Canadian citizenship something 'I really felt I had to fight for,' says Toronto-born son of Russian spies

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A Toronto-born son of Russian spies says Canadian citizenship was "something I really felt I had to fight for," after a Supreme Court decision last week finally brought his nine-year legal battle to an end.

Alexander Vavilov was 16 years old when the FBI arrested his parents in 2010 for their involvement in a North America-based Russian espionage ring. 

They were elite spies for the KGB, the former Soviet secret police. Their real names are Elena Vavilova and Andrey Bezrukov, but they came to Toronto in the 1980s under the names Tracey Ann Foley and Donald Heathfield. Their story inspired the TV show The Americans, but Vavilov says he had no idea they were spies.

Vavilov was stripped of his American citizenship after his parents were arrested by the FBI in 2010. In 2014, he discovered his Canadian citizenship had also been revoked, and he has been fighting to get it back ever since.

The Canadian government argued that the Russian spies were equivalent to foreign diplomats, whose children would legally not be granted Canadian citizenship.

Last week the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously rejected that finding, meaning that Vavilov can permanently reside in Canada, where he was born.

Vavilov spoke to The Current's guest host, Michelle Shephard, about the decision. Here is part of their conversation. 

Let's start with how you're feeling right now. You've had about a week to be in Canada, in Toronto, knowing that no one can take your passport.

Yes, I mean, it's been very different than previously when I've been back, just because I have the certainty that it's all over. It's a great relief to be done with these 10 years of fighting to keep my citizenship and the struggles I've gone through.

Take us back to when this all started. So it's 2010, and at that point you're living with your parents and your older brother, Tim, in Boston.

Yes.

What happened that day when the FBI came crashing in?

So it was actually my brother's 20th birthday where the FBI came bursting through the doors and arrested my parents. I mean, it was a huge shock, which, you know, at first I didn't even take seriously. I kind of was laughing about it. I thought it was one big joke or misunderstanding. You know, I thought they had the wrong house. I thought they confused whatever my parents' consulting work was with espionage. I had no idea what was going on.

When did it really sink in — "Wow, my parents are Russian spies"?

It only really sank in when I was on the plane, finally going to Moscow and kind of not knowing if anybody would meet us there, and having just this sheer uncertainty. It's only at that point that I quite realized that, yeah, my parents probably are Russian spies.

Were you deported with them or were they still in custody?

No they were still in custody. So my brother and I left a little bit earlier, kind of trying to escape this media attention. 

And so even when we arrived in Moscow, we had to meet like a grandmother I had never recognized or I met family members I didn't know I had. And it was kind of a huge, surreal experience. 

What was the relationship like with your parents?

The first time I saw them back in Moscow, we stayed up all night discussing all sorts of things, notably a lot of questions about their childhood and their upbringing. My parents [had] never really talked much about their childhood. Now, I finally understood why.

But it was a long process to understand their motivations, the side of them that I hadn't known growing up. Of course, they were still the same people. You know, your character doesn't magically change overnight based on your citizenship or anything. 

And was there at any point anger or tension there?

Yes. I mean, there were some difficult points, specifically relating to their choices having such a profound impact on my life and forcing me into many difficult situations. I know my parents also suffered seeing what had happened to me and my brother. 

Eventually we've come to kind of an understanding. I think you can eventually forgive when you understand the reasons behind people's motivations ... even if I don't always agree. 

And what's it been like for you in the time that you've been fighting this epic legal battle?

I started the battle almost immediately after I came to Russia. So I tried to renew my passport. I went through many different procedures, including a name change, which people still struggle to pronounce — myself included, when I first heard the name.

And then I faced some issues travelling, partially because it's a very politicized situation. And I feel like a lot of countries have taken it out on me.

My brother and I are innocent and we were just trying to live normal lives. So to be kind of caught in the cross hairs of all this political intrigue, it's been very difficult. 

And why was it so important to have Canadian citizenship? 

Being Canadian was ... a cornerstone of my life. You know, I grew up being born in Canada, identifying myself as a Canadian, and even when I was living in the U.S. or France, I felt Canadian. I would tell my classmates who went on a trip to Canada places to go. I remember even, my brother won a competition at the Canadian consulate in Boston drawing a comic about Canadian values. 

And it is crazy to think that then, after all this lifetime of being Canadian, the government tried to take this away from me … so it's something I really felt I had to fight for. 

That was a huge relief also to see just how much the court kind of sided with us and followed our rationale. So I'm very relieved and happy about the decision.

On the other hand, I'm not sure I should have had to go through nine years of fighting for something that I was entitled to from my birth.

Written by Allie Jaynes, with files from The Associated Press. Produced by Samira Mohyeddin.