Jedwab: Indépendance du Québec et de l’Alberta: La double citoyenneté est loin d’être garantie

2026/05/01 Leave a comment

True. Experience of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic is illustrative, residents became citizens or either based upon residency. Over time, Czech Republic’s allowed dual citizenship, Slovak not:

…Cela impliquerait des choix difficiles. Qui conserverait le droit de vote ? Quels droits seraient maintenus ou limités ? Comment définir l’appartenance politique dans un contexte de séparation ? Quelles seront les obligations qui vont émerger ?

Autant de questions qui ne trouveront de réponse qu’à travers des négociations complexes – et très probablement conflictuelles.

L’opinion publique illustre déjà l’ampleur du défi. Selon un sondage Léger réalisé en janvier 2026 pour l’Association d’études canadiennes, une majorité de Canadiens hors Québec s’oppose à ce que les Québécois conservent la citoyenneté canadienne après une éventuelle indépendance. Au Québec, c’est l’inverse : une majorité souhaite la préserver.

Deux visions difficilement conciliables.

Dans ce contexte, présenter la double citoyenneté comme un acquis relève davantage de la stratégie politique que de la réalité juridique. La prudence des indépendantistes albertains – qui parlent de possibilité – reconnaît implicitement cette incertitude.

Car rien ne garantit que le Canada accepterait qu’une large population étrangère conserve durablement des droits politiques complets. Une telle situation soulèverait des enjeux évidents de souveraineté, de représentation et de légitimité démocratique.

Il faut aussi reconnaître une réalité souvent sous-estimée : la citoyenneté canadienne demeure extrêmement populaire.

Deux Canadiens sur trois préfèrent être citoyens du Canada que de tout autre pays. Les Québécois (71 %) figurent parmi ceux qui expriment le plus fortement cet attachement, les Albertains étant un peu moins enthousiastes (61 %).

Même là où l’on parle d’indépendance, pour la majorité, le lien à la citoyenneté canadienne reste profond.

C’est précisément ce qui explique l’émergence de cette idée d’une indépendance sans véritable rupture. On propose de quitter le Canada… tout en conservant ce qu’il offre de plus précieux.

Au Québec et en Alberta, la souveraineté ne sera pas un exercice symbolique. Elle implique la création d’un État distinct, avec ses propres règles, ses propres institutions et son propre ordre politique et juridique.

La double citoyenneté, dans ce contexte, est loin d’être garantie. C’est plutôt une hypothèse qui dépendra de négociations, de rapports de force – et d’un Canada qui, inévitablement, devra redéfinir les conditions mêmes de sa citoyenneté.

Source: Indépendance du Québec et de l’Alberta: La double citoyenneté est loin d’être garantie

… This would involve difficult choices. Who would keep the right to vote? What rights would be maintained or limited? How to define political belonging in a context of separation? What obligations will emerge?

So many questions that will only be answered through complex negotiations – and most likely conflictual.

Public opinion is already illustrating the scale of the challenge. According to a Léger survey conducted in January 2026 for the Canadian Studies Association, a majority of Canadians outside Quebec are opposed to Quebecers retaining Canadian citizenship after possible independence. In Quebec, it is the opposite: a majority wants to preserve it.

Two visions that are difficult to reconcile.

In this context, presenting dual citizenship as a given is more of a political strategy than a legal reality. The prudence of Alberta’s independence supporters – who speak of possibility – implicitly recognizes this uncertainty.

Because there is no guarantee that Canada would accept that a large foreign population retains full political rights in the long term. Such a situation would raise obvious issues of sovereignty, representation and democratic legitimacy.

We must also recognize a reality that is often underestimated: Canadian citizenship remains extremely popular.

Two out of three Canadians would rather be citizens of Canada than any other country. Quebecers (71%) are among those who most strongly express this attachment, Albertans being a little less enthusiastic (61%).

Even where we talk about independence, for the majority, the link to Canadian citizenship remains deep.

