What Hong Kong Canadians think about being denied a vote
Recent court ruling on federal elections creates impression long-term expats are 'not real Canadians', says one of those affected; another still paying Canadian taxes asks why prisoners get vote, but not him
Andrew Work may have moved to Hong Kong from Canada 19 years ago. But to him, his heart still bleeds red and white.
Having settled in the city, after travelling back and forth between British Columbia and Hong Kong, to be with his wife, who was born in Zhongshan, China, Work got involved with the Canadian expat community to stay attached to his roots.
But Work’s continued involvement with, and ties to, Canada aren't enough to permit him a vote in the country's national election on October 19. He's one of some 190,000 Canadians in Hong Kong disenfranchised under an Ontario Court of Appeal ruling because they have lived outside Canada for more than five years. A further 110,000 Canadians in Hong Kong can still cast their ballots in the federal poll.
“Permitting all non-resident citizens to vote would allow them to participate in making laws that affect Canadian residents on a daily basis but have little to no practical consequence for their own daily lives,” Justice George Strathy said in the July 20 ruling.
190,000 Canadians in Hong Kong just lost voting rights
Work understands that many Canadians abroad might not go out of their way to cast a ballot if given the chance, nor might their votes make a big difference to the end result. But to not have the option, he says, gives the impression that those living abroad are “not real Canadians”.
