That is a strong argument in favor for giving non-citizen residents the right to vote. However it isn't really a good argument for disenfranchisement.
Although residents may be affected more by federal decision making, I am still affected in some cases. Not everyone is affected evenly. I cannot vote in provincial elections because residency reasons are much more justified at that level of affairs. It is similar as usually not being able to vote in another province.
I never actually lost my right to vote for that reason. I was just required to vote in person in Canada while others did not have to do this. Fortunately the supreme court exists to make sure my rights are not unreasonably violated.
Canada will not pass a law saying that non-residents cannot vote because it would require ammending the charter of rights which is too politically difficult for such a benign reason.
Revoking democratic rights will likely be viewed as a back door to tyranny and will definitely result in significant international condemnation. It's also an integral part of section 3 of the constitution and wasn't a minor detail that was overlooked like adding a 3rd gender option or changing the name of a province so it would be an exceedingly difficult amendment.
Bottom line, there are more important concerns facing residents and citizens.
I can see them making a special MP representing every single voter abroad. Even if it's heavily tilted, just one. That's it. It's silly that they assign non-residents a particular riding that they have nothing to do with.
I'm up in the air about the expat vote... as an expat, I've let my registration lapse... From a personal point of view, I've thought that I'm not following closely enough to make an informed judgement as to who I vote for... on the other hand, given our compulsory voting system, I still think I would make a more informed choice than most of the population anyway.
It is a flaw of our current system (compulsory... and otherwise) in that it presumes an informed and educated population... something that is definitely demonstrably not the case and a bad (but well meaning...) assumption. Sortition would for me be a better solution (at least for one house of parliament...), otherwise we have people voting for whoever will serve their best short term interests (bribes... otherwise known as tax cuts usually work well...).
It's definitely a heavy topic. Voting is complicated enough nevermind issues with residency, or worse political parties.
I sort of like the Australian system where voting is compulsory.
Voter reform was on the menu in Canada, but since only two parties ever have a shot at winning, neither of them are interested in changing it to PR. There was some talk about reforming the senate to be based on PR, but then you will end up with regionalism which would be nice for the people in the urban areas who tend to support.
I follow Canadian politics quite closely even as a non-resident, especially at the federal level.
One issue for me has always been with immigration. I really like the points system, it just seems to be the fairest thing. Points can also be altered.
You are right to say most voters are not informed. People do tend to vote for whoever will lower their tax or populists. People vote in their self interest and that is really easy to manipulate. I think the key is to try and find someone you support who is going to follow that old adage of 'do what is best for the country'. It's very difficult to find politicians who think like that.
It is flawlessly written and your arguments impeccably articulated ... all of with which I agree.
I, too, am an ex-pat Canadian. I have lived in Florida for almost thirty years ... I married an American and, although now divorced, this is where my daughter lives. Am I supposed to choose my right to vote in Canada over her?
I did not know about this legal change so thanks for the heads up.
I have to say, though, I don't know who I would vote for in Canada (definitely not Trudeau). I think politics throughout the Western world has become unhinged. So much now seems mired in progressive (Far Left) culture war issues and God forbid one asks for evidence-of-assertion prior to enshrining a thing into law. It's making everyone stupid. What happened to the Enlightenment?
BTW, I too could walk circles around most Canadians regarding Canadian politics. You see, I have gained access to a high-tech tool which I use to keep informed ... it's called the Internet.
Thanks.
Interesting situation you are in.
You just need a photo of Canadian ID to register and the link is easy to find on the elections site.
At this point I'm thinking of spoiling my ballot by just writing "thank you for bill C-76", but I may change my mind and choose someone once I know who is running in my old district.
I'm going to write a little about Canadian politics, but platforms will have to wait until they are clarified. Other than the new party which has no hopes anyway, I doubt there will be many changes.
I like JT for restoring my right, but he has been involved in a lot of serious scandals. He evaded voter reform, too.
I suspected you were an expat from an Anglophone country because your English was unexpectedly good for a native Korean living in Korea. In NE Asia, advanced foreign language skills are less common than in Europe.
