The Municipal Franchise & Social Inclusion

1. The Municipal Franchise & Social Inclusion Myer Siemiatycki Ryerson University Who Belongs Conference 24 September 2010

2. Immigration Status, Integration & Democratic Participation • Voting Rights in Canada are Attached to Canadian Citizenship Status • Citizenship Confers and Withholds Political Rights • “The rule of citizens over noncitizens, of members over strangers, is probably the most common form of tyranny in human history.” (Michael Walzer) • Immigration Status Determines Municipal Voting Rights in Canada. Is This Appropriate? • I’ll Argue that a Renewed Emphasis on ‘Urban Citizenship’ is one way to Extend Democratic Rights to Disenfranchised Immigrants

3. Does the Municipal Franchise Matter? • Not to 60% of Eligible Voters • So Why Bother Advocating an Expanded Municipal Franchise & Electorate? • The Broken is Bad & the Fix Would Be Good • The Current Municipal Franchise Regime • Debases Urban Democracy • Promotes Social Exclusion Where Immigrants Live • Is Inappropriate for ‘An Age of Migration’ • Extending Non-Citizen Municipal Voting Rights • Advances Democracy & Political Participation • Promotes the City as an Arena of Newcomer Belonging • Promotes Immigrant Political & Electoral Participation • Could Yield More Equitable Diversity of Politicians

4. Cities As Sites of Contested Citizenship & Belonging • “Cities have re-emerged not only as objects of study but also as strategic sites for the theorization of a broad array of social, economic, and political processes central to the current era: economic globalization and international migration; and the emergence of new types of inequality”(SaskiaSassen) • “Who belongs where, and with what citizenship rights, the emerging global cities?” (Leonie Sandercock)

5. Municipal Voting Rights in Ontario: Then • Voting Rights Historically Restricted & Contested • Property Qualification • Female Exclusion • Racial Exclusion • First Nations Exclusion • Age Exclusion • “immigrant rights are the civil rights of the day”; “noncitizen voting is the suffrage movement of our time”. (JaminRaskin)

6. Municipal Voting Rights in Ontario: Now • Determined By the Province of Ontario in the Municipal Elections Act • The Municipal Franchise is Contingent on: • Nationality: Canadian Citizenship • Age: 18 Years and Over • And EITHER • Residency in the Municipality; OR • A Non-Resident Owning or Renting Property in a Municipality (Hence Paying Municipal Property Tax), in which case the owner/renter AND spouse have right to vote in the municipality as Non-Residents • 19th Century citizenship norms of property rights live on in 21st Century Ontario, ( Plus 2 For 1 Special)

7. 1. 6. Voteless in Urban Canada, 2006

8. Who Are Canada’s Disenfranchised Urban Residents? • 1. Landed Immigrants Not Yet Naturalized • High Naturalization Rate in Canada: 85.1% • In 2006, Toronto = c. 187K • 2. Landed Immigrants Not Yet Eligible for Naturalization • 3 Year Residency + 1 Year Application Time • At current immigration levels, Toronto = c. 200K • Never Eligible For Naturalization…Temporary Residents • TFWs, International Students & refugee Claimants • 1996=270K; 2008 = 587 K • Ontario Gets Most • B) Never Eligible For Naturalization…Non-Status • Toronto Economy Relies on Underground Workforce • Total Non-Citizens in 2010 is Greaterin 2006 • Most Are Visible Minorities

9. 1. The High Cost of Exclusion • Almost 1 in 6 Torontonians Denied Local Voting Rights • Extreme Neighbourhood Effect • Some Have >30% Non-Citizen Population • 25% of Ns Have >20% Non-Citizen Population • No Vote in the City that is Home, Where They Pay Taxes, Rely on Local Services & are ‘Regulated’ • Across Ontario 130,000 Students have Parents Ineligible for School Board Elections • Is this Exclusion Fair? Does it Create Conditions For Optimal Municipal Policy-Making? • Prior to last 2006 City Election, 246,924 names were dropped from Voters List – Vast Majority Due to Non-Canadian Citizenship • What is Gained By Denying So Many the Vote?

10. The Case For Non-Citizen Municipal Voting Rights • 1. The High Cost of Exclusion • 2. Municipal Government is Different • 3. Creating Cities of Belonging • 4. Strengthening Canadian Democracy • 5. Other Countries Do It

11. 2. Municipal Government is Different • Powers & ‘Rights Regime’ Are Different • Powers of Municipalities • ‘Merely Local’ Jurisdiction of Municipalities Precludes ‘Dual Loyalty’ Fears of Extending Franchise to Foreign Nationals re: defense, foreign affairs, etc • Rights Regime • Municipal Voting Rights Always Based on Different Principles than Fed/Prov Regime • Stakeholder Principle Prevails Municipally • Property Tax-Paying Confers Voting Rights • “No Taxation Without Representation” Enshrined Municipally • Since Property Tax Paying Trumps Municipal Residency as Right to Vote, Why Not Also Trump Nationality? • Nationality an Arbitrary Criteria for Municipal Voting Rights

12. 3. Creating Cities of Belonging I • What is the Optimal ‘Rights Regime’ for Cities of Migration • Voting Restrictions Construct Immigrants as Political ‘Outsiders’ • Immigrants Demonstrate Commitment to Toronto By Leaving Homeland For Here • Integration Works Best When Newcomers Feel Valued, Recognized & Equally Treated • Residency as Shared Basis of Urban Belonging

13. 3. Creating Cities of Belonging II • City of Toronto Act of 2005 Defines the City as a Corporation “that is composed of the inhabitants of its geographic area.” • Inhabiting a City SHOULD Confer Status, Identity, Rights & Responsibilities • City Does Enact This in Own Sphere of Jurisdiction: Policy on Access to City Services • Dublin Mayor Michael Conaghan on how Its Non-Citizen Immigrants Regard Their Local Voting Rights: • “They like the idea of being asked for their vote. They feel a part of the city. I suppose they feel they’re not being dismissed.”

14. 4. 5. Strengthening Canadian Democracy • Canada’s Democratic Deficit Deepening • Voter Turn-Out & Trust in Gov’t Falling • What Promotes Political Participation? • Start By Removing Barriers and Promoting Engagement • Equate Voting With Living in Canada • Municipal Government as ‘School of Democracy’ • Political Participation as Learned Experience • Reduce the Under-Representation of Immigrants & Visible Minorities in Elected Office

15. Other Countries Do It • Over 30 Countries on 5 Continents today grant voting rights to non-citizen residents • Variances in which non-citizens can vote, at what jurisdiction & based on what residency period • New Zealand the most permissive: after 1 year residency, legal immigrants vote in national & local elections • Norm is municipal voting rights only, for legally admitted immigrants after 1-5 year residency

16. Non-Citizen Resident Local Voting Rights: Why Bother? • Give Political Voice and Rights to Many disenfranchised Residents & Taxpayers • Make local Government More accountable • Reduce Political Marginalization & Exclusion of Immigrants • Promote Importance of Issues affecting Immigrants • Promote immigrant Political Inclusion • Promote Voting : Carry-over to Federal & Provincial Arenas after Naturalization • Promoting One Resident, One Vote Could Lead More Currently-Eligible Voters to actually Do So