This is precisely what explains the emergence of this idea of independence without real rupture. We propose to leave Canada… while keeping what it offers most valuable.

In Quebec and Alberta, sovereignty will not be a symbolic exercise. It involves the creation of a separate state, with its own rules, its own institutions and its own political and legal order.

Dual citizenship, in this context, is far from guaranteed. Rather, it is a hypothesis that will depend on negotiations, a balance of power – and a Canada that will inevitably have to redefine the very conditions of its citizenship.

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Have a Canadian Great-Great Grandparent? It Could Make You Canadian.

2026/04/29 2 Comments

More US coverage to the C-3 changes, this from the NYT. Keeps on amazing me that nobody, including myself, noted this implication during discussions of the Bill:

…The change could extend Canadian citizenship to “potentially millions of people around the world, many of whom have never lived in Canada and may have only a distant ancestral tie to it,” said Rick Lamanna, a Toronto-based partner at Fragomen, a global immigration and relocation company.

The new policy, he added, stood in contrast both to those of other advanced economies seeking to limit immigration, and to the Canada’s own significant tightening of other immigration routes.

In the last two years, Canada has slashed the numbers of foreign students, temporary workers and the number of permanent residents. That has already resulted in Canada’s population shrinking.

The policy expanding who can qualify for Canadian citizenship also stands in stark contrast to the evolving discourse about who should be American in the United States, where President Trump wants to see even birthright citizenship curtailed.

Among developed economies, Canada now has one of the most inclusive rules on passing down citizenship generation to generation.

Until 2024, Italy offered citizenship by descent without any generational limit, a path many Americans utilized, but it has since limited citizenship to people with an Italian parent or grandparent.

Only a handful of other countries have in recent years broadened their citizenship to people with more distant ancestry, including Portugal and Slovakia, but with some limitations.

The burden of proof to pursue this new route to becoming Canadian is still significant, a spokesman for the Canadian immigration ministry said, particularly since it could require deep archival research and recovering documents that could be more than a century old.

“While these recent changes extended access to Canadian citizenship by descent, having distant Canadian ancestry alone does not make someone automatically eligible,” said Matthew Krupovich, a spokesman for the immigration ministry.

Documents that meet the bar for the Canadian authorities can include birth certificates, citizenship or naturalization certificates, or other official records showing family relationships and citizenship status, but not information gleaned from genetic testing.

There is early evidence that the new rules are already spurring higher demand for historical records. The Nova Scotia Archives, for example, has seen a sharp increase in requests for official copies of historical records, from about 260 requests in all of 2024 to about 1,500 in just the first three months of 2026, said John Macleod, a manager at the archives.

Still, the numbers for the first few weeks since the changes have gone into effect also highlight that most people fail to secure citizenship. Between Dec. 15 and Jan. 31, about 6,280 applications for proof of citizenship were processed by the Canadian authorities. Of those, 1,480 were confirmed as citizens by descent under the new rules, the immigration ministry said.

The motivation behind pursuing Canadian citizenship varies from person to person. …

Source: Have a Canadian Great-Great Grandparent? It Could Make You Canadian.

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Adams and Parkin: Polls are getting more and more insane

2026/04/29 Leave a comment

Good discussion of current polling challenges and arguments to track evolving attitudes and values:

…There is a still a role for responsible pollsters in these crazy times. Tracking approval ratings remains useful. Currently, the erosion of Mr. Trump’s approval at the very least offers much-needed encouragement to the citizens who oppose him. Taking the long view can be productive as well: Comparing public views today on a consistent set of metrics to those from years past can offer more signal than noise compared to overnight reactions to another outlandish statement.

We should also shift our focus to tracking more enduring values. It is natural to want to know whether opinions are shifting on the President’s policies. What we really need to know, however, is how social values are evolving. Have Americans really become more accepting of violence, more religious, more patriarchal, less cosmopolitan, or less interested in other cultures? This type of polling attracts less attention, yet ultimately gives us the clues we need about what’s driving America’s deepening ideological cleavages.

