OTTAWA — Citizenship – and nothing more – guarantees the right to vote, say two disenfranchised Canadian expatriates whose legal struggle to reclaim their votes is headed to the Supreme Court of Canada in a case affecting more than one million non-resident Canadians. This is the social contract that gives the laws their legitimacy.”The dispute is to go before the Supreme Court in February. Even if voting rights could be tied to it, a social contract must mirror the Charter and reflect the inclusive Canadian vision of democracy and history of progressive enfranchisement, they say. “There is no rational connection between limiting the right to vote and preserving the social contract, given that the legitimacy of the social contract should depend on the right to vote for all citizens. “The impact of laws may be one measure of an individual’s connection to the country, but it is not the defining feature of our right to vote.

Source: National Post August 29, 2016 19:41 UTC