tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/provincial-election-112249/articlesProvincial election – The Conversation2022-10-04T17:41:18Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1911472022-10-04T17:41:18Z2022-10-04T17:41:18ZA provincial sales tax is the solution to Alberta’s fiscal roller-coaster<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486893/original/file-20220927-18-aal63q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C0%2C6580%2C4469&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and Minister of Finance Jason Nixon, then Minister of Environment and Parks, chat before the throne speech is delivered in Edmonton in May 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/a-provincial-sales-tax-is-the-solution-to-alberta-s-fiscal-roller-coaster" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>With <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/06/14/to-be-held-oct-6-alberta-ucp-announces-rules-for-contest-to-replace-leader-premier.html">a new Alberta premier taking office in October</a> and <a href="https://www.elections.ab.ca/elections/albertas-next-election/">a general election required by the end of May 2023</a>, fiscal policy may become a wedge issue between Alberta’s United Conservative Party and the NDP.</p>
<p>A key issue for analysts who study Alberta’s finances is the erratic behaviour of the province’s revenue stream, which is heavily tied to the price of oil. In the past year, Alberta’s finances have gone from a projected <a href="https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/6f47f49d-d79e-4298-9450-08a61a6c57b2/resource/ec1d42ee-ecca-48a9-b450-6b18352b58d3/download/budget-2021-fiscal-plan-2021-24.pdf">$18.2 billion deficit</a> to a <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/government-and-ministry-annual-reports.aspx#21-22">$3.9 billion</a> surplus. This happy result is almost entirely due to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/alberta-ends-2021-22-with-surprise-c39-bln-surplus-higher-oil-prices-2022-06-28/">surging bitumen royalties as oil prices have risen dramatically</a>. </p>
<p>This is not an anomaly. Since 1965, <a href="https://www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Provincial-Government-Budget-Data-January-2022.xlsx">all of Alberta’s surpluses have been attributed to resource royalties</a>. This effectively means that, since oil royalties make up a significant amount of government revenues, Albertans have only been paying 50 to 95 per cent of the full cost of public services. Albertans have become so used to these royalties keeping taxes down that they oppose any and all mentions of a provincial sales tax.</p>
<h2>The ‘Alberta tax advantage’</h2>
<p>Alberta prides itself on being the only Canadian province without a provincial sales tax, relying instead on its bitumen revenues. Known as the “<a href="https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-tax-advantage.aspx">Alberta tax advantage</a>,” this attitude can be traced back to 1936 when a new Social Credit government <a href="https://docs.assembly.ab.ca/LADDAR_files/docs/bills/bill/legislature_8/session_1/19360206_bill-107.pdf">introduced a two per cent sales tax</a> recommended by a taxation commission. </p>
<p>Albertans were not happy with the new tax, and the government backed off collecting the tax after a year and a half. Shortly after the tax was introduced, Alberta <a href="https://www.uap.ualberta.ca/titles/208-9780888643063-politics-and-public-debt">defaulted on its debt</a> — a default that lasted nearly a decade. The default exposed huge fissures in the structure of provincial finances. </p>
<p>Albertans, overly dependent on the fortunes of wheat prices in the 1920s and 1930s, wanted all types of public infrastructure — roads, telephone systems, irrigation channels — but even in financially good times, would resist any efforts to raise taxes to pay for public works.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An oil pumpjack sits in the foreground of a large hay field" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486628/original/file-20220926-17-ikb2mz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486628/original/file-20220926-17-ikb2mz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486628/original/file-20220926-17-ikb2mz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486628/original/file-20220926-17-ikb2mz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486628/original/file-20220926-17-ikb2mz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486628/original/file-20220926-17-ikb2mz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486628/original/file-20220926-17-ikb2mz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Alberta government relies heavily on fiscally volatile energy prices for most of its revenue.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh</span></span>
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<p>A book I recently edited <a href="https://doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781771992978.01">about the possibility of a provincial sales tax in Alberta</a> illustrates how pervasive this attitude still is. Many Alberta politicians are hesitant to even utter the words “provincial sales tax” for fear of backlash from citizens and politicians alike. </p>
<h2>Political suicide tax</h2>
