Although Zündel lived in Canada for more than 40 years prior to moving to the United States, he never gained Canadian citizenship. Applications for citizenship were rejected in 1966 and 1994 for undisclosed reasons. On his return to Canada, he had no status in the country as he was not a citizen and as his landed immigrant status had been forfeited by his prolonged absence from the country. When returning to Canada, Zündel claimed refugee status in hopes of preventing his deportation to Germany. This claim elicited public ridicule; Rex Murphy, a columnist for "The Globe and Mail" and a well-known commentator on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, wrote, "If Ernst Zündel is a refugee, Daffy Duck is Albert Einstein  ... Some propositions are so ludicrous that they are a betrayal of common sense and human dignity if allowed a moment's oxygen."