{"id":3259,"date":"2019-03-11T10:02:49","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T10:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ccla.org\/?p=3259"},"modified":"2021-09-22T16:11:36","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T16:11:36","slug":"droits-de-vote-des-non-citoyens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ccla.org\/fr\/get-informed\/talk-rights\/non-citizen-voting-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Droits de vote des non-citoyens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t
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TalkRights features content produced by CCLA volunteers and interviews with experts in their own words. Opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent the CCLA\u2019s own policies or positions. For official publications, key reports, position papers, legal documentation, and up-to-date news about the CCLA\u2019s work check out “THE LATEST” section of our website.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div> \n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t

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BACKGROUND<\/h3>\n

In recent decades, the right to vote and meaningfully participate in the democratic process has widely been recognized as a fundamental right. While the right to vote has increasingly been extended to historically disenfranchised groups (such as women, inmates, and Indigenous peoples), citizenship remains a widely accepted limitation on the right to vote. As it stands in Canada, permanent residents are not permitted to vote at any level of government. Furthermore, Section 3 of the Charter, which guarantees the right to vote and run for office explicitly states that these are rights that are limited to citizens only. Nevertheless, recent proposals in\u00a0Toronto, Vancouver, and other Canadian municipalities<\/a>[1]<\/u><\/a>\u00a0to extend voting rights to permanent residents in municipal elections have brought the issue of non-citizen voting rights to the forefront. This article explores why the disenfranchisement of non-citizens matters, and the existing legal framework in Canada.<\/p>\n

WHY DOES IT MATTER?<\/h3>\n

As suffrage has expanded beyond race, sex, and class, non-citizens continue to be the largest adult group excluded from political participation. Yet, the exclusion of non-citizen residents from the democratic process has been widely accepted, since our conception of democracy and voting rights is so closely tied to citizenship. \u00a0Although many non-citizen residents pay taxes and own property where they live, they continue to be excluded from the democratic processes, leaving them politically powerless in decisions that have a direct impact on their livelihood. This group includes particularly vulnerable populations such refugees and temporary foreign workers.<\/p>\n

The practical implications for non-citizen resident disenfranchisement are significant., In municipalities like Toronto with one Canada\u2019s largest foreign-born population (nearly 1.3 million individuals<\/a>\u00a0in 2016), it means that \u00a0nearly half of the adult population is left politically voiceless. The disenfranchisement of a large portion of non-citizens who reside in a territory but are unable to participate politically leads to a problem of democratic legitimacy.<\/p>\n

CURRENT LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN CANADA<\/h3>\n

As it stands in Canada, no non-citizen is permitted to vote at any level of government, be it municipal, provincial, or fedral.\u00a0 The wording of\u00a0Section 3<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,\u00a0<\/em>which upholds democratic rights, explicitly states that voting rights are reserved for Canadian citizens, as\u00a0 it states,\u00a0\u201c<\/em>Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly and to be qualified for membership therein. \u201d\u00a0<\/em>The Supreme Court has interpreted the purpose of section 3 as to ensure that every citizen has a the right to play a meaningful role in the democratic process.[2]<\/a>\u00a0Democratic rights are thus one of the few\u00a0Charter<\/em>-protected rights that are only guaranteed to Canadian citizens.[3]<\/a>\u00a0While the current constitutional framework limits voting rights to Canadian citizens, this would not preclude municipalities from extending voting rights to non-citizen residents if there was the political will.<\/p>\n

WHO ELSE IS DOING IT?<\/h3>\n

Extending voting rights to non-citizen residents is not without precedent. As it stands, forty five democracies around the world have granted voting rights to foreigners, to varying degrees. While certain jurisdictions allow non-citizen residents to vote in national elections, the majority of democracies confine non-citizen voting rights to local levels.\u00a0\u00a0[4]<\/a>\u00a0 Furthermore, all jurisdictions that allow non-citizen voting have long-term residency requirements (this can range from one year to ten years), which disqualifies individuals like tourists, students, and temporary seasonal workers from voting.<\/p>\n

Examples of jurisdictions that allow non-citizen resident voting include the following:<\/p>\n