After years of battling the Canadian government, Joe Taylor ceased being a "lost Canadian" and was sworn in as a Canadian citizen in Vancouver.

On Thursday, Taylor received his certificate of citizenship as a result of a special ministerial grant from the Canadian government.

Taylor, 63, told CTV's Canada AM on Friday that it's taken him six years and $60,000 in legal costs to be recognized.

"I've always believed I was a Canadian. I didn't become a Canadian yesterday, I was recognized as a Canadian yesterday," Taylor said.

The son of a Canadian Second World War Veteran who landed on Juno Beach on D-Day and an English war bride, Taylor was born on Dec. 8, 1944.

Nearly three years later, the 1947 Canadian Citizenship Act came into effect and stated that any Canadians born outside of the country had to return to Canada and make it their home by their 24th birthday.

Taylor, living in England and unaware of the deadline, was effectively stripped of his citizenship. In 2002, he began the citizenship application process through Canada House in London.

His application was denied in 2005 because the government said he was born before his parents married, which prompted Taylor to take legal action.

"They (the government) didn't want me as a Canadian because I was born out of wedlock," Taylor said from Vancouver on Friday.

Taylor's father, Joe, was denied leave to marry Taylor's mother because he was fighting in the war.

Taylor won his initial case against the federal government, but last year, the Federal Court of Appeal overturned the ruling.

He describes the Canadian government's fight against him as "nonsensical," adding that he was surprised the government would use "vast amounts" of Canadian tax dollars to appeal the case.

On Dec. 4, Taylor accepted a special offer of citizenship from the Harper government on the condition that amendments will be made to Canada's Citizenship Act that will allow hundreds of thousands of "Lost Canadians" and war-bride children to become citizens.

"On behalf of the Government of Canada, I am proud to welcome Joe Taylor as a Canadian," Citizenship and Immigration Minister Diane Finley said Thursday in a statement.

"Our citizenship is one of the most valuable things we can possess. Mr. Taylor's father fought for our country, and today we awarded Mr. Taylor his citizenship."

According to the federal government, the proposed amendments to the Citizenship Act would mean:

  • Anyone who was born in Canada or who became Canadian on or after January 1, 1947, when the first citizenship act took effect, and who then lost his or her citizenship, would have their citizenship restored.
  • Anyone born to a Canadian abroad on or after January 1, 1947, if not already a citizen, would be recognized as a Canadian citizen from birth, but only if they are the first generation born abroad. The exceptions would be those who renounced their citizenship.

Bill C-37 will be on the agenda when Parliament resumes on Monday. Taylor contends the proposed amendment should not be a partisan issue when debated in the House of Commons.

"They should forget their differences; stop deciding whether it's the Liberals to blame or the NDP or the Conservatives. Let's just get together and pass that legislation as quickly as we can," he said.

Taylor is not the only person battling the Canadian government for recognition.

"Believe it or no, the total number of 'Lost Canadians' must be in excess of 200,000. They're not all war-bride children; there are others categories like the Mennonites and the border babies. There is a whole raft of different categories of Canadian," he said.

Border babies are individuals who have lived in Canada all their lives but were born in the United States because the closest hospital for their families was across the border.

According to the federal government, almost 200,000 people became Canadian in 2007.