<p>As political journalist Graham Thomson documents in the book, numerous provincial finance ministers have mused about considering a provincial sales tax. Each time, the minister was directed by their premier to repudiate these musings and confirm that Alberta would not impose a provincial sales tax. </p>
<p>The fear around a sales tax is so great that PST is known by another term in Alberta — <a href="https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/news/pst-stands-for-political-suicide-tax/">political suicide tax</a>. Alberta politicians fear that advocacy, or even consideration, of a sales tax as part of their electoral platforms would result in defeat.</p>
<p>A recent Twitter argument between UCP competitors exemplifies how true this still is. </p>
<p>In July, some UCP leaders campaign researchers uncovered a <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/opinion/columnists/smith-alberta-is-a-financial-disgrace-we-need-to-hit-the-reset-button">controversial column</a> written by UCP front-runner Danielle Smith in September 2020 that advocated a five per cent sales tax. This column, which emerged only mid-way in the UCP leadership campaign, resulted in Smith’s close competitors <a href="https://twitter.com/ToewsforAlberta/status/1548669019183616002?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1548669019183616002%7Ctwgr%5E59c2378878a6057129b96eb26496a261b0f7c18d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fabpolecon.ca%2F2022%2F07%2F30%2Fa-sales-tax-for-alberta-and-the-ucp-leadership-race%2F">Travis Toews</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/BrianJeanAB/status/1549768108495327232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1549768108495327232%7Ctwgr%5E59c2378878a6057129b96eb26496a261b0f7c18d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fabpolecon.ca%2F2022%2F07%2F30%2Fa-sales-tax-for-alberta-and-the-ucp-leadership-race%2F">Brian Jean</a> attacking her on Twitter.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1548669019183616002"}"></div></p>
<p>Toews, a former minister of finance, claimed Albertans cannot afford a provincial sales tax. Alberta’s 2022 budget, which he had a hand in creating as a minister, shows that <a href="https://open.alberta.ca/publications/budget-2022">if Albertans paid taxes at Ontario rates, Alberta’s tax revenues would be $14.9 billion higher</a>.</p>
<p>Jean, who is the <a href="https://unitedconservativecaucus.ca/brian-jean/">MLA for the Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche electoral district</a>, took the opportunity to condemn Toews for supporting a sales tax. While Toews has not advocated for one, he said in 2020 <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/the-timing-is-the-question-here-alberta-finance-minister-says-he-would-consider-looking-at-a-pst-after-the-pandemic-further-spending-cuts">he would consider looking at a provincial sales tax after the pandemic</a>. This comment was enough for Jean to latch onto.</p>
<p>On the other side of the political divide, former NDP premier <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/joe-ceci-budget-business-audience-commerce-chamber-calgary-1.3540524%20https://calgary.citynews.ca/video/2022/07/27/punches-thrown-in-first-ucp-leadership-debate/">Rachel Notley and her finance minister</a> also avoided discussion of a PST during their time in office. This tells us that Alberta politicians’ aversion to taxes is not a partisan issue, but a cultural one that is deeply ingrained in Albertan identity.</p>
<p>In light of this Twitter exchange, numerous tweets, many in favour of a sales tax, followed <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23yestopst&src=typeahead_click">and a #yestopst</a> emerged. Despite this, <a href="https://calgaryherald.com/news/politics/younger-albertans-more-open-to-a-provincial-sales-tax-poll">opinion polling</a> shows only a minority of Albertans support such a tax.</p>
<h2>A more stable future</h2>
<p>As it stands, it’s highly doubtful that any of Alberta’s party platforms for next year’s general election will feature a provincial sales tax. Party unity has since been restored with denials and pledges to eschew a sales tax in the midst of more pressing issues, like <a href="https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/danielle-smith-releases-overview-of-proposed-alberta-sovereignty-act">Smith’s controversial Alberta Sovereignty Act</a>.</p>
<p>While Alberta’s politicians have seemingly abandoned hope of ever trying to raise taxes, the province’s unstable finances will eventually force them to contemplate a provincial sales tax. Oil prices are volatile, and Alberta relies heavily on them.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/alberta-budget-means-albertans-are-trapped-on-a-relentless-fiscal-rollercoaster-ride-177698">Alberta budget means Albertans are trapped on a relentless fiscal rollercoaster ride</a>
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<p>Since becoming a province, Alberta has been beholden to world commodity prices — wheat, oil, natural gas and bitumen. <a href="https://www.westernstandard.news/opinion/wagner-alberta-exceptionalism-and-a-distinct-political-culture/article_3b015cff-1130-51e0-a068-7d5fcf35bcd6.html">Alberta’s exceptionalism</a> has meant an addiction to public spending and aversion to taxes.</p>
