The Lost Canadians: A Struggle for Citizenship Rights Equality and Identity

When Vancouver-born Don Chapman was six years old he was stripped of his Canadian citizenship thanks to an arcane provision of the 1947 Canadian Citizenship Act. Years later he was stunned to discover that he couldnt return to his homeland and thus began his David and Goliath battle to change Canadas discriminatory citizenship laws. Hes since become the voice for hundreds of thousands of others like himself now collectively known as the Lost Canadians whose ranks have included such Canadian icons as Roméo Dallaire Guy Lombardo Leslie Nielsen Ricky Gervais and Nobel Prize winners Willard Boyle and Saul Bellow. Children born on military bases overseas were affected as were tens of thousands of Second World War brides and their children. Perhaps the most stunning of all: Canada doesnt recognize some living Second World War veterans as citizens. In riveting hard-hitting prose Chapman describes his fight to rectify this deep social injustice. He renders in heartbreaking detail the stories of Lost Canadians whove had their identities torn from them thanks to labyrinthine legislation bumbling bureaucracy disinterested politicians and a complacent media. After decades Dons quest has restored citizenship to around one million people. DON CHAPMAN was born in Vancouver B.C. but lost his Canadian citizenship 
as a six-year-old. Hes been fighting the government ever since becoming the face of the Canadian citizenship rights movement. He coined the phrase Lost Canadians that is now used widely to describe other Canadians in his position. He has testified several times before both the House and Senate and has been interviewed by major media outlets around the world including CBC television and radio CTV Macleans the National Post the BBC Le Monde The Economist Readers Digest the Wall Street Journal and the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. Hes also spoken at various universities and organizations worldwide. Chapman is a United Airlines pilot currently on leave. He blogs at www.lostcanadian.com.