Canada’s Conservatives seek to end citizenship by birthplace as Chinese maternity tourism booms
The policy resolution, adopted by the Conservative Convention, was attacked by the left-leaning NDP as an example of ‘division and hate’ that went beyond the tactics of Donald Trump
Canada’s opposition Conservative Party has voted at its convention to end citizenship by birthplace if neither of the child’s parents holds Canadian citizenship or permanent residency, in the face of a booming Chinese birth tourism industry in British Columbia.
“We encourage the government to enact legislation which will fully eliminate birthright citizenship in Canada unless one of the parents of the child born in Canada is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada,” said the Conservative resolution, passed in Halifax on Saturday.
Jagmeet Singh, leader of the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), said the Conservative measure was an example of “division and hate” that went beyond anything proposed by US President Donald Trump.
The non-binding policy resolution was supported by delegates including Alice Siu-Ping Chan Wong, the MP for Richmond Centre in BC. Richmond is at the centre of the practice of birth tourism, driven by mainland Chinese parents.
Hong Kong-born Wong had sponsored a 2016 petition to parliament seeking an end to birth tourism. But the ruling Liberals rejected the proposal. “While there may be instances of expectant mothers who are foreign nationals who travel to Canada to give birth, requiring that a parent be a citizen or permanent resident in order for their child to acquire citizenship through birth in Canada would represent a significant change to how Canadian citizenship is acquired,” said then immigration minister John McCallum in his official response.
Not all Liberals agreed: Joe Peschisolido, the Liberal MP for Steveston-Richmond East, is the sponsor of a new parliamentary petition calling for an end to the “abusive and exploitative practice known as ‘Birth Tourism’.”
“The practice of ‘Birth Tourism’ is fundamentally debasing the value of Canadian citizenship,” says the petition, which had received 10,882 signatures when closed on July 17. It has yet to receive a response.