I used to study and speak French but I am rusty from lack of use. Learning that to an advanced level in a barely-native setting was significantly easier than learning Korean to an intermediate level in an immersed setting. People from NE Asia have it just as difficult the other way around. Fortunately the Korean alphabet is awesome compared to most.
But I always appreciate it when people don't pick that up and compliment my ability to read and write 🤗
They say leaving was my choice and I forfeit my rights. Sometimes they will try to guilt trip me to return. That makes citizenship sound like a cult and rights sound like membership privilages. Or they view it as collateral damage.
The only way politicians can convince peolple that rights are not important is by deception, ignorance and fear mongering.
Most people dislike citizens of convenience using Canada to evade military duties or as a plan B in case of whatever. The situation doesn't affect them and they don't realize the situation affects people like me.
I don't tend to run around with a victim card on my sleeve screaming social justice or whatever.
The number 1 question I get from pretty much everyone is why did you leave Canada? It's incomprehensible to most Koreans and Canadians.
Usually, I just say it's quite nice in Korea. Koreans agree, Canadians are generally clueless. I don't go out of my way to change people's opinions unless they are into politically correct culture, then I tell them that question is a microagression.
I look at this as true expression of values. We always here stuff like voting is important. The right to vote is important. We're brainwashed to support it on the outside. Most people don't value rights unless they are easy to grasp. It's a complicated situation.
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It was an annoying situation. There isn't an obvious voting choice for me out of the 5 national parties. I will have tonwait a few more weeks before all their information is presented and debate start.
Canadian residents have to bear the consequences of your vote and you don't have to. How is that fair?
Posted using Partiko Android
That is a strong argument in favor for giving non-citizen residents the right to vote. However it isn't really a good argument for disenfranchisement.
Although residents may be affected more by federal decision making, I am still affected in some cases. Not everyone is affected evenly. I cannot vote in provincial elections because residency reasons are much more justified at that level of affairs. It is similar as usually not being able to vote in another province.
I never actually lost my right to vote for that reason. I was just required to vote in person in Canada while others did not have to do this. Fortunately the supreme court exists to make sure my rights are not unreasonably violated.
Canada will not pass a law saying that non-residents cannot vote because it would require ammending the charter of rights which is too politically difficult for such a benign reason.
Revoking democratic rights will likely be viewed as a back door to tyranny and will definitely result in significant international condemnation. It's also an integral part of section 3 of the constitution and wasn't a minor detail that was overlooked like adding a 3rd gender option or changing the name of a province so it would be an exceedingly difficult amendment.
Bottom line, there are more important concerns facing residents and citizens.
I can see them making a special MP representing every single voter abroad. Even if it's heavily tilted, just one. That's it. It's silly that they assign non-residents a particular riding that they have nothing to do with.
That would be a reasonable compromise and solve the issues with prisoners, too.
Unfortunately, JT lied about election reform.
I'm up in the air about the expat vote... as an expat, I've let my registration lapse... From a personal point of view, I've thought that I'm not following closely enough to make an informed judgement as to who I vote for... on the other hand, given our compulsory voting system, I still think I would make a more informed choice than most of the population anyway.
It is a flaw of our current system (compulsory... and otherwise) in that it presumes an informed and educated population... something that is definitely demonstrably not the case and a bad (but well meaning...) assumption. Sortition would for me be a better solution (at least for one house of parliament...), otherwise we have people voting for whoever will serve their best short term interests (bribes... otherwise known as tax cuts usually work well...).
It's definitely a heavy topic. Voting is complicated enough nevermind issues with residency, or worse political parties.
I sort of like the Australian system where voting is compulsory.
Voter reform was on the menu in Canada, but since only two parties ever have a shot at winning, neither of them are interested in changing it to PR. There was some talk about reforming the senate to be based on PR, but then you will end up with regionalism which would be nice for the people in the urban areas who tend to support.
I follow Canadian politics quite closely even as a non-resident, especially at the federal level.
One issue for me has always been with immigration. I really like the points system, it just seems to be the fairest thing. Points can also be altered.
You are right to say most voters are not informed. People do tend to vote for whoever will lower their tax or populists. People vote in their self interest and that is really easy to manipulate. I think the key is to try and find someone you support who is going to follow that old adage of 'do what is best for the country'. It's very difficult to find politicians who think like that.
