Harper and Rae pile on as Mulcair’s dual citizenship raises eyebrows

dumpthemonarchy

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Jan 18, 2005
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Great. You`ve admitted its paranoia which means there is nothing to fear. Just a little irrational tick you folks have.

No but there are plenty of dual citizens who have a few embassies to chose from. Or perhaps one if they only have the one passport.

That doesn`t make those people any less wrong.

Plenty of people worry about the global elite who have moved beyond every day concerns due to their fabulous wealth, their interests are not mine, which bothers me. They can afford to pay $5/lb for tomatos. With a Canadian passport, UK and maybe Australian, USA, and New Zealand embassies could help. But Canada has plenty of embassies around the world.

Mexico in North America, like dual citizenship, is a useless talking point in this part of the world that gains few points or votes. Mulcair will never be the leader of the NDP, he has dug his grave because he can't control his message any more. Things may change in a decade.
 

WLDB

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Jun 24, 2011
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Mexico in North America, like dual citizenship, is a useless talking point in this part of the world that gains few points or votes. Mulcair will never be the leader of the NDP, he has dug his grave because he can't control his message any more. Things may change in a decade.

Indeed I doubt he'll be the leader. I know I don't intend to vote for him but that has nothing to do with his citizenships.
 

mentalfloss

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Best example I can come up with is any time someone has committed a crime in a foreign land then sought sanctuary in their own nation's Embassy.

Yes, but what kind of crime? And what is the effect of that crime?
 

dumpthemonarchy

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Let's say Mulcair wins, the Tories won't be able to stop talking about his dual loyalty. Another example of how the NDP aren't ready for prime time. Winning means not being so obviously and obliviously an idealist, the competition is just too intense at the top.
 

mentalfloss

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Let's say Mulcair wins, the Tories won't be able to stop talking about his dual loyalty. Another example of how the NDP aren't ready for prime time. Winning means not being so obviously and obliviously an idealist, the competition is just too intense at the top.

I forgot that doing a good job without judging someone by a piece of paper is idealism, but it's okay to do a **** job as long as you're Canadian.

The pragmatists are those focusing on the individual's performance objectives, not their citizenship.
 

dumpthemonarchy

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I forgot that doing a good job without judging someone by a piece of paper is idealism, but it's okay to do a **** job as long as you're Canadian.

The pragmatists are those focusing on the individual's performance objectives, not their citizenship.

That's a piece of paper that is extremely relevant for one aspiring to be a leader of a political party. It has little comment on ability. We judge on future intentions from past performance. Had Mulcair lived in a few countries for a few years, no problem. There is an issue of commitment here that makes a country different from a corporation and he doesn't seem to get it.

Most of us don't spend much time discussing political issues like people in think tanks, political parties and MPs do. China and Russia are distant new items that are not always pleasant. France is okay, one of the few, but still not Canada and vague. Any good news out of Africa lately? Somalia, Nigeria, Sudan(s)?

A good sign the old empire is fading and Canada has to look outward from itself, not tagging along with other old countries.
 

dumpthemonarchy

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Mulcair is now political toast if he doesn't renounce his NDP leadership aspirations over France wishing to elect a North American deputy to work in Paris. The party should ask him to go hide in his constituency office, or Mexico. This is all pain and no gain for the NDP. The French govt wants him to work for them. The French govt has rights over him now, he can decline of course, but the damage has been done.

France, Canada at odds over 'extraterritorial' election

A blog post on the website of the TV channel France 3 says that the French government asked Thomas Mulcair, the NDP MP in Montreal who is a dual citizen of France and Canada, to help it smooth out differences with Canada over the upcoming vote. "Then the Conservatives used the argument to denounce him as a political opponent doing the bidding of a foreign state," the site adds. Mulcair did not return a phone call for comment.

 

mentalfloss

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Mulcair is now political toast if he doesn't renounce his NDP leadership aspirations over France wishing to elect a North American deputy to work in Paris. The party should ask him to go hide in his constituency office, or Mexico. This is all pain and no gain for the NDP. The French govt wants him to work for them. The French govt has rights over him now, he can decline of course, but the damage has been done.

I say stick it out.

This is the perfect opportunity to prove that your citizenship is irrelevent.

If some how, the party gets destroyed in the next election because of a silly technicality, then we'll at least realize how stupid we were and won't make that same mistake again.

Anyway, there's only one mention of Mulcair in the article based on a blog post and it doesn't appear there's any loss of sovereignty or being a traitor or whatever..

A blog post on the website of the TV channel France 3 says that the French government asked Thomas Mulcair, the NDP MP in Montreal who is a dual citizen of France and Canada, to help it smooth out differences with Canada over the upcoming vote.
 
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Machjo

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Mulcair is now political toast if he doesn't renounce his NDP leadership aspirations over France wishing to elect a North American deputy to work in Paris. The party should ask him to go hide in his constituency office, or Mexico. This is all pain and no gain for the NDP. The French govt wants him to work for them. The French govt has rights over him now, he can decline of course, but the damage has been done.

France, Canada at odds over 'extraterritorial' election

A blog post on the website of the TV channel France 3 says that the French government asked Thomas Mulcair, the NDP MP in Montreal who is a dual citizen of France and Canada, to help it smooth out differences with Canada over the upcoming vote. "Then the Conservatives used the argument to denounce him as a political opponent doing the bidding of a foreign state," the site adds. Mulcair did not return a phone call for comment.