<p>This contradiction has led to wild fluctuations in its fiscal position from <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1936/04/02/archives/alberta-defaults-3200000-in-bonds-social-credit-province-first-in.html">bankruptcy in 1936</a> to <a href="http://abpolecon.ca/2016/06/27/credit-ratings/">triple A credit status as recently as 2016</a>. </p>
<p>Alberta will remain on a fiscal rollercoaster without a sales tax and Albertans will have little choice but to ride out any future storms as a result of oil-price whiplash. A sales tax — a tax that’s stable, <a href="https://doi.org/10.15215/aupress/9781771992978.01">easy to administer and costs less to collect than income taxes</a> — would provide Albertans with a better alternative. Both public and private sector workers deserve better than accepting the status quo of boom and bust.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191147/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert L. Ascah does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A sales tax — a tax that’s stable, easy to administer and costs less to collect than income taxes — would stabilize Alberta’s volatile roller-coaster economy.Robert L. Ascah, Research Fellow, The Parkland Institute, University of AlbertaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1890962022-08-29T18:05:17Z2022-08-29T18:05:17ZIs it important to post election signs in languages other than French in Québec?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481629/original/file-20220829-24-109am8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C0%2C4550%2C2997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Coalition Avenir Québec Leader François Legault launches his campaign at the Montmorency Falls with candidates, Aug. 28, 2022 in Québec City.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/is-it-important-to-post-election-signs-in-languages-other-than-french-in-quebec" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>In electoral campaigns, election signs help candidates market themselves. But does the language of an election sign matter in a multilingual society?</p>
<p>This question is relevant in Québec, especially as the province begins <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-2022-election-campaign-start-1.6564813">its fall election campaign</a>. </p>
<p>While Québec is predominantly French-speaking, the population of potential voters in Québec is linguistically diverse. According <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm">to the 2021 census</a>, 93.7 per cent of Quebecers know French, but 28.2 per cent speak a language other than French at home. And the majority of the population <a href="https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/fogs-spg/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Dguid=2021A000224&topic=6">knows more than one language</a> — 14.5 per cent know three or more. This makes Québec the province with the most bilingual and multilingual people in Canada. </p>
<h2>Languages on election signs</h2>
<p>Despite that linguistic diversity, Québec’s political parties post few signs in languages other than French during campaigns. In fact, our research — yet to be published — shows that over the last 100 years, less than 10 per cent of political signs posted in the province were bilingual or in English. </p>
<p>The majority of signs were in French or did not convey a particular message other than the name of the candidate, party or riding. </p>
<p>Our findings also show that the presence of English on election signs has fluctuated over time. For example, 22 per cent of signs had some English on them in the 1950s and ‘60s. This percentage fell to 2 per cent from the 1970s to 2000s, followed by a timid resurgence of English in the 2010s. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480924/original/file-20220824-10117-wneb24.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Languages on election signs by decade in Québec" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480924/original/file-20220824-10117-wneb24.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480924/original/file-20220824-10117-wneb24.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480924/original/file-20220824-10117-wneb24.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480924/original/file-20220824-10117-wneb24.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480924/original/file-20220824-10117-wneb24.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480924/original/file-20220824-10117-wneb24.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480924/original/file-20220824-10117-wneb24.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Which language appears on election signs in Québec has varied for the past 100 years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Marc Pomerleau)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In translation studies, we say that translation not only serves as a textual indicator of meaning, but also as a sociopolitical indicator. This is clearly the case when it comes to election signs. </p>
<p>The overall disappearance of English from election signs coincides with the redefinition of the political and social balance of power in Québec <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/quiet-revolution">since the 1960s</a>. </p>
<p>One might assume that posters are almost exclusively in French because of the <a href="https://www.legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/en/document/cs/C-11/19991022#se:59">Charter of the French Language</a>, but in no way does it prevent political advertising in other languages. The explanation here lies in the context rather than the law.</p>
