Sunday, July 20, 2003

And speaking of Canada
Paul Stanway observes in the Edmonton Sun that Kazemi's death felt in Tehran, not Ottawa:
Of all the questions raised by the death of photojournalist Zahra Kazemi in Iran, not least is the practical one of how far Ottawa ought to go in demanding a thorough investigation and punishment of any wrongdoing? What does Canada owe a 10-year resident with dual nationality?
Not much apparently.
Legally, Canada's obligations to Kazemi are no different than for a second-, third- or fourth-generation Canadian. Ottawa is obliged to do everything it can to establish the facts surrounding her death and to demand that any wrongdoing is punished. Morally, too, it seems to me that Kazemi and her son deserve no less. There is no suggestion that her Canadian citizenship was a "flag of convenience." She had lived in Montreal for a decade and had been a citizen since the mid-'90s.

But the possibility of divided loyalty, not surprisingly, makes people uneasy. I also have two passports, Canadian and British, and when I became a Canadian (a very long time ago) several friends and relatives wondered why I didn't renounce my British citizenship - although there is no easy way to do that.
...
As a foreign correspondent in the Middle East a dozen years ago, I learned to rely on my British passport more than the Canadian. It offered better theoretical and practical protection.

I quickly found that Britain had a reputation for making a fuss in defence of its citizens. Canadian diplomats were friendly and helpful, but not inclined to make waves.
How nice.