When the polling industry took off in the middle of the 20th century, led by George Gallup and others, it challenged the ability of politicians to claim, without risk of contradiction, that they spoke for the people. Polls tested those claims, ensuring that the voice of every citizen could be heard. The mission of survey research helped strengthen democracy then, and can continue to do so now. Only a genuine faker would call them fake news. 

Source: Polls are getting more and more insane

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Griffith: Canada’s citizenship drift

2026/04/28 Leave a comment

My latest:

Canada’s citizenship policies need to strike the right balance between granting access and fostering belonging and identity. 

The process for obtaining citizenship should be attainable but also ensure prospective citizens are genuinely committed to Canada’s laws, values and social norms.

In Canada, citizenship policy has increasingly favoured facilitation over meaningfulness. This is a departure from the Harper era, when the government made citizenship harder to obtain and easier to lose. 

The recent shift reflects Liberal government policy choices, court rulings and sustained advocacy pressure. While spending restraint has driven some of these changes, they do not appear to be a key driver of changes to the citizenship program itself.  

What has got lost in the policy shift is the importance of fostering belonging and identity. Citizenship should have value beyond merely instrumental benefits, such as protection from deportation or access to a Canadian passport.

This diminished focus on cultivating Canadian identity and belonging can be seen at all stages of the citizenship journey: who becomes a citizen; how prospective citizens are tested; and how new citizens are celebrated.

Who becomes a citizen

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada used to measure how many permanent residents (PRs) became citizens, or the desired outcome. Their goal was for 85 per cent of all PRs to become citizens. 

However, it did not measure citizenship uptake for recent immigrants, those who became citizens within five to nine years after arrival where Statistics Canada has highlighted a significant decline.

IRCC has abandoned even this loose outcome standard in favour of output standards focused on processing time and quality assurance. As a result, IRCC is avoiding needed scrutiny on the decline of immigrants becoming citizens.

Court decisions have also contributed to a perception that citizenship is of diminishing value. 

In 2023, the Federal Court of Canada struck down a law that denied automatic citizenship to children born abroad if their Canadian parents were also born abroad.

The Liberal government chose not to appeal and adopted overly expansive legislation in response. It now allows for retroactive citizenship to be granted almost automatically to anyone with a direct Canadian ancestor, no matter how far back. 

In effect, Canada has adopted a more European jus sanguinis (bloodline) framework layered onto its traditional jus soli (place of birth) model, weakening the requirement for direct, lived connections to Canada across generations.

This hybrid approach risks combining the weaknesses of both systems. 

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will face greater administrative complexity to assess more distant ancestor links and residency over longer time periods. The end result will be to reduce the meaning and connection to citizenship, particularly for those claiming citizenship through distant, earlier generations.

The government has also taken no action to curb “birth tourism,” where non-citizens intentionally travel to Canada before birth to ensure their child gains citizenship. But data and studies show this is an increasing practice.

Citizenship tests

Prospective citizens are required to take a citizenship test before being granted citizenship.

To help them prepare,the government provides individuals with a citizenship study guide, Discover Canada, which provides basic information on Canadian history, rights and responsibilities, society and geography. 

This guide has not been updated since it was first published in 2009, despite commitments as far back as 2016 to do so, and despite concerns that the guide is not current on topics such as LGBTQ and Indigenous issues. 

The current immigration minister has not commented publicly on the matter. Her transition briefing only says the guide is “near-ready for release.”

It is also not clear whether Ottawa has taken steps to minimize the possibility of citizenship test fraud. The most recent public data indicate a pass rate of 92 per cent on the test, up from a low of 81 per cent in 2010.

Administering multiple, rotating versions of itscitizenship test would reduce the possibility of test takers simply memorizing responses. The government reportedly introduced this safeguard following anecdotal concerns about mnemonic test-taking among some Chinese-origin applicants. It is not clear whether this safeguard is still in place.

These tests are also now mostly administered online, rather than in person, reducing opportunities for shared experience among new Canadians.