<h2>Should political parties post signs in different languages?</h2>
<p>As the vast majority of Quebecers know French, political parties could easily decide to post their election signs in French only. But it is also true that people tend to <a href="https://csa-research.com/Featured-Content/For-Global-Enterprises/Global-Growth/CRWB-Series/CRWB-B2C">prefer content in their mother tongue</a>. </p>
<p>That fact however doesn’t mean a political party would gain votes by posting signs in English or other languages. </p>
<p>To find out how Quebecers perceive election signs in different languages, we conducted a survey on electorate language preferences — the results of which will soon be published in <a href="https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/meta/"><em>Meta</em></a>. Our survey consisted of multiple-choice questions where participants were shown several hypothetical unilingual and bilingual election signs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480926/original/file-20220824-12-911l98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A collage of three election signs with varying degrees of bilingualism." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480926/original/file-20220824-12-911l98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480926/original/file-20220824-12-911l98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480926/original/file-20220824-12-911l98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480926/original/file-20220824-12-911l98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480926/original/file-20220824-12-911l98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480926/original/file-20220824-12-911l98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480926/original/file-20220824-12-911l98.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In Québec, election signs are predominantly in French.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Musée québécois de culture populaire, Collection Dave Turcotte/Musée virtuel d'histoire politique du Québec, Québec Solidaire)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Perception of French and English signs</h2>
<p>The vast majority of Francophones (82.9 per cent) had positive feelings towards a unilingual French poster. Among non-Francophones, 61 per cent felt the same. </p>
<p>For a sign in English only, a mere 4 per cent of Francophones liked it, compared to 18.7 per cent of non-Francophones. When it came to bilingual (French-English) signs, 39.1 per cent of Francophones and 69.5 per cent of non-Francophones had positive feelings. </p>
<p>This shows that what bothers Québec voters is not so much the presence of English on signs, but the absence of French — English-only signs bothered 91.5 per cent of Francophones and 61 per cent of non-Francophones. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480927/original/file-20220824-9546-6hueb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A graph showing how people feel about bilingual election signs in Québec." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480927/original/file-20220824-9546-6hueb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480927/original/file-20220824-9546-6hueb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480927/original/file-20220824-9546-6hueb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480927/original/file-20220824-9546-6hueb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480927/original/file-20220824-9546-6hueb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480927/original/file-20220824-9546-6hueb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480927/original/file-20220824-9546-6hueb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Over 69 per cent of non-Francophones had positive feelings towards bilingual signs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Marc Pomerleau)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Perception of signs in other languages</h2>
<p>When presented with signs with a message in a foreign language, participants generally felt more positively towards those showcasing languages closer to French like Spanish, Italian and Portuguese — especially compared to those using a different script like Arabic, Mandarin and Russian. </p>
<p>The bilingual French-Spanish sign was the most widely accepted. Spanish is also the most widely understood foreign language in the province with a total of over 450,000 speakers. So what seemed to bother participants was their inability to understand a language. </p>
<p>However, a sign in Inuktitut generated very positive feelings across all Quebecers, especially when the sign was bilingual with French. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480932/original/file-20220824-4026-r6jk1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Québec election signs in French from over the years." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480932/original/file-20220824-4026-r6jk1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480932/original/file-20220824-4026-r6jk1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480932/original/file-20220824-4026-r6jk1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480932/original/file-20220824-4026-r6jk1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=303&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480932/original/file-20220824-4026-r6jk1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480932/original/file-20220824-4026-r6jk1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480932/original/file-20220824-4026-r6jk1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">As the vast majority of Quebecers know French, political parties could easily decide to post their election signs in French only.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec, Collection Richard G. Gervais/Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec, Marc Pomerleau)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Should political parties post signs in multiple languages?</h2>
