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It’s been a week since my TVA colleague Annie Dufour broke the story of Thomas Mulcair holding Canadian and French citizenship while vying to be Prime Minister of Canada. Mulcair told TVA that he was keeping both citizenships and said he saw no conflict.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said it is up to Mulcair to decide what to do about his own citizenship.
“Just to be clear, these cases have come up in the past, and obviously it’s for Mr. Mulcair to use his political judgment in this case,” Harper said. “In my case, as I say, I’m very clear. I’m a Canadian and only a Canadian.”
You know by now that Mulcair wasn’t happy with that response from Harper and told Canadian Press that, “It’s a reflection of profoundly parochial and insular thinking.”
Which brings me to the parochial and insular NDP. It seems that while being a citizen of two countries is just fine by Mulcair, being a member of two political parties in wrong. This according to the NDP’s own constitution.
Membership: for the purposes of federal individual membership in the province of
Quebec, membership shall be open to every resident of Quebec, regardless of race,
colour, religion, sex or national origin, who undertakes to accept and abide by the
constitution and principles of the Federal Party and who is not a member or
supporter of any other federal political party.
Hmmm…this would seem hypocritical. If I can be Canadian and French or German or Saudi or Congolese serve as prime minister then why can I not be an NDP member and a Conservative member at the same time? Of course we already know what several NDpers thought about this issue the last time it came up.
It really does hurt the senses trying to figure that one out.
As I have said several times on TV and talk radio, this is not about Mulcair alone, there is a bigger issue here of what loyalty is owed to Canada by any politician. Would we accept an American or Saudi dual citizen?
Mulcair also claims that Harper’s comments show that he doesn’t support immigrants. Is there a difference though between someone who comes to Canada from another country and makes this their home and someone who is born here and then pledges allegiance to a foreign power? I’d say so.