by Harvey Oberfeld
October 4, 2019
Maybe Andrew Scheer and the Conservatives shouldn’t have made so much fuss about Justin Trudeau’s “blackface” shenanigans.
The Tory leader himself has been quite “red-faced” recently over revelations that, since birth, he has held DUAL Canada/US citizenship: holding BOTH Canadian AND American passports!
Scheer was born in Canada, as was his mother, but his father was an American citizen, qualifying the Tory leader for the dual status.
Scheer now admits he signed up for any potential “draft” into the US military, should Congress ever have decided Uncle Sam needed him.
And he has also filed US tax returns … as a US citizen is required to do.
Now, let’s keep it real: there is nothing that unusual about Canadians holding dual citizenships: more than a million actually do.
The HYPOCRISY, though, is what should embarrass Scheer and the Conservatives.
In 2005, when Michaelle Jean was being considered for Canada’s Governor General, Scheer raised the question: ““Does it bother you that she is a dual citizen (France and Canada)? Would it bother you if instead of French citizenship, she held U.S. citizenship?”
Friday, though, newly-exposed dual citizen Scheer had a different take on the issue: ““It’s not a big deal for a Canadian to have dual citizenship”.
So then WHY did he raise the issue when the Liberals were considering Jean as GG ? (By the way, she won the job and served as GG for five years?
And she was not the only “dual” Canadian who faced the Tories’ wrath.
Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper chastised NDP leader Thomas Mulcair over his dual Canadian/French citizenship in 2012 and the Tories also belittled Liberal leader Stephane Dion’s dual Canada/French citizenship.
“In my case, as I say, I’m very clear,” Harper said at the time. “I’m a Canadian and only a Canadian,” reported Global News.
Apparently, it DID matter to the Tories back then!
It was only after news reports surfaced that Scheer acknowledged his own dual citizenship … noting he had applied to renounce his American status … after he became Tory leader. The matter is in process.
The Conservative leader said he never mentioned his own personal dual situation … because no one had ever asked.
“There are millions of Canadians who have had one parent born in another country,” Scheer said Friday.
See … no big deal.
Then why do Tories keep bringing it up … when it pertains to their opponents?