<p>Although our participants’ perceptions of hypothetical signs don’t necessarily translate into who they will vote for in real situations, they exemplify the linguistic preferences of the Québec electorate. </p>
<p>Francophones prefer by far French-only signs and non-Francophones have similar positive feelings towards French-only signs and bilingual French-English signs, the latter being slightly preferred. </p>
<p>Our findings suggest that Québec politicians who wish to put up provincial election signs in languages other than French should do so with caution. </p>
<p>Bilingual signs and signs in other languages could be used strategically in locations chosen with care, taking into account where said languages are actually spoken. </p>
<p>It will be interesting to see what political parties actually do during the 2022 campaign, especially in the context of <a href="http://m.assnat.qc.ca/en/travaux-parlementaires/projets-loi/projet-loi-96-42-1.html">Bill 96</a> and the newly released census data showing a <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220817/g-a002-eng.htm">decline of French</a>. </p>
<p>Signs in languages other than French could be seen as an outstretched hand in yet another episode of linguistic tensions, but also as an indicator that French is indeed losing ground.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189096/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc Pomerleau receives funding from Fonds d’aide institutionnel à la recherche, Université TÉLUQ.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Esmaeil Kalantari does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Signs in languages other than French could be seen as an outstretched hand in yet another episode of linguistic tensions, but also as an indicator that French is indeed losing ground.Marc Pomerleau, Professeur de linguistique et de traductologie / Professor of linguistics and translation, Université TÉLUQ Esmaeil Kalantari, Auxiliaire de recherche, Université TÉLUQ Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1842222022-06-02T18:52:52Z2022-06-02T18:52:52ZImprisoned citizens face barriers to voting in Ontario<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466818/original/file-20220602-22-k1xuy1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6709%2C4416&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Thousands of imprisoned persons in Ontario faced barriers to voting in the June 2 provincial election. Many will also be explicitly barred from voting in the upcoming municipal elections in October.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many Ontario citizens faced barriers to voting in the June 2 general election. In a process known as <a href="https://twitter.com/CPEPgroup/status/1529229408451833857?cxt=HHwWgsDR7e6C9bgqAAAA">disenfranchisement by process</a>, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/71-607-x/71-607-x2019018-eng.htm">thousands of imprisoned persons</a> in Ontario experience obstacles to voting. Many will also be <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/elections/voter-information/who-can-vote/">explicitly barred</a> from voting in the upcoming <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/municipal-elections">municipal elections in October</a>.</p>
<p>Enfranchisement refers to the rights of full citizenship, including the right to vote. Disenfranchisement, on the other hand, refers to the procedural roadblocks that prevent imprisoned people from being able to vote easily. </p>
<p>This is despite a <a href="https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/2010/index.do">2002 Supreme Court of Canada ruling</a> that affirmed imprisoned people have the right to vote under Section 3 of <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-12.html#:%7E:text=1%20The%20Canadian%20Charter%20of,a%20free%20and%20democratic%20society">the Charter of Rights and Freedoms</a>.</p>
<p>Crucially, disenfranchisement disproportionately impacts marginalized Canadians. <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-44567-6_5">Indigenous</a>, <a href="https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/policing-black-lives">Black</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9781137388476">disabled</a> and <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/prisons-of-poverty">poor</a> people are all imprisoned at higher rates, and are more likely to face barriers to voting because of disenfranchisement by process.</p>
<h2>Prisoners have the right to vote</h2>
<p>Scholars use the term <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1362480617731203">carceral citizens</a> to refer to people who are criminalized and face significant constraints to participating fully in social, economic and political life.</p>
