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Denise Tessier

Kafkaesque citizenship laws bestow rights, and take them away

Navigating the extensive family of Canadian citizenship laws leaves a paper cut that could shred a moose. There is the son, Bill C–37, (male personal pro-noun intentional); the father, 1977...

Minors, lunatics, idiots...and women

The repercussions of gender based discrimination in Canada’s Citizenship Act was under the radar in most circles until the late 2000's, when the United States government declared that Canadians...

Denying the deserving a right to call Canada home

Paul Martin Sr., the father of former Canadian Prime Minster of the same name, minus the suffix, didn’t know he was on a quest for a symbol to represent "the character of Canada", but he found one,...

Daughter of Canadian father and war bride, resident in nation for 62-years, but still not "Canadian"

“Bastard,” she says. Denise Tessier, 64, a retired BC Rail administrator living in Quesnel, B.C., makes a sound that could be mistaken for a sob. It’s a laugh. “My sister and I were born out of...