Citizenship and the Right to Vote

I read somewhere last week that the Supreme Court had ruled that Canadians who lived outside of the country should be allowed to vote in federal elections regardless as to how long they have been out of the country. Previously, the limit had been five years.

I am not sure how many Canadians this ruling applies to. I would imagine that there are some fairly young Canadians who are finishing their university education somewhere other than Canada and it is conceivable that they could be gone for five years. There are also employees of the Canadian government or NGOs who may spend extended times in some other countries as well as those who are employed by the numerous multi-national for-profit companies. But it is difficult for me to understand why anyone with the exception of students or public service employees, would want or need to be away from their home country for more than five years. If the individual is only away because they can make more money in some other part of the world, then I would wonder if perhaps they should not move permanently there. If they are maintaining Canadian citizenship only because it offers them some business advantage or perhaps even some safety, then it feels as if it is inappropriate that the individual gets a vote.

Being a Canadian citizen is not a one-way street. There are numerous advantages to being a citizen but along with those rights and protections come some responsibilities. I am assuming that those Canadian citizens who work outside of the country pay some income taxes etc. but being a good citizen is more than just paying taxes, it is about contributing to their community, it is about participating in the lives of their neighbours, and in the lives of their children's friends. Being a good citizen is at least partially about buying locally, using local service such as dry cleaners or mechanics or the corner store to buy milk - not just because it adds income to the local economy but because those type of service build and strengthen the local fabric of a community. Being a good citizen is about developing, maintaining and adding to the social networks that sustain us and our neighbours; it is about shovelling the driveway of an older neighbour, or feeding someone's cats when they are away or about volunteering at a neighbourhood centre. Being a Canadian citizen should mean that you are involved in the very fabric of the country you chose to call home. If you are gone for five years - you are doing none of those things. I do not know how they would decide what their community, their country needed if they were not there.

None of the articles I read discussed what riding their votes would be registered in? Is it the last place they lived, the home of their corporate headquarters, or some random place that they might want to live in the future?

I believe in democracy and in the concept that all citizens have the right to vote - but sometimes I wonder if we need to re-visit what being a citizen means.