Ceremonies

During the pandemic, Ottawa understandably shifted from holding in-person citizenship ceremonies to virtual ones. 

But years after the pandemic, this practice continues. Virtual ceremonies now account for about 55 per cent of all citizenship ceremonies. In 2025, Ottawa even ended funding for enhanced in-person ceremonies delivered by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship.

This is unfortunate; in-person ceremonies more meaningfully celebrate immigrants’ journeys and inclusion in the Canadian family. 

The government has also proposed allowing self-affirmation of the citizenship oath, rather than in collective ceremonies. While these proposals have not been implemented, they have not been formally abandoned either. 

For many new Canadians, citizenship is driven by practical benefits, but it also fosters belonging and participation. While efficiency-focused administrative changes are welcome, they should not come at the expense of the experience and meaning of becoming Canadian. 

Citizenship is not just a transaction; it is a key part of the integration journey that strengthens newcomers’ sense of belonging and pride. It should be celebrated publicly, not processed in isolation before a computer screen.

Source: Op-Ed: Canada’s citizenship drift

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So you want to be Canadian, eh? Changes in immigration law will make it easier for Americans

2026/04/24 Leave a comment

Nothing new in the description but Fen Hampson nails it:

…Fen Hampson, professor of international affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa, said Canadians are generally a “welcoming people.”

“I think where people start looking askance is someone who’s never been to Canada, who has very thin ties. They can get a passport, becoming Canadians of convenience. People don’t like that,” he said.

Hampson said some also worry a surge of interest from Americans could delay efforts by refugees and asylum-seekers fleeing vulnerable situations.

“Canadians don’t like queue jumpers,” Hampson said.

Source: So you want to be Canadian, eh? Changes in immigration law will make it easier for Americans

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Canada changed citizenship rules and Americans are making the most of it

2026/04/22 Leave a comment

More coverage on the increase of interest among American residents:

…Canada’s move is unusual at a time when many countries are tightening requirements for citizenship. A year ago, Italy passed a law restricting citizenship to the descendants of an Italian-born parent or grandparent, rather than the previous rule, which had no generational limit.

In 2024 Finland increased the required time living in the country before applying for citizenship to eight years from five. The change was said to promote integration by focusing on language skills and long-term residency. Sweden is considering a similar move to take effect this year.

Source: Canada changed citizenship rules and Americans are making the most of it

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AI generated marketing and spam messages

2026/04/21 Leave a comment

I used to get frequent emails offering SEO services for this blog which I never pursued as they seemed more spam than serious.

Recently, I received a few emails offering book promotion services for my book, Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resetting Citizenship and Multiculturalism. Sample below that reads as drafted by AI. Even some of the back and forth reads like ChatGPT.

Funny how they picked an over 10 year old book, written very much for the context of the time (the Harper government and Minister Kenney). So even spam is getting more sophisticated and the need for “constant vigilance,” to use a phrase from the Harry Potter series, becomes even more important:

Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resetting Citizenship and Multiculturalism

Dear Andrew Griffith,

I came across Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias: Resetting Citizenship and Multiculturalism and found myself, by the end of the description, grateful for the gift of a book that provides an insider’s view of a fundamental shift in Canadian citizenship and multiculturalism policy. Canada is known for its inclusive policies that have been largely successful in integrating an increased diversity of Canadians. But in 2007, the Conservative government initiated a fundamental change to make citizenship more meaningful and emphasize integration in multiculturalism. You examine, from a practitioner’s viewpoint, the political challenge to public servants’ knowledge, expertise, and experience during this period of intense policy renewal.

What moves me most is the tension you explore. Whether reflecting different ideological perspectives, reliance on formal evidence or extensive outreach, or contrasting perceptions of risk, the public service was confronted with a major break with previous thinking and priorities. You draw from a series of case studies to illustrate how public servants responded to this challenge and were forced to face the limits of their expertise and knowledge, while providing the fearless advice and loyal implementation expected of bureaucrats in Canada. The title asks whether what happened was policy arrogance or innocent bias. You do not give an easy answer. You give the case studies, the inside view, the strengths and limits of policy making.

