Expat voting ban ‘solution in search of a problem;’ Liberals reviewing law
TORONTO — Banning long-term expat citizens from voting in federal elections has no pressing objective that justifies infringing on their constitutional rights, two of them argue in new documents filed with the country’s top court.
In their factum, Gillian Frank and Jamie Duong argue residency in Canada is not a substantive requirement for voting.
They also maintain Ontario’s Court of Appeal, in a split decision, was wrong to uphold the ban on the basis of preserving the “social contract” between Canadians and their government.
Parliamentary debates show no reference to such a contract or to the idea that non-resident Canadians should be disenfranchised on the basis that laws passed by legislators don’t apply to them, their factum states.