moved:
That, in the opinion of this House, the government should consider amending the Canada Elections Act in order to grant the right to vote to those residing in Canada with landed immigrant status.
Madam Speaker,it is indeed a pleasure for me to rise this evening to debate my private member's Motion No. 122. At the outset, I would say that I have been extremely fortunate in this parliament, since I joined the coalition in particular, to have motions and bills selected for debate. Of course it was not due to some prodding from my Progressive Conservative colleagues that I would say such a thing. I would have admitted that freely even if they had not prodded me to do so.
I am pleased to bring this motion before the House to be debated among all colleagues. After all that is one of the principal functions of this Chamber, a place in which to consider, to discuss and to exchange opinions and ideas. With this motion, that is what I am asking today. I propose that the House and this government consider amending the Canada Elections Act in order to grant the right to vote to those residing in Canada with landed immigrant status.
We are seeing unprecedented levels of voter apathy and voter disillusionment in the country. The credibility of our democratic and parliamentary institutions are in question by many Canadians. Their confidence that their opinions and that exercising their democratic rights will actually make a difference has been severely eroded in recent years. Why would their faith in our democratic process not be shaken?
In the 2000 general election, Canadians who actually voted for this so-called majority government were fewer than eligible voters who did not cast a vote at all. Furthermore, just 61% of eligible voters actually cast a vote in that election. It is sad to note that is an all-time low.
I could spend a very long time here listing the reasons why many Canadians have turned away from the electoral process such as a government that rules with empty promises and encourages arrogant disregard of basic democratic parliamentary and political processes, even within its own party.
However, I suggest we set aside the debate over how voter cynicism and apathy have reached such critical levels and move forward to find new ways and improved methods of boosting participation in the democratic process, otherwise we will continue on in this vicious downward cycle that is counterproductive to Canada's progress and evolution.
The need for democratic renewal also kick-started the initiatives recently proposed by the Progressive Conservative Democratic Representative coalition. That discussion paper on democratic reform is a co-operative and meaningful effort to resuscitate our political, democratic and parliamentary institutions. It includes substantial proposals and reforms that would empower those affected by the policies and decisions of the federal government; the people. In that same spirit of revitalizing democracy, I propose we discuss the merits of including landed immigrants who are permanent residents of Canada in our electoral process.
Throughout my political career, I have continued to be impressed by the active interest of landed immigrants in our affairs of state. Many of these immigrants have a keen desire to participate in the political process and to provide input into the government of their adopted country.
There are a number of reasons for this particularly elevated level of interest, including the fact that immigrants may be less likely to take democracy for granted. Most have chosen to live in Canada, as many of my colleagues will agree. When people have chosen a path or have made a very careful decision, they are much more likely to maintain interest in the consequences of that decision or more closely guard any benefits that arise from that choice.
In other cases, immigrants have originated from countries bereft of democracy or human rights. They may have seen horrible poverty and human suffering. They have a real appreciation for the quality of life in Canada and they wish to preserve it. The best way to preserve what one values is to become involved and make one's opinions known; to vote.
A landed immigrant is “a person who comes to settle in Canada as a permanent resident”. These individuals are part of our communities and part of our society. In 1996 there were nearly five million immigrants in our country. Their rights are equal to those of Canadian citizens in every way except one. They do not have the right to vote in a federal election. Imagine denying the entire city of Toronto or more than the population of British Columbia the right to democratic representation.
I propose that we ask ourselves whether their exclusion from the federal electoral process is justified. Landed immigrants work, they pay taxes, their children go to public schools, they have chosen to become permanent residents in Canada and they are participants in our society. Just like every Canadian citizen, their lives are affected by the decisions made at all levels of government including those before the House, decisions that will affect their present and their future and perhaps more important, their children's futures.
Many eventually will become Canadian citizens. In the meantime, is it justified to deny them a say in the future of their new country? If they do not plan on becoming citizens, and there are various legitimate reasons both practical and personal for such a decision, are we certain we wish to dangle the right to vote as some kind of a reward for choosing official Canadian citizenship? Is citizenship in our communities not enough, in and of itself?
Some undoubtedly will answer that yes, certainly the right to vote should be a privilege enjoyed only by citizens. That is fine. Again, I remind the House that I am encouraging this debate to bring all opinions forward. While the idea of granting voting rights to landed immigrants has not really been the subject of much consideration before, at least not in Canada, there are other countries where some non-citizens have the right to vote.
For example, there are a number of countries that grant the right to vote to non-citizen residents coming from specific countries only. In Australia, the United Kingdom, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, those holding citizenship in another Commonwealth country may vote, though all but the United Kingdom require minimum periods of residence in that country ranging from one year to seven years. Portugal grants voting rights, without residency requirements, to citizens of the European Union member states or Brazilian citizens carrying equal rights status.
However it is the voting eligibility rules of New Zealand which deserve particular note. New Zealand has the most inclusive view on voting rights of any other nation and we have very good reason for taking a good look at the example they have set. After all New Zealand was the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote.
There is even further reason to consider following their lead. Voter turnout in New Zealand's 1999 general election was 85%. As I reminded the House earlier, voter turnout in Canada's 2000 general election was just 61%. It was pretty dismal.
New Zealand must be doing something right in to garner such an impressively high participation level in its electoral process. No doubt it is partly due to the fact that everyone is made to feel as though they are part of the democratic process in New Zealand. Any resident 18 years of age and older who has been continuously resident in New Zealand for one year is eligible to vote. In the New Zealand perspective, if one resides in the country, one probably is paying taxes and contributing to the community. It then follows that one has the right to be involved in the political and democratic systems.
That raises issues of taxation without representation. Need I remind anyone that the independence of our great neighbour to the south was forged over this concept? Canada's landed immigrants are obligated as residents to pay Canadian income tax on their worldwide earnings. Are we justified in forcing them to pay taxes while denying them the right to help determine how that money is spent like all other taxpayers? I know how frustrated I would feel if I were denied any say in how my tax dollars were spent.
Though this issue of granting voting rights to landed immigrants has not been widely debated before now, I firmly believe that it will become a much larger subject of discussion in the near future.
One need only look at the census results which were released today in papers across the country. They show how much immigration means to our country because of the declining birth rate of Canadian citizens.
The world has changed and continues to change considerably with regard to immigration, trade and our increasingly international and mobile workforce. Nations are recruiting skilled workers from all over the world to fill shortages in entire sectors of their economies. Canada has been actively recruiting workers from other countries to fill vacancies in our high tech industry, for example.
As the worldwide trend toward a migrant workforce expands, we must consider all the implications. As increasing numbers of landed immigrants contribute to our labour force and we become more and more dependent upon them to lend expertise in certain sectors of our economy, do we continue to deny them the right to vote?
Landed immigrants have committed, in good faith, to participate and contribute to our country. I propose we indicate that we value that commitment by acknowledging that it is reasonable for them to ask for equal rights in every way, including the right to vote.