A doctor was telling a lawyer that he was sick of his friends asking him for free medical advice.

The lawyer said, “Just do what I do, and leave a bill in their mailbox.”

The doctor decided he’d give that a try and thanked his lawyer friend. When the doctor got home, he had a bill in his mailbox from the lawyer.

Canadians are challenged as they keep up with the bills, changing legislative bills that is. Recently Bill C-76 passed through Parliament, which removed two limitations on voting by non-resident Canadian electors. The removed requirements are: 1. Canadian citizens are no longer required to live outside Canada for less than five consecutive years in order to vote; 2. Canadians don’t need to plan to return to Canada to resume residence in the future.

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In other words, any Canadian living outside the country can cast a ballot in the 2019 election, based on their last place of residence in Canada. There’s arguments on both sides on this matter.

In the United States, Americans always retain the right to vote, which causes many Canadians to justify the change, including a sprinkling of Hollywood celebrities. Neil Young and Donald Sutherland are two examples of non-resident Canadian citizens who complained about the old law. Both left Canada over fifty years ago, but come back occasionally for vacations, and to complain about the oil sands. Their fame amplifies their voice, but at the end of the day, they each have one vote.

In a 2015 ruling Justice George Strathy wrote, “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.”

In a Canadian Public Affairs article, Blain Neufeld, a non-resident Canadian had this to say, “Canadian foreign policy affects non-residents’ lives far more than it does the lives of most residents.” Neufeld, who resides in Canada two to three months of the year, continues, “Many non-resident Canadians have family and other significant relations in Canada, as well as property and other ties. The laws of Canada directly affect those interests.”

Others ask valid questions such as, are Canadians who have been living outside of the country for decades aware of local or regional issues? Many non-resident Canadians retain close ties to family and friends here in Canada. You may personally know of several non-resident Canadian family members and friends, many of whom are very aware of what is happening here. And if they aren’t aware of important issues, it is up to those of us who make Canada our home, to keep them informed, because it’s this awareness that could be the motivation for non-resident Canadians to cast a ballot in the next election.

The following humorous story reminds me that changing Bill C-76 doesn’t guarantee the end result. The story tells of a car dealership that placed an ad prior to April 1. The ad boasted an “April Fool’s Day Special”, offering a new vehicle to the first person who turned up at the dealership with the newspaper ad and asked for Bill. Everyone laughed it off as an April Fool’s joke, except for one woman who went to the showroom with her old Nissan and left with a new BMW.

Non-resident Canadian Blair Neufeld concluded by saying, “In any case, I have the right to vote in this election, and I look forward to exercising it on October 19th. Hopefully a new government will come to power on that day, one that takes seriously the rights of all Canadians.”

True Canadians are not peacekeepers, but peacemakers, stepping up to the plate for truth and justice. Yes, it’s time for Canadians to step up to the plate, considering the newly announced Islamic Party of Ontario entering Canadian politics. Their alarming platform directly opposes Canadian values (and our PM’s version of Canadian values), advocating for sex-segregated schools and the imposition of Sharia law.

In the last federal election, 68 per cent of Canadians came out to vote, with 57 per cent of people aged 18 to 34 casting a ballot. It’s time for us to encourage all Canadians to vote, resident, non-resident, young and old, so we can benefit from the opportunity to trade in our current government for a better model.

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