MONTREAL, July 12 (UPI) -- The French government told a Montreal newspaper a Quebec woman seeking French citizenship based on ancestral history is out of luck.

The Gazette ran a story Friday about Marie Mance Vallee's bid to acquire French citizenship because her family arrived in Quebec in the 1650s and she has no sense of affiliation with Canada.


After the story was published, the French consulate in Montreal e-mailed the newspaper saying she isn't eligible for French citizenship because France lost the battle of the Plains of Abraham to Britain, and "anyone who lost citizenship because of a treaty or the cessation of territory is not eligible to reclaim their citizenship."

However, the consulate e-mail said under certain circumstances, some people whose ancestors came from France after the 1763 signing of the Treaty of Paris could regain their citizenship. The treaty officially ceded Quebec to the British.