@abitcoinskeptic,
Boy, am I ever glad I clicked on this post.
It is flawlessly written and your arguments impeccably articulated ... all of with which I agree.
I, too, am an ex-pat Canadian. I have lived in Florida for almost thirty years ... I married an American and, although now divorced, this is where my daughter lives. Am I supposed to choose my right to vote in Canada over her?
I did not know about this legal change so thanks for the heads up.
I have to say, though, I don't know who I would vote for in Canada (definitely not Trudeau). I think politics throughout the Western world has become unhinged. So much now seems mired in progressive (Far Left) culture war issues and God forbid one asks for evidence-of-assertion prior to enshrining a thing into law. It's making everyone stupid. What happened to the Enlightenment?
BTW, I too could walk circles around most Canadians regarding Canadian politics. You see, I have gained access to a high-tech tool which I use to keep informed ... it's called the Internet.
Great post.
Quill
Thanks.
Interesting situation you are in.
You just need a photo of Canadian ID to register and the link is easy to find on the elections site.
At this point I'm thinking of spoiling my ballot by just writing "thank you for bill C-76", but I may change my mind and choose someone once I know who is running in my old district.
I'm going to write a little about Canadian politics, but platforms will have to wait until they are clarified. Other than the new party which has no hopes anyway, I doubt there will be many changes.
I like JT for restoring my right, but he has been involved in a lot of serious scandals. He evaded voter reform, too.
I suspected you were an expat from an Anglophone country because your English was unexpectedly good for a native Korean living in Korea. In NE Asia, advanced foreign language skills are less common than in Europe.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Good guess. Some people don't notice.
I used to study and speak French but I am rusty from lack of use. Learning that to an advanced level in a barely-native setting was significantly easier than learning Korean to an intermediate level in an immersed setting. People from NE Asia have it just as difficult the other way around. Fortunately the Korean alphabet is awesome compared to most.
But I always appreciate it when people don't pick that up and compliment my ability to read and write 🤗
honestly? People really said that to you? 😄
They say leaving was my choice and I forfeit my rights. Sometimes they will try to guilt trip me to return. That makes citizenship sound like a cult and rights sound like membership privilages. Or they view it as collateral damage.
The only way politicians can convince peolple that rights are not important is by deception, ignorance and fear mongering.
Most people dislike citizens of convenience using Canada to evade military duties or as a plan B in case of whatever. The situation doesn't affect them and they don't realize the situation affects people like me.
I don't tend to run around with a victim card on my sleeve screaming social justice or whatever.
The number 1 question I get from pretty much everyone is why did you leave Canada? It's incomprehensible to most Koreans and Canadians.
Usually, I just say it's quite nice in Korea. Koreans agree, Canadians are generally clueless. I don't go out of my way to change people's opinions unless they are into politically correct culture, then I tell them that question is a microagression.
I look at this as true expression of values. We always here stuff like voting is important. The right to vote is important. We're brainwashed to support it on the outside. Most people don't value rights unless they are easy to grasp. It's a complicated situation.
To listen to the audio version of this article click on the play image.
Brought to you by @tts. If you find it useful please consider upvoting this reply.
Congratulations! Your post has been selected as a daily Steemit truffle! It is listed on rank 24 of all contributions awarded today. You can find the TOP DAILY TRUFFLE PICKS HERE.
I upvoted your contribution because to my mind your post is at least 2 SBD worth and should receive 119 votes. It's now up to the lovely Steemit community to make this come true.
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TrufflePig, an Artificial Intelligence Bot that helps minnows and content curators using Machine Learning. If you are curious how I select content, you can find an explanation here!Have a nice day and sincerely yours,
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Howdy sir abitcoinskeptic! Very interesting, amazing that it took so long to allow you to vote again but I'm glad they got that fixed!
It was an annoying situation. There isn't an obvious voting choice for me out of the 5 national parties. I will have tonwait a few more weeks before all their information is presented and debate start.
Oh wow, they have FIVE parties over there! I wish we had more than two. Well you would think that five would provide a great deal of adversity?
Canada and Korea have 5 which have a decent chance of getting at least one member in.
It gives you a lot of choice, but it also means there is strategic voting to make sure the guy you don't wamt stays out.