Opinion. Re-thinking citizenship: (Un)healthy bodies and the canadian border

Abstract

The Canadian state screens potential citizens based on their physical and mental health in order to assess individuals’ likelihood of becoming contributive and productive members of Canadian society. Immigrants are not only screened as potential security risks in a traditional sense, but appear in Canadian discourse as threats to economic stability. These potential citizens are consequently screened and surveilled for health concerns. This essay examines these screening practices from a critical political science approach using Foucault's theory of biopolitics to evaluate the correlation between biopolitics – the governance of life – and immigration by focusing on Citizenship and Immigration (CIC) Canada's policy and legislative discourse. This essay argues that Canadian modern political subjectivity is predicated on the notion that citizens must be healthy in order to be truly political and to have political voice and agency. Finally, the essay calls for a re-conceptualization of the category of "citizen" in the modern Canadian state.