Young Surfing Sensation Achieves Canadian Citizenship and Aims for Olympic Glory
Teenage surfing prodigy Erin Brooks has won her fight for Canadian citizenship, opening the door for her to compete for Canada at the Paris Olympics.
The 16-year-old Ms. Brooks was born in Texas and grew up in Hawaii but has Canadian ties through her American-born father Jeff, who is a dual American-Canadian citizen, and her grandfather who was born and raised in Montreal.
Ms. Brooks’ citizenship bid was initially turned down. But Immigration Minister Marc Miller had a change of heart after a December ruling by Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice that it is unconstitutional for Canada to deny automatic citizenship to the children of foreign-born Canadians who grew up abroad.
The Brooks family then refiled their application under a hardship status, based on the recommendation of the Immigration Department, to accelerate the process.
“I love Canada. I have never been prouder to wear the Maple Leaf,” Erin Brooks said in a statement released by the family. ”To Minister Marc Miller and MP Jenny Kwan, you have changed my life. I believe that I will do something truly special for my country thanks to your gift of citizenship.”
Ms. Kwan, the NDP’s immigration critic, helped advocate for Ms. Brooks.
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Author Don Chapman, who has spent years working to change the existing citizenship laws, broke the news to the young surfer by phone.
