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“To explicitly deny rather than affirm a right enshrined under the Charter would serve as a signal to all minorities that no longer can they look to the nation’s leader and to the nation’s Constitution for protection, for security, for the guarantee of their freedoms. We would risk becoming a country in which the defense of rights is weighed, calculated and debated.”

–Paul Martin, Jr. to Parliament

Dear fellow Canadians,

Those of you who are familiar with my case, you are fully aware that on September 29, 2006, the Canadian Government appealed Federal Judge Luc Martineau’s decision, thereby refusing to acknowledge that I am a Canadian citizen. My case has enormous ramifications, affecting everyone who ever lost their Canadian status. In fact, it demonstrates the tremendous need for Canada to update their current citizenship act, bringing it into compliance with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

How this affects you:

Judge Martineau basically threw out the loss provisions of the old citizenship acts. In other words, for all those people who were once Canadian citizens, the court was stating that the loss provisions were invalid, therefore you would be recognized once again as being a Canadian citizen. For the Lost Canadians who fall under Bill S-2, this means that your children would have been born to a Canadian parent, hence they too could claim Canadian citizenship.

For all other Canadians, I appeal to your sense of what it means to be Canadian. Let me borrow the words from a former Prime Minister, “we…have an obligation to take the widest perspective -- to recognize that one of the great strengths of Canada is its respect for the rights of each and every individual, to understand that we must not shrink from the need to reaffirm the rights and responsibilities of Canadians in an evolving society.”

How you can help:

After a year long legal case costing me personally between $30,000 and $40,000, the government knows that my pockets are not as deep as theirs. They have unlimited funds to fight me, an individual, while they use taxpayer money. And if that’s not enough, the same week the government chooses to appeal my decision, they announce an end to the Charter Challenge fund. Set up specifically to challenge Charter issues like mine, the government systematically eliminated the little guy from standing up to legal injustices like my citizenship challenge.

It really pains me to ask, but since my case affects each and every Canadian, the only way I can possibly continue fighting is to solicit donations for my legal fund. Anything, however small, is greatly appreciated.

Cheques should be payable to:

"Joe Taylor in Trust - Legal fees"
The account is held at Royal Bank of Canada
1079 Douglas Street
Victoria
B C
V8W 2C5
Bank transit no: 08000
Bank number: 003
Account number: 525-448-7

Thank you to everyone who sees this as a great injustice, and of course for those of who are able to support me financially. I intend to win this case, and hopefully it will benefit many others who have been wrongfully stripped of their citizenship.

Yours gratefully,

Joe Taylor

I am not aware that this fund will be tax deductible for anybody but I intend to refund as much as possible of any surplus in the event that costs are awarded at the end of the case. I must warn everybody that there is no certainty of this and that costs awarded are usually less than the actual costs incurred so please view any payment you do make as written off. Once again thank you for your true support.

Comments from a Parliamentary Press conference regarding the Taylor case:

Ottawa, October 4, 2006

“We need an updated Citizenship Act, and we need justice for people like Joe Taylor.” – MP Andrew Telegdi, former Parliamentary Secretary, Citizenship & Immigration. Former chairman, Standing Parliamentary Committee, Citizenship & Immigration.

“The citizenship-application process also needs to be revised to recognize the status of people born to Canadians serving overseas from 1947 to 1977.” – NDP MP Bill Siksay, Citizenship & Immigration Critic.

“The people at CIC are bureaucratic terrorists.” – Senator Romeo Dallaire, himself the son of a Canadian War Bride, commenting about the Taylor case.

joetaylor@shaw.ca

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