. I guess the government is worried about people who live out of the country who may try to come in and get on our social system, but I've paid into it," says Porteous.

She says the whole situation is very scary.

"It doesn't make any sense, to leave someone without the rights and status they were born with," says Porteous.