My city? Not so much if you're a landed immigrant

The discussion of allowing landed immigrants to vote during the municipal elections is nothing new. The Star covered it. David Miller is supportive of it. The Maytree foundation has a whole campaign based on this issue.

The reason I bring it up is because it is something that is close to me. A little over a month ago, I took one of the most important steps of my life: becoming a citizen of Canada. It was a powerful moment. I can now sing “O Canada” proudly as an accepted son of this great country. I can vote for all levels of the government, run as a candidate, apply for federal jobs and travel anywhere without being harassed by custom agents (most of the times).

And I am grateful for all of that, among the many other things.

My life as a resident of Toronto, though, is more or less the same. Except for the fact that -- for the first time ever -- I can participate fully in the upcoming municipal elections, my morning after the citizenship ceremony was the same as the ones of the last six years.

In no specific order, here are some highlights of my life since 2003 (the year I became a Landed Immigrant):

• Helped 25 youth get a unique summer employment experience in Toronto through my work
• Volunteered (4), attended and supported almost all of the major festivals that took place in the city
• Helped youth in the city become advocates for their health, rights and opportunities
• Became a 2010 DiverseCity Fellows member
• Organized and attended various rallies and actions (political, environmental, educational…)
• Helped organize cleanup events last year during the city workers’ strike and in 2008’s Earth Day
• Helped many newcomer immigrants, and other marginalized communities, become more included and engaged in their community
• Attended almost all Canada Day celebrations and picnics hosted by local dignitaries
• Helped raise funds for various charity drives and foundations
• Organized a major festival in Parkdale attended by over 600 people
• Enjoyed the wealth of restaurants, shops, cafes, galleries, parks … of Toronto
• Paid my taxes
• Etc, etc.

I hope this doesn’t come across as me showing off how awesome I am. We’ll cover that in some other post. Rather, it’s to show that I was offered all kinds of opportunities to be an engaged resident of this city. Not only that, but I was also active in many areas that helped sustain Toronto and make it a better, more vibrant city.

In the past six years, two municipal elections took place in which I couldn’t cast my vote. Since 2004, 7360 city bylaws were passed that affected my life as a Torontonian, all without me ever having a chance to voice my opinion in any meaningful way.

This year, I am fortunate enough to have a chance to finally say my piece and follow through on my responsibility of being a citizen. My dad won’t, even though he owns a house and is as active as I am in his community in Etobicoke. Neither will my friend who’s lived in Toronto for over five years. Neither will 263,000 other people like her. And if I didn’t get my citizenship this year, neither would I.

I am lucky in that my application was processed in six years. There are many who desperately want to be Canadian citizens whose papers will take much longer to get through, for various reasons, some of which that are beyond their control. For some, that letter inviting them to the citizenship ceremony will never arrive.

The history of progress is marked by the high points of people achieving the right to participate in that most cherished cornerstone of all democratic societies: voting. Women were allowed to vote in Canada 92 years ago. The Civil rights movement sparked a generation whose ideas and values are still resonant and reverberating today.

I don’t mean to say that the significance of those landmark moments then and this issue now is the same. But there are similarities in all three cases that are hard to ignore, namely that of exclusion and disparity of rights.

In an upcoming election where the same old tired complaints of voter apathy, disconnected wards and the lack of new faces among the political elites are loud and true, I can’t help but wonder if that would be mitigated by allowing the strong and active immigrant population to vote for changes that they deserve in the Toronto that they call home.

In the spirit of leadership, inclusion and a better Toronto for all, this is one step that is long overdue.

[Be sure to visit www.ivotetoronto.org for more info about this, and what you can do to help.]

About Gelek Badheytsang

Comments

[landed immigrant 262999]

As a landed immigrant myself I fully agree. Somewhat of a case of Taxation without Representation. One advantage though: I don't qualify for jury duty

[Lu Liu]

I was a landed immigrant and applied and got my citizenship back in 2008. If I remember correctly, the only thing that stopping a landed immigrant from getting citizenship is that you need to stay in Canada for 3 out of 4 years. On the other hand, you only need to stay in Canada for 2 out of 5 years to retain permanent resident status. Besides, the application process time for me and all my friends who have applied is less than a year. As such, I could not agree with you to have people who only live here for 2 out 5 years to have a say or it would seem to unfair for people who stay in this country much longer.

