Calgary debates support for permanent resident voting rights in municipal elections

Calgary City Council will discuss a notice of petition asking Alberta municipalities to support giving permanent residents the right to vote in local elections.

It's a plan that came out of Alberta's municipal affairs minister's hands before Calgary's Executive Committee spoke on Tuesday.

8th district. Courtney Walcott presented a notice of motion supported by her colleagues. Terry Wong, Raj Dhaliwal, Jasmine Mian and Courtney Penner to extend municipal voting rights to permanent residents.

The application notice states: “Municipalities are unique because the only order of government not defined by the constitution, the ability to extend the right to vote to more members of our local communities represents a significant change to ensure that our local communities are represented. the people who call them home.”

“Municipal governments have a unique legislative ability to honor the contributions of regular residents, who are often long-term voters, neighbors and community members who contribute to our local economy by paying property taxes and city service fees, working and buying and selling goods. . providing services and creating dynamics in the spheres of social and cultural life – by expanding their voice in local self-government bodies,” the report said.

Number. Walcott said Canada's eligibility rules for various aspects of the service have been “flexible,” referring to changes in the Canadian military that allow permanent residents to enter the service.

(A subsequent CBC story from earlier this year found that despite 21,000 applications, fewer than 100 had made it into permanent effect.)

“To really look at what cities do, what cities do, what municipalities do, that discussion is the same locally,” Walcott said.

“When we build a community, why don't we want to give voice to all members of the community?” It doesn't seem too crazy at the local level.”

Minister McIver does not like this idea

As word of the move went public, Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Rick McIver tweeted about the idea on X (formerly Twitter).

“I'll save us all for a while. Only Canadian citizens can vote in municipal elections. That's not going to change,” McIver wrote.

7th district. Terry Wong said Minister McIver's comments were consistent with Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which says voters in federal elections must be Canadian citizens. This legislation does not define municipalities. Instead, it falls under the Electoral Act, specifically the Local Authority Elections Act.

“What we're asking here is for other municipalities in Alberta to consider exploring whether they feel like permanent residents should have a vote in municipal politics,” Wong said.

“From my point of view, in particular, we represent a number of people in our ward in seven districts who are also culturally permanent residents and they pay taxes, they pay fees and I think they want services. So what we look forward to at the next council meeting on April 30 is to debate the pros and cons of expanding voting rights.”

Number. Walcott believed that Minister McIver's tweet was a discourse-level statement on the issues.

“I think it speaks to the state of political discourse now that we're tweeting our decisions instead of debating them,” he said.