Does harper not spark a brainwave before he opens his mouth?

First off, as for international regulations applied over Canadian soil:

1. Consider that many international NGOs, including religious organizations, have worldwide elections, including in Canada. What's the difference between that and a country doing the same thing. In none of these cases do the NGO or French elections undermine Canadian laws. Even the Vatican, a state in its own right, exercizes authority over Canadian Catholic jurisdictions in conformity with Canadian laws. If anything, Harper is interfering in French elections in sticking his nose into this.

2. Some countries truly do try to apply their laws onto Canadian soil, such as the US banning US citizens from going to Cuba from Canada. We don't seem to hear a peep from that now do we.

And consider Canada's interference with foreign jurisdictions:

1. Canada can charge a Canadian citizen for paedophilia abroad. If Harper were serious about sovereignty, he'd scrap that law and instead just turn the perpetrator over to the government of the country in which the alleged crime occured.

2. Canada intervenes on behalf of Canadians on death row abroad. Again a violation of another nation's sovereignty.

So first off Canada itself violates other nations' sovereignty with some of its laws, and honestly a worldwide French election is no different from worldwide elections conducted by NGOs, including religious ones, around the world.

So, is Harper now going to propose that international NGOs be prohibited from conducting elections on Canadian soil too?

I'm sure a few worldwide religious organizations would love him for that :)

Does he realize the can of worms he could open here?
 

mentalfloss

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If "potentially divided loyalty" means Mulcair starts to like stinky French cheese instead of stinky Canadian cheese, then it doesn't really matter.
 

coldstream

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Oct 19, 2005
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It's about time Canada OUTLAWED ALL dual citizenship. New citizens will have to renounce their previous citizenship to gain Canadian status. That will ensure we have a nation of undivided loyalty to the Canadian state.. and will exclude these citizens of convenience who hold their status as backup in case they get sick.. or have to be rescued from a foreign crisis.. and never contribute anything to the Canadian nation.
 

mentalfloss

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Jun 28, 2010
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That will ensure we have a nation of undivided loyalty to the Canadian state.. and will exclude these citizens of convenience who hold their status as backup in case they get sick.. and never contribute anything to the Canadian nation.

You need to become a permanent resident in order to take advantage of healthcare.
 

dumpthemonarchy

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Does harper not spark a brainwave before he opens his mouth?

First off, as for international regulations applied over Canadian soil:

1. Consider that many international NGOs, including religious organizations, have worldwide elections, including in Canada. What's the difference between that and a country doing the same thing. In none of these cases do the NGO or French elections undermine Canadian laws. Even the Vatican, a state in its own right, exercizes authority over Canadian Catholic jurisdictions in conformity with Canadian laws. If anything, Harper is interfering in French elections in sticking his nose into this.

2. Some countries truly do try to apply their laws onto Canadian soil, such as the US banning US citizens from going to Cuba from Canada. We don't seem to hear a peep from that now do we.

And consider Canada's interference with foreign jurisdictions:

1. Canada can charge a Canadian citizen for paedophilia abroad. If Harper were serious about sovereignty, he'd scrap that law and instead just turn the perpetrator over to the government of the country in which the alleged crime occured.

2. Canada intervenes on behalf of Canadians on death row abroad. Again a violation of another nation's sovereignty.

So first off Canada itself violates other nations' sovereignty with some of its laws, and honestly a worldwide French election is no different from worldwide elections conducted by NGOs, including religious ones, around the world.

So, is Harper now going to propose that international NGOs be prohibited from conducting elections on Canadian soil too?

I'm sure a few worldwide religious organizations would love him for that :)

Does he realize the can of worms he could open here?

NGO and religious elections don't matter like the elections of a nation because those organisations are not based on military force, like nations are. Political power still emanates from the barrel of a gun, and govts have a monopoly of force in a nation. Efforts at colonialism by European countries have not ended. Elections to a national govt are not "soft power", they are hard power, no matter how pacifist one is.
 

Machjo

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Oct 19, 2004
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It's about time Canada OUTLAWED ALL dual citizenship. New citizens will have to renounce their previous citizenship to gain Canadian status. That will ensure we have a nation of undivided loyalty to the Canadian state.. and will exclude these citizens of convenience who hold their status as backup in case they get sick.. or have to be rescued from a foreign crisis.. and never contribute anything to the Canadian nation.

And what about First Nations passports?

Should we send them back to their own country too? Oh yes, i forgot. That's what reserves are for.

NGO and religious elections don't matter like the elections of a nation because those organisations are not based on military force, like nations are. Political power still emanates from the barrel of a gun, and govts have a monopoly of force in a nation. Efforts at colonialism by European countries have not ended. Elections to a national govt are not "soft power", they are hard power, no matter how pacifist one is.

Oh, the french government proposed sending troops to Canada?

And what about Canadian expats voting from abroad? Should we put an end to that too? What about Canadian soldiers, diplomats, businessmen, military family members, etc.? They should be banned from voting from abroad so as to not offend other nations' sovereignty in case they come to believe the election will mean we'll suddenly invade them militarily?

Paranoia abounds.

Oh yes, and what about the Vatican's Swiss Guards? So should we ban all catholics in Canada from participating in any Vatican election for popes in case the Swiss Guard decides to attack?