<p>Issues that impact the general public are also issues that impact imprisoned people. As critical public policy and criminology scholars active in community work, we spoke with current and formerly imprisoned people to hear about how they experienced voting in Ontario’s prisons.</p>
<p>Interviewees told us the majority of imprisoned people return to their communities, so it is important for them to have a democratic voice and stake in the communities they return to. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in a T-shirt and sweatpants leans over a table to fill out paperwork with a pen" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466820/original/file-20220602-11-792gpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466820/original/file-20220602-11-792gpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466820/original/file-20220602-11-792gpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466820/original/file-20220602-11-792gpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466820/original/file-20220602-11-792gpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466820/original/file-20220602-11-792gpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466820/original/file-20220602-11-792gpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An inmate casts his ballot for the federal election at the Montréal Detention Centre in June 2004.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CP PHOTO/Ryan Remiorz</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One recently released federally imprisoned person, and former chair of the inmate committee at Joyceville Institution, Kevin Belanger, shared his thoughts about why being allowed to vote is so crucial: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I think it’s very important for us to vote … it allows guys to feel, even a little bit, a part of society, to know that their vote counts. But we really are voting with a disadvantage because we are not educated on what is going on. This is because of many parties not realizing that if they want our vote, they need to send us something so we know their positions, because if not, we’re going to be guessing.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another recently released federally imprisoned person, James Ruston, shared his perspective about political engagement as a prisoner:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“As a long-term prisoner, I learned to regret the lack of mindful concern for the community in my past choices. In my exile, I came to believe in the value of social relationships that inspires an inclusive respect for a nurturing and collaborative social contract. Being supported to vote, to make decisions about my community, endears me to that community.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Barriers to voting</h2>
<p>Interviewees told us there are a variety of legislative, bureaucratic and procedural issues that act as roadblocks to voting inside Ontario prisons. </p>
<p>Ruston said that insufficient communication from correctional facilities can prevent prisoners from even knowing how to register in the first place. Belanger said that barriers to literacy can also prevent some imprisoned people from accessing this important information.</p>
<p>When an election is called, a prison staff member is appointed as an <a href="https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=bkg&document=ec90545&lang=e">election liaison</a>. They are responsible for <a href="https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=bkg&document=ec90545&lang=e">advertising the election and registering voters</a>. Imprisoned people must fill out their ballots in the <a href="https://www.thewhig.com/2018/06/07/inmates-exercise-their-right-to-vote">presence of the liaison officer</a>, and are not permitted privacy when voting.</p>
<p>The final deadline for registration occurs before the deadline for the general public. Those who do not register in time are <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/on-inmate-voting-day-prisoners-plan-legal-case-over-2018-ontario-vote-1.5314180">barred from voting</a>. This happened to several women in a Kitchener correctional institution in 2018 when their elections liaison officer <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/on-inmate-voting-day-prisoners-plan-legal-case-over-2018-ontario-vote-1.5314180">failed to hand out voter registration forms in time</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="The outside of a correctional institution" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466821/original/file-20220602-22-53c8hc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466821/original/file-20220602-22-53c8hc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466821/original/file-20220602-22-53c8hc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466821/original/file-20220602-22-53c8hc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=761&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466821/original/file-20220602-22-53c8hc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466821/original/file-20220602-22-53c8hc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466821/original/file-20220602-22-53c8hc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=956&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A group of inmates from Grand Valley Institution for Women were denied the ability to vote in the 2018 provincial election because of an administrative error.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robins</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Those who do register still might not get to cast their votes. Seventy-seven per cent of people in provincial prisons are in remand, meaning they have not been sentenced and may be imprisoned for a short amount of time. Prisoners who have registered to vote inside prisons, but are released before the voting date, are <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90e06#BK128">not permitted to vote by the regular process</a>. </p>
