The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada requests ...

• Author: Mitchell, Teresa
• Position: Today's Trial

The ripples of change precipitated by the 2001 terrorist attack in New York City continue to spread throughout the world. One change that will soon affect many Canadians is a new law in the United States. It stipulates that by January 1, 2008, Canadians must produce a passport (or some sort of ID card) to enter that country. High-level diplomacy and protests by the Canadian government that this new requirement will hamper travel and trade have so far failed to move the Americans.

Passports have long facilitated ease of movement across borders. And, since 9/11, they have become increasingly handy as more and more events in our lives require the production of photo identification. Now, the change in American law dictates that our passports are about to become an indispensable part of our travel plans. But just because our passports sport our pictures and the unique details of our existences, it doesn't mean that our passports are our property. Recently, a Federal Court judge dealt with a case involving a Canadian passport and made some interesting comments.

Eliyahu Veffer is a young Canadian citizen who was born in Jerusalem on December 12, 1987. In his application for a passport, he indicated his place of birth as "Jerusalem, Israel". When he received his passport, however, it showed his birthplace as Jerusalem. His lawyer wrote to Passport Canada and asked that "Israel" be included in the place of birth field. Passport Canada replied, "The place of birth designation code[s] utilized in Canadian passports are set by the International Organization for Standardization which maintains the country list for the International Civil Aviation Organization. This United Nations organization establishes the standards for international travel documents. The Government of Canada has established that designation for individuals born in Jerusalem be indicated as Jerusalem alone and in full in the Canadian passport."

Mr Veffer asked for a judicial review of that decision and an order forcing the Passport Office to add Israel to his place of birth information. He acknowledged that the status of Jerusalem at international law is unsettled, but he stated, "I take pride that I was born in Jerusalem, Israel. My religion teaches me that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. This is an integral part of my religious belief and my personal identity." He claimed that the government's position violated his Charter rights to freedom of religion and equality under the...