The premier isn't a fan of letting non-citizens vote in municipal elections. ⇒
25 October 2006, lunch time
As the Star points out, you can live in Calgary, own a condo in Toronto, and as such vote in Toronto.
This is a post from my link log: If you click the title of this post you will be taken the web page I am discussing.
Can you also vote in Calgary them? If so then that’s a loophole.
Non-citizens voting seems a bit dubious. Is there any precedent for it? My understanding is that it’s fairly standard throughout the World that voting rights are reserved for citizens. (And if you want to vote, but can’t because you aren’t a citizen, why is that such a problem; just become a citizen).
by Ryan on October 26 2006, 1:09 am #
I don’t think it’s dubious for non-citizens to vote. If you pay taxes and generally participate in a society, why not be able to vote, especially in a municipal election, which is highly localized.
Non-citizen voting rights are not that uncommon around the world as I found out:
http://www.immigrantvoting.org/material/TIMELINE.html
by mk on October 26 2006, 1:42 am #
The Star has a report on this, with reactions from minority groups — who would be happy with the decision. It takes 4 years to become a citizen, so it isn’t like we are marginalizing a person for a long period of time. In that time you will probably get a good sense of what it means to be a Canadian and live in Canada. As Mezan points out though, a municipal election isn’t going to be dealing with foreign policy issues, health care issues, etc. I think if you know about your neighbourhood, you live there, you should be able to vote.
by ramanan on October 26 2006, 2:02 pm #
I agree with Mezan that they should probably be able to vote in local elections without being a citizen on a rational basis.
However, there are a number of reasons why I don’t think it would necessarily benefit anyone, especially the voters.
- It may reduce their motivation to become citizens, especially if they don’t feel connected to the political issues affecting the country as a whole. – It reinforces some of the insular attitudes of new immigrants from certain cultures. – Politically it would be dangerous, as actual citizens would complain that their rights are being diluted. – Agreeing with Ramanan’s point, it would take time to understand the local issues, as in the beginning you would be highly biased towards your own conditions. – Some people that don’t become or can’t become citizens, indeed don’t pay taxes. (I know some very well do, but lots do not.)
by Victor on October 26 2006, 6:51 pm #