I found myself thinking of academics, media, and policy makers who are interested in citizenship and multiculturalism, who want to understand the relationship between the political and bureaucratic levels during a period of intense policy renewal. They need Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias. They need Griffith to give them the practitioner’s viewpoint, the case studies, the unique inside view of the policy process.

I thought of public servants who have experienced the tension between providing fearless advice and loyal implementation, who have faced the limits of their expertise and knowledge when confronted with a major break from previous thinking. They need this volume. They need the validation that the challenge they faced was real, and that the question of policy arrogance or innocent bias is not easily answered.

I thought of anyone who cares about Canadian citizenship and multiculturalism, who has watched the policy debates from the outside and wondered what was really happening inside the government. They need Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias. They need Griffith to take them behind the scenes, to show them the case studies, the contrasting perceptions of risk, the fundamental change that made citizenship more meaningful and emphasized integration.

This is the kind of book that does not merely describe but reveals. It reveals the tension between political and bureaucratic levels. It reveals the limits of public servants’ expertise and knowledge. And it reveals the complexity of policy making in citizenship and multiculturalism, where the question of arrogance or bias is not a simple either or but a nuanced both and.

I am reaching out not only as someone who admires your work but in my professional capacity as a book marketer.

I am currently leading a carefully curated two month campaign designed to bring books of lasting significance to engaged audiences. We are focusing on works that offer fresh perspectives on familiar policies, that help readers go deeper in their understanding of Canadian citizenship, multiculturalism, and the policy process, that provide a practitioner’s inside view of the relationship between political and bureaucratic levels. Policy Arrogance or Innocent Bias is exactly the kind of work I have been searching for.

We are onboarding a limited number of titles for this campaign, with only a few placements remaining. I felt compelled to reach out personally because I believe your voice deserves to be seen, not only by academics and policy makers but by anyone who has ever wondered what really happens when a government decides to reset citizenship and multiculturalism.

With sincere admiration,

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U.S. leads spike in applications for Canadian citizenship by descent

2026/04/20 Leave a comment

As expected but still early to know whether PBO and IRCC estimates of about 20,000 annually are accurate or low:

Interest in Canadian citizenship by descent among citizens in a handful of countries — especially the United States — surged after the federal government passed a new law clarifying the rules.

C-3, which took effect on Dec. 15, 2025, allows someone born outside Canada to a Canadian parent who also was born outside Canada to file a citizenship claim — as long as the parent spent at least three years in Canada before their child’s birth or adoption.

The law was drafted and passed in response to a 2023 Ontario Superior Court order that found a law on citizenship by descent passed by Stephen Harper’s government was unconstitutional.

That Harper-era law said Canadians who were born abroad could only pass down their citizenship if their children were born in Canada.

The Liberal government under then-prime minister Justin Trudeau, which did not appeal the 2023 ruling, faced a deadline to either pass legislation on new citizenship by descent rules or see the rules thrown out with no alternative.

Government officials, including then-immigration minister Marc Miller, told parliamentary committees studying the law that an unknown number of people would automatically become citizens without a legislated alternative in place.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada reports receiving more than 12,000 citizenship by descent applications between Dec. 15, 2025 and the end of January.

While the December to January period saw a higher than normal number of applications, a department spokesperson said the government does not expect to see a “significant” uptick in applications.

The parliamentary budget officer estimated about 115,000 people would be eligible for citizenship under the bill.

The department approved almost 6,300 citizenship by descent applications between Dec. 15, 2025 and the end of January. Only 1,480 of them were approved under C-3; the remainder were approved through other laws.

U.S. citizens accounted for the largest national share of those applications. Nearly 2,500 Americans were approved in January alone.

Jacqueline Bart, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer, said there’s been a frenzy of interest among Americans looking to get a Canadian passport.