[This is Canada]

No and you know what you can do if you don't like it.

[sandy]

NO WAY! If you are too lazy to do the work required to become a citizen, then you do not deserve to vote. It is a right - for CITIZENS, not for residents unwilling to commit to the country by becoming citizens.
If you want to vote, become a citizen, or go back home.

[JC]

The immigration process from permanent resident to landed immigrant and finally to Canadian citizenship is one that allows newcomers to be fully immersed in Canadian society. Along with Canadian Citizenship comes with additional duties and responsibilites that should not be taken lightly. This includes the right to vote, the right to hold a Canadian passport and the possibility of being conscripted into military service should the need arise. Landed Immigrants selected to become Canadian Citizens shall have to make a final decision whether they would like to be a permanent part of our society without any external ties or allegiances to any other nation. Similarly, dual citiznehip should not be allowed in Canada but that is another topic for another day.

[Lyle Belkin]

This idea is completely misconceived as long as the world remains divided into nation states. If non-citizens of our nation state can vote then citizenship becomes devoid of almost all meaning. Canadians are not known as aggressive flag waivers, but hopefully we are not too shy to assert that nation state of Canada belongs to Canadian citizens, and it is only Canadians who have the right to make decisions about Canada. Regarding voter "apathy", the right to vote and participate includes the right not to vote or participate, and people who chose not to do so are well within their rights as citizens. The root of the author's concern seems to be delays that make the citizenship process too lengthy, so that the solution lies in fixing any such delays he perceives as being unwarranted, and not in removing all meaning from the very citizenship to which he has aspired.

[Frank]

Should landed immigrants be allowed to vote: ABSOLUTELY NOT. Only those with full Canadian citizenship should be allowed to vote, regardless of level of gov't. No other country in the world would allow an non-citizen to vote. Anyone who immigrates to Canada should be expected to go through the normal processes & then when they become citizens they will have access to all the benefits of living & being a citizen here. NO CITIZENSHIP - NO VOTE.

[Virgo]

I don't agree with this. Voting rights come with citizenship not landed immigrant status. Otherwise whats the point of getting your Canadian citizenship? Voting is one of the key motivating factors and as a citizens I dont want my country, my city/town, my province being influenced to people who aren't citizens. They don't know enough about the country or city to have the right to influence it. Voting is a privilage and Im sorry if you have to wait to do it but most privilages in life require a waiting period!

[jabalong]

I'm sorry, but to me allowing landed immigrants to vote is putting the cart before the horse. Voting is a right and responsibility of citizenship and shouldn't be handed out lightly. There's a reason citizenship itself isn't given out right away, but something that's conferred once someone has proven themselves as a landed immigrant (at least in the sense of what the government considers a sufficient threshold). Consider it a test run. So why would we give voting rights to people that if just landed? It doesn't make sense to rush it. A landed immigrant is like a guest in a house - they should be well treated but they don't get to say how the house is run. But once you get citizenship, then you cease being a guest and become an equal member of the household, at which point you get the right to have your say through voting. To my mind, this makes sense and is how it should remain.

[Jah Doh]

NO. NO. NO. NO. The right to vote is the most sacred among the rights of citizens, no matter what level of government. It is earned through knowledge of and participation in the society. That's why all nations in the world require prospective citizens (landed immigrants, in our case) to spend a certain number of years to gain an understanding of the laws and issues of the land. In fact, here in Canada, we have among the lowest waiting periods in the world. In other countries, it can be as much as seven years before you can even file for citizenship. We can't be handing immigrants voting cards along with their landed papers!

[Fefe]

while i am completely supportive of anyone who comes to this country with the primary reason of wanting to integrate, and become a citizen, i dont believe all landed immigrants should have the right to vote. unfortunately there are just too many people who come here with a sense of entitlement, and come to cheat the system. its terrible for the people who actually do want to have a voice, and do want to take part in becoming a citizen, and enjoying all the rights and freedoms that comes with being a citizen. If you want to vote, show you are serious, and become a citzen.

my boyfriend is a landed immigrant, here for 21 years, speaks unaccented english, and is not a visible minority. he is a homeowner, and has had the same job for 7 years. should he get a vote, despite the fact he is here for majority of his life? nope. especially because his reasoning is "he doesn't want to lose his citizenship of his country of origin". when you have that mentality, you are not looking to become part of this great country, and is another factor of why the citizenship process takes so long.

