Municipal officials in Alberta silence supporters of voting rights for permanent

The proposal made by a city councillor in Calgary to allow permanent residents to cast ballots in municipal elections—a notion that Premier Danielle Smith had previously rejected as unconstitutional—has been granted.

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At this week's Alberta Municipalities annual conference, Councilman Courtney Walcott presented his case to fellow municipal leaders from all throughout the province.

Mayors and council members from various sized communities engaged in a passionate and protracted discussion, pleading with one another to reevaluate the precise constituency they serve.

Walcott's proposal was 46 votes shy of a majority, receiving only roughly 42% of the vote in the end.

Alberta Municipalities, the group that represents towns, cities, and villages across the province, would have approved if the votes had been in his favour the proposal and persuaded the provincial administration to amend the Local Authorities Election Act as needed.

People with permanent residency status have many of the same rights as citizens of Canada, including the ability to work, own property, pay taxes, and vote in elections. However, they are not eligible to apply for a Canadian passport.

The discussion of Walcott's suggestion Among the 21 resolutions put to a vote, the one on Thursday was the longest, with representatives from more than a dozen communities participating.
There were worries about "watering down" the rights of citizenship, arguments using passports as props, and tears.

Permanent residents' capacity to vote in municipal elections, according to town councillor Rod Klumph of Barrhead, Alberta, would "diminish the right of Canadians to rule themselves."

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What worries him, he continued, is that "those with permanent residency also maintain their citizenship in the country they left."

Amarjeet Sohi, the mayor of Edmonton and a former member of Parliament, refuted the notion that long-term residents lack commitment or loyalty to Canada.
"I have been faithful to this country since the day I arrived here, despite the fact that it took me around ten years to obtain citizenship for a variety of reasons," Sohi stated.

"I offered my services to politicians. I gave money to political figures. In an attempt to persuade Canadians to support a politician, I knocked on doors. However, for the ten years I was doing that as a permanent resident, I was unable to use my right to vote.

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Councilman Sam Munckhof-Swain of Beaumont, Alberta, agreed with Sohi, stating that his journey to citizenship was equally drawn out.

It took years, during which I paid taxes to my town, but I was never given the opportunity to cast my ballot for the candidates I wanted to make better, my community," Munckhof-Swain remarked.

Nothing is being taken away from you by it. It's expanding people's rights and fostering a more accepting community.

Penhold, Alberta, town councillor Cam Galisky claimed that owning a Canadian passport was one of two "sacred" rights of being a citizen when it was his turn to speak.

The ability of the people to choose their own fate by voting is "the other most sacred and most fought over," according to Galisky.
"That sacred right will be diminished by this."

Speaking through tears, Métis city councillor Aaron Paquette of Edmonton expressed his desire to stop history from repeating itself by granting permanent residents the same privilege that Indigenous people have long been denied in Canadian elections.

Indigenous people in Canada were not given the complete right to vote without having to give up our identity until the 1960s, according to Paquette. "At the time, some believed that giving Indigenous people the power to vote would diminish or weaken that sacred duty.

"They could not have been more wrong, and they were wrong."

During the debate, further personal ties to the matter were made in order to support and refute the resolution.

The mayor of Clyde, Alberta, Charis Aguirre, stated that although she was married to a permanent resident, she opposed the idea.

Councilwoman Heather Spearman of Airdrie, Alberta, used her stepmother as an example when she stated that her stepmother's taxes were equally valuable to those of a Canadian citizen.

she should have the right to vote on how it's spent.

The debate, to some extent, was already a moot point.

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In the spring, Smith rejected the idea shortly after Calgary city council approved the resolution for consideration at the Alberta Municipalities conference.

She said on social media at the time that while non-Canadian citizens are welcome to work and live in Alberta, only citizens should have the right to vote.

"That's how it works," she said.

Walcott said Thursday that he knew his resolution would generate a hearty discussion.

"I knew that the discussion would be about citizenship on (a) grander scale, but I was hoping that the nuance of local government would win out," he said.

"We are not talking about provincial governments. We are not talking about the federal government. We're talking about your neighbours."speaking of the regional administrations. The federal government is not the topic of discussion. We are discussing your neighbours.


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