Frank v Canada (AG) 2019 SCC 1 is a case decided by the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

regarding the voting rights of expatriate Canadians. The majority in the 5–2 decision struck down a passage in the

Canada Elections Act The ''Canada Elections Act'' (french: Loi électorale du Canada; full title: ''An Act respecting the election of members to the House of Commons, repealing other Acts relating to elections and making consequential amendments to other Acts'', full ...

which had limited the right to vote to "a person who has been absent from Canada for less than five consecutive years and who intends to return to Canada as a resident".

Background

Section 3 of the

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...

(1982) states: This is subject to Section 1, which states: In May 1993, the government of

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...

amended the

so that Canadians living abroad could vote in federal elections under the condition that they were: Those who returned to visit Canada within the five-year limit had this time reset, so that those who frequently returned to visit Canada maintained the right to vote from abroad. After

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

's government came to power in 2006, it began strictly enforcing the five-year limit, so that it never reset for those who visited Canada. The provisions in the act were challenged by Canadian citizens Gillian Frank and Jamie Duong. Both worked at universities in the United States, as they could not find suitable work in Canada. When they found they could not vote in the

2011 Canadian federal election The 2011 Canadian federal election was held on May 2, 2011, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 41st Canadian Parliament. The writs of election for the 2011 election were issued by Governor General David Johnston on March ...

, they pursued a case. The

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

government introduced the

Elections Modernization Act The Elections Modernization Act (officially An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act and other Acts and to make certain consequential amendments) was enacted as Bill C-76 by the 42nd Parliament of Canada under the government of Justin Trudeau as ...

shortly before the Supreme Court's decision; the legislation restored expatriate voting rights, but left open whether future governments could take them away again.

References

Works cited

External links

Frank v. Canada (Attorney General)
at Lexum 2019 in Canadian case law CAtegory:Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms case law Supreme Court of Canada cases Elections in Canada Expatriate voting Canadian diaspora {{case-law-stub