Mark MacKinnon
I am Canadian – but now not as much as I used to be
On Monday, I lost my right to vote in the next federal election. So did some 1.4 million other Canadians, many of whom moved abroad to pursue their careers.
They are aid workers, teachers, business people, entertainers. More than a few names on Canada’s Walk of Fame were just deprived of part of their Canadian-ness because they followed their careers across a border.
Section Three of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms reads: “Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election of members of the House of Commons.” It follows that those of us without a right to vote feel a little less like citizens now.
It’s hard to understand why the government and now the Ontario Court of Appeal felt it necessary to again disenfranchise those Canadians who happen to live beyond the country’s borders. (The law barring expats who have lived abroad for more than five years from voting was initially introduced in 1993, then softened so that the clock reset after each visit home. Now – after a brief period during which the ban was ruled unconstitutional by the Ontario Superior Court – the tougher law is back.)
Is Wayne Gretzky, a primary resident of Southern California, still allowed to vote in Canada? It seems unlikely. What about Las Vegas-based Céline Dion, to pick another cultural icon and Companion of the Order of Canada?
No comments:
Post a Comment