[TC]

NO CITIZENSHIP, NO VOTE. PERIOD.

[MacGregrrrr]

No! As many, many other readers have pointed out - there is no incentive to become a Canadian citizen if we start "watering down" the right to vote. "Fight for the right to vote", by all means - but do it as a CANADIAN!!! (just like every one of my grandparents did ...)

[Barnsy]

I don't believe that immigrants should be allowed to become Canadian citizens until they have been here, incident free, for at least five years. In addition, they shall have no vote until that said time. They should count their lucky stars that they were let in at all. Canada's immigration system is a complete failure, especially to that of its citizen base.

[Jason Hickman]

Do you think non-citizens should be able to vote in federal or provincial elections as well? If not, I'm curious as to why, since the same logic would seem to apply.

For myself, I have to disagree with your argument. Citizenship should be a prerequisite to the ballot.

[Stella]

NO, until they become a citizen they don't deserve the right to vote. If they don't think enough of this country to become a citizen and live by our rules and regulations they CERTAINLY shouldn't be able to shape our government in anyway. It always amazes me as to why it is compulsory that all landed immigrates aren't required to become a citizen after a certain number of years living in this country. They come as landed immigrant or refugees and reap the benefits for as long as they chose to stay without being required to become citizens which I really object to.
Only in Canada eh.

[Grim Reaper]

No to landed immigrants voting. This is outrageous! There are enough loop holes in the immigration system as it is. Voting is a privilege and immigrants should earn that privilege by becoming CITIZENS of Canada. Canadians born here have to attain a certain age before voting but landed immigrants think they should get a ballot the minute they enter our country?? Think again !!

[Jake]

If you would like to vote and partake in our nations politics then become a Canadian citizen. Allowing landed immigrants to vote would undermine the very essence of being a Canadian. I would not expect my vote to count in America or any other nation for that matter if I was not a citizen of that nation.

[SK8RMom]

ABSOLUTELY NOT! Voting is a right granted to citizens of Canada, whether or not we take advantage of that right (i.e. voter apathy) is a completely separate issue. Do you think my snowbird parents should be allowed to vote in Florida elections?

[Ricardo Mansio]

I am a Canadian citizen born outside Canada and I strong believe you should be a citizen before having any rights to vote... A lot of immigrants in this country come here to take advantage of the system and don't want to commite. I adore Canada more than my native home land... i chose to be here, so if you really love this land be part of it by becaming a citizen.. Landed immigrant should not have the RIGHT TO VOTE!

[Maggie]

Yes, you ARE awesome. Thank you for choosing Canada. You still have to get your citizenship before voting, tho.

[Horstradamus]

Nope. Only citizens should have the right to vote. End of story. If the government wants to find a way to streamline the citizenship process more to make it faster, that's fine, but only true Canadians should have a say in our democratic society.

[Ron Duncan]

With every right comes a responsibility. Not everyone becomes involved like you have done. Your activism has great merit and you should be commended for it but, as most people are saying, no one should be given these rights just because they landed in the country. I also agree that the long delays are unacceptable but, they need to be corrected, handing out rights because of a flaw in the system is not the way to correct them. Now you are a citizen then use your apparent interest and activism towards correcting these problems.

[AD]

No. I am a landed immigrant and now Canadian Citizen. I strongly believe that only the citizen should have right to vote - and nobody else.

[Rogan Vleming]

Sorry, I don't agree. Citizenship has its privileges, and voting is just one of them. The process to become a citizen has been vetted and proven to work. My parents are both immigrants, but also became Canadians so that they could enjoy the rights of citizenship. The author of this post should be happy that Canada extends the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to all people on Canadian soil, unlike our American friends, who protect citizens with the Constitution, but have a separate set of rights for non-citizens.