In Canada, it has long been settled that the vote belongs to all citizens. No differentiating characteristics stand in the way of this fundamental right. It took time for Canada to reach that point, but the circle of democratic rights has expanded over time.
We have come to recognize that since we are all bound by the law, to deprive citizens of the right to choose those who craft those laws is to deny the self-governing imperative that is the core of any strong democracy.
This binding to the law, a set of rules governing all of us, applies to all Canadians, regardless of where we are from or how much we contribute financially. This is a recognition that rights, properly understood, are not granted but are recognized, an essential distinction, as the dissident of today could be the leader of tomorrow, and the powerful businessperson could be the ill or ‘inconvenient’ person of tomorrow. The ‘net contributor’ of today could be the ‘net taker’ of tomorrow, and vice versa, yet both are bound by the same laws the entire time. Your voice is no smaller or bigger; your worth as a person and as a citizen is no lesser or no greater regardless of what category you are in. By extending rights broadly, we protect all of our citizens. This process is not perfect. We do not always live up to it. But it is the foundation from which our edifice of rights and freedoms is built.
This is why ideas of narrowing democratic rights would weaken, rather than strengthen, Canada. There will always be a temptation for many to focus on the short-term at the expense of the long-term, and politicians willing to appeal to such perspectives for immediate electoral gain. Yet, to narrow the right to vote, to narrow who the vote belongs to, would be to imbue the government with a power that could easily be turned around on those advocating for it, and would deprive Canada of what makes it a free nation.
Instead, we should protect the circle of rights, and recognize that, as Canada’s ongoing growth and evolution has shown, true strength comes from expanding it.
Spencer Fernando
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