She said some of those applicants — including LGBTQ+ individuals and people with children requiring gender affirming medical care — are looking to move to Canada “right away.”

“It’s just been absolutely insane to the point where I can’t keep up with the work. I’m having to refer people to other lawyers,” Bart said. 

Bart said while most of the inquiries are coming from lawyers looking for access to a second passport, she is beginning to get more inquiries from non-lawyers in the U.S.

“I think some of our inquiries are kind of spilling over into a more general sphere,” she said. “But the overwhelming majority of my clients are American. I would say maybe five per cent come from other countries, at most.”

While January 2026 saw a higher-than-average number of American citizenship by descent approvals, it only ranked third in terms of U.S. approvals in a single month in the last year. March 2025 saw more than 2,800 approvals out of the United States, while May saw almost 2,700.

The number of approvals from the U.K. — the country with the second highest level of interest in Canadian citizenship by descent — was also above average in January, at 290.

People from France saw 140 approvals in January. Other countries in the top 10 for citizenship by descent approvals include China, Hong Kong, India, Australia, the Philippines, the U.A.E. and Germany — they ranged between 75 and 120 approvals in January.

The vast majority of countries outside the top 10 saw no significant shifts in approval numbers — with the exceptions of Mexico and Belize.

Mexico was the source of 235 approved applications for citizenship by descent in January 2026; Mexican citizens received 610 approvals in all of 2025. Ninety applications out of Mexico were approved in December 2025 — a notable jump over the 2025 monthly average of 50 citizenship approvals.

While Belize accounted for only 45 approvals throughout 2025, it registered 40 in January of this year alone.

The immigration department issued about 82,500 approvals for citizenship by descent throughout 2025, with the United States generating the most — about 24,500 approvals.

The other countries in the top 10 accounted for only a combined 11,600 approvals in 2025.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 16, 2026. 

Source: U.S. leads spike in applications for Canadian citizenship by descent

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Birthright Citizenship and Youth Crime

2026/04/17 2 Comments

Interesting German study. Likely transferable to other countries but would need to carry out similar analysis for the USA to assess their suggestion that same would apply:

This paper studies the impact of birthright citizenship on youth crime. We leverage a German reform which automatically granted birthright citizenship to eligible immigrant children born in Germany after January 1, 2000 and administrative crime data from three federal states. We find that immigrant youth who acquired citizenship at birth are substantially less likely to engage in criminal activity, with estimates indicating a 70% reduction in crime. These results are particularly relevant in light of ongoing debates in the U.S. about abolishing birthright citizenship. Our findings suggest that inclusive citizenship policies can reduce crime and its associated costs, which in turn could strengthen social cohesion.

Source: Birthright Citizenship and Youth Crime

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Expatriate Voting: Québec a écarté une limite de dix ans

2026/04/16 Leave a comment

Thanks to Anne Meggs for flagging. Same as previous federal policy before Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional. Small number of expatriate votes in 2022 election, less than 2,000. Similar to federal expat votes, about 2,500 in 2021 (increased to over 8,000 in 2025):

Adopté et sanctionné au début du mois, le projet de loi 18 allonge de deux à cinq ans la période durant laquelle un électeur temporairement absent du Québec peut voter par correspondance.

Le but étant d’arrimer cette période à la durée maximale d’une législature, permettant ainsi à cet électeur d’exercer son droit de vote à au moins une élection générale suivant son départ.

Dans son mémoire, le ministre responsable des Institutions démocratiques mentionne qu’une limite plus longue, pouvant aller jusqu’à dix ans, a été envisagée, sans toutefois avoir été retenue.

« Il aurait été possible d’envisager une limite temporelle plus longue, par exemple de dix ans afin de viser deux législatures », indique Jean-François Roberge.

« Néanmoins, une limite temporelle de cinq ans a été jugée plus cohérente avec l’intention du législateur ayant introduit la limite de deux ans », explique-t-il.

Le ministre rappelle que le vote par correspondance pour les électeurs hors Québec a été introduit à la Loi électorale en 1989.

