Peerage Controversy and Citizenship
In 2001, British Prime Minister Tony Blair advised Queen Elizabeth II to confer on Black the dignity of a life peerage with the title of Baron Black of Crossharbour in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien gave the conflicting advice that a Canadian citizen should not receive a titular honour, citing the 1919 Nickle Resolution. Black at the time held both Canadian and British citizenship. After the Federal Court of Canada ruled against Black in his suit against Chrétien, Black renounced his Canadian citizenship in 2001, remaining a citizen of the UK. In a May 2012 interview with Peter Mansbridge, Black said he will consider applying for Canadian citizenship “within a year or two” when he hoped the matter would no longer be controversial and he could “make an application like any other person who has been a temporary resident.” The decision to grant or reject his application would be at the discretion of the federal Cabinet.
Read more about this topic: Conrad Black
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