Federal stand in Russian spy case would breed citizenship ‘uncertainty’: lawyers
OTTAWA — The federal government’s rationale for trying to deny Canadian citizenship to the Toronto-born son of Russian spies leads down an “absurd and purposeless” path, the young man’s lawyers argue.
They’re asking the Supreme Court of Canada to dismiss the government’s application for a hearing of the legal issues at the heart of the strange espionage saga that has left Alexander Vavilov, 23, in limbo.
Accepting the federal position “would result in uncertainty about an individual’s fundamental right to citizenship,” Vavilov’s counsel say in a brief filed with the high court.
The Supreme Court will announce in coming weeks whether it’s going to hear the case, though no date has been set for the decision.