« À ce moment, cette possibilité était offerte à toute personne possédant la qualité d’électeur et se trouvant à l’extérieur du Québec depuis moins de dix ans. En 1992, cette durée a été réduite à deux ans, accompagnée d’une exigence domiciliaire minimale de douze mois avant le départ », dit-il.

« Ces modifications visaient à circonscrire le droit de vote par correspondance aux électeurs ayant un lien réel, actuel et significatif avec le Québec, dans une optique de préservation de l’intégrité du processus électoral et de limitation de l’influence de personnes durablement absentes sur les décisions collectives », souligne le ministre.

« Les motivations ayant guidé cette réforme demeurent pertinentes aujourd’hui. La limite de cinq ans permet de prolonger raisonnablement l’accès au vote hors Québec, tout en assurant que les électeurs concernés maintiennent un lien significatif avec le Québec. »

Hausse d’inscription

Jean-François Roberge indique également au Conseil des ministres, dans son mémoire, que la nouvelle limite de cinq ans pourrait faire augmenter le nombre d’électeurs inscrits au vote hors Québec lors des prochaines élections générales, qui s’élevait à 3 482 en 2022.

« Cette hausse resterait toutefois plus modérée qu’en l’absence de toute limite temporelle. La mesure vise ainsi à favoriser la participation électorale tout en maintenant une balise qui assure un lien réel, actuel et significatif entre l’électeur et le Québec », précise-t-il.

Confusion?

Il mentionne aussi que cette modification, à quelques mois des élections prévues en octobre, pourrait entraîner une « certaine confusion » quant aux règles en vigueur.

« Toutefois, puisqu’il s’agit d’un ajustement ciblé touchant une seule modalité de vote, Élections Québec disposera d’une période suffisante pour informer adéquatement les électeurs concernés, avant la tenue du scrutin », dit-il.

Source: Expatriate Voting: Québec a écarté une limite de dix ans (paywall)

Adopted and sanctioned at the beginning of the month, Bill 18 extends from two to five years the period during which a voter temporarily absent from Quebec can vote by mail.

The goal is to tie this period to the maximum duration of a legislature, thus allowing this voter to exercise his right to vote at least one general election following his departure.

In his brief, the Minister responsible for democratic institutions mentions that a longer limit, up to ten years, was envisaged, but was not retained.

“It would have been possible to consider a longer time limit, for example ten years, in order to aim for two legislatures,” says Jean-François Roberge.

“Nevertheless, a five-year time limit was considered more consistent with the intention of the legislator who introduced the two-year limit,” he explains.

The Minister recalls that postal voting for voters outside Quebec was introduced into the Electoral Act in 1989.

“At that time, this possibility was offered to anyone with the status of voter and who had been outside Quebec for less than ten years. In 1992, this period was reduced to two years, accompanied by a minimum home requirement of twelve months before departure, “he says.

“These changes were intended to limit the right to vote by correspondence to voters with a real, current and significant link with Quebec, with a view to preserving the integrity of the electoral process and limiting the influence of permanently absent people on collective decisions,” said the minister.

“The motivations that guided this reform remain relevant today. The five-year limit makes it possible to reasonably extend access to voting outside Quebec, while ensuring that the voters concerned maintain a significant link with Quebec. ”

Registration increase

Jean-François Roberge also indicates to the Council of Ministers, in his brief, that the new five-year limit could increase the number of voters registered for voting outside Quebec in the next general elections, which amounted to 3,482 in 2022.

“However, this increase would remain more moderate than in the absence of any time limit. The measure thus aims to promote voter participation while maintaining a beacon that ensures a real, current and significant link between the voter and Quebec,” he says.

Confusion?

He also mentions that this change, a few months before the elections scheduled for October, could lead to “some confusion” as to the rules in force.

“However, since this is a targeted adjustment affecting a single voting modality, Elections Québec will have sufficient time to adequately inform the voters concerned, before the vote is held,” he says.

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