Date: 19980421
Docket: T-1655-97
IN THE MATTER OF THE CITIZENSHIP ACT,
R.S.C., 1985, c. C-29
AND IN THE MATTER OF an appeal from the
decision of a Citizenship Judge
AND IN THE MATTER OF
BOU-YOU CHEUNG,
Appellant
REASONS FOR ORDER
ROULEAU, J.
[1] The appellant appeals the decision of a Citizenship judge rendered on June 17, 1997, refusing her application for Canadian citizenship on the basis she did not have an adequate knowledge of Canada and the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship as required by paragraph 5(1)(e) of the Citizenship Act. The Citizenship judge also declined to make a recommendation under subsection 15(1) of the Act requesting that the Minister exercise her discretion under subsection 5(3) or 5(4) to grant citizenship on compassionate grounds or for reasons of special hardship.
[2] The appellant was born in Canton, China, on July 13, 1961. She arrived in Canada on December 17, 1980 accompanied by her eventual husband and was granted permanent resident status the same day. She married in October, 1984 and she now has three children in this country. She is gainfully employed in a garment factory. Her husband and her three children are all Canadian citizens. She has extreme difficulty understanding and speaking English but her husband acted as her interpreter and it was my observation that she was able to answer most of the questions put to her by the amicus curiae without the benefit of any translation.
[3] As was summarized by the amicus curiae, she correctly answered 15 of 25 questions that were put to her during the course of her examination. She named nine of the ten Canadian provinces; she knew there are two territories; she knew that the capital of Canada is Ottawa; she was aware that there were three levels of government, municipal, provincial and federal; when asked what services were provided by the provincial government, her answer was "medicare". She was aware that if she became a Canadian citizen she would acquire the right to vote. She knew that the leader of Canada is Mr. Chrétien and was aware that he represents the Liberal Party in Parliament. When asked particulars about British Columbia, she was aware that the Premier is Mr. Clark; she was able to name the mayor of Burnaby, where she presently resides. She confirmed that there are two official languages in Canada, English and French; that the colours of the flag are red and white, that the symbol is the maple leaf and that July 1 is Canada's birthday. When asked about business in British Columbia, she was aware that the primary businesses are lumber, mining and fishing. Geographically she knew that the Pacific Ocean is along the B.C. coast. Her main difficulty was understanding the interpretation of what were her responsibilities and duties as a Canadian citizen to which she replied that one had to be good and respect and help others. Though these cannot be difficult questions to understand, I can well imagine when attempting to translate them into Cantonese they would create an almost insurmountable difficulty.
[4] The amicus curiae was satisfied with the efforts that this appellant had evidently made since her appearance before the Citizenship judge. She obviously has studied very hard and I hereby recommend this appellant be granted citizenship.
JUDGE
OTTAWA, Ontario
April 21, 1998