Adam Johnson
Northern News Services
Friday, July 13, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - One Yellowknifer is shaking his head at delays that have held up his attempts to become a Canadian citizen.

Chaka Rukobo has been living in Yellowknife for five years, where he is education/service officer for the Union of Northern Workers.

Chaka, at left, and Nokuthula Rukobo show off Anotida, a CD of Zimbabwean choral music that was produced and illustrated in the North last year. Chaka is concerned about months-worth of delays on his application to become a Canadian citizen in the North. - NNSL file photo

Originally from Zimbabwe, Rukobo first applied for Canadian citizenship in January 2006. His problem, he says, is that the next annual citizenship ceremony in Yellowknife is scheduled in September, a total wait time of 20 months.

Normal processing time is 12-15 months, according to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) website.

"(In Yellowknife) we all pay the same fees as in the rest of the country," he said.

"I think it's really up to the federal government to make sure we get the same service as everyone else in the country."

Randy Gurlock, director of Citizenship and Immigration Canada for Edmonton, Northern Alberta and the Northwest Territories, said his office mostly stays within the 12-15 month average.

"Our standards are the same as the rest of the country," he said.

However, delays can happen.

"There are any number of reasons why that could be," he said, citing incomplete applications, missing information or delays due to background checks.

While Rukobo said he has contacted CIC on several occasions, he said little has come of it.

"You don't get any firm answers," he said.

Rukobo said he contacted MP Dennis Bevington as well, who could only confirm the September date for the ceremony.

At present, citizenship ceremonies are held once a year in Yellowknife. The last one was in August 2006, granting 106 people citizenship - double the previous year's total.

By comparison, Gurlock said the Edmonton office grants 8,000 citizenships a year.

"It's a matter of amassing enough clients to make a trip worthwhile," he said. "We have to be careful how we use our resources."

Rukobo said his delays make him concerned for other people who are waiting, including some whose foreign passports have expired.

"I'm sure there are many other people in Yellowknife that are in similar position," he said. "They're basically stuck here."

Gurlock said special provisions can be made for people who need to travel, or have other pressing needs. Those people can be brought to Edmonton to go through the ceremony there.

"We're willing to go out of our way to take care of urgent situations," said Gurlock.

Last year, Rukobo released a CD of Zimbabwean choral music in memory of his mother, Lavinia Makuzva, who followed him from Zimbabwe in 2005.

Makuzva died of cancer soon after. Proceeds from the CD - which was mastered and designed in the North - went towards the purchase of music equipment for the Kambuzuma Methodist Choir in Harare, his mother's choir.