<p>In the 2015 Canadian federal election there was a 50.5 per cent turnout of imprisoned voters compared to 68 per cent in the public — and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-votes-2019-voting-incarcerated-house-arrest-1.5285711">7.5 per cent of votes from imprisoned people were rejected</a>. By comparison, only <a href="https://www.elections.ca/res/rep/off/ovr2015app/41/table3E.html">0.7 per cent were rejected</a> overall in Canada. </p>
<p>Further, if there are any delays and special ballots do not arrive to be processed in time, <a href="https://www.thepost.on.ca/news/national/elections-canada-205000-mail-in-ballots-were-not-counted">they will not be counted</a>, as happened with 205,000 ballots in the 2022 election. </p>
<h2>Pandemic-specific barriers</h2>
<p>Pandemic restrictions have resulted in a number of unique enfranchisement barriers. Since there are still <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/correctional-service/campaigns/covid-19/inmate-testing.html#O2">active COVID-19 cases</a> and <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/correctional-service/campaigns/covid-19/visits/status.html">restrictions</a> at Ontario prisons, these barriers are ongoing.</p>
<p>Under the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/correctional-service/campaigns/covid-19/plans-preparation/integrated-risk-management-framework.html">Shaping the New Normal Risk Management Framework</a> (available through <a href="https://ruor.uottawa.ca/handle/10393/43358">freedom of information</a>), items are not to be shared between imprisoned people during times of COVID-19 risk. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Canada Correctional Facilities sign for the Atlantic Institution" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466823/original/file-20220602-14-ovq588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466823/original/file-20220602-14-ovq588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466823/original/file-20220602-14-ovq588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466823/original/file-20220602-14-ovq588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466823/original/file-20220602-14-ovq588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466823/original/file-20220602-14-ovq588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466823/original/file-20220602-14-ovq588.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A group of imprisoned people in New Brunswick were unable to vote in the 2019 federal election because of an institutional lockdown.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In addition, non-profits that support prospective voters have sometimes been barred from doing their work inside prisons. This was the case in <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510015401">Saskatchewan for Elizabeth Fry Society staff</a>, who were unable to enter prisons to help imprisoned people register to vote in 2020. </p>
<p>Though <a href="https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/prisoners-say-they-were-denied-their-constitutional-right-to-vote/">Elections Canada</a> states prisoners cannot be denied an opportunity to vote, even for security reasons, some prisoners at the Atlantic Institution were <a href="https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca/featured/prisoners-say-they-were-denied-their-constitutional-right-to-vote/">prevented from voting in the 2019 federal election</a> due to an institutional lockdown. </p>
<h2>Recommendations</h2>
<p>The majority of people in prison <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/houses-of-hate-how-canadas-prison-system-is-broken/">do not need to be there</a>. During parts of the pandemic, the number of people imprisoned in Ontario decreased <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510015401&pickMembers%5B0%5D=1.7&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2016+%2F+2017&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2020+%2F+2021&referencePeriods=20160101%2C20200101">from 8,113 to 6,405</a>.</p>
<p>But the number of imprisoned people in provincial jails has <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-inmate-advocates-warn-jail-populations-rising-again-in-some-provinces/">risen since</a>. In addition to decreasing the number of people imprisoned, we need to do better ahead of the fast approaching municipal elections in October. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/news/prisoner-voting-ban-unconstitutional-contradicts-nova-scotias-commitment-to-end-systemic-racism-expert-508603/">Barriers to voting in municipal elections</a> are even worse. <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/96m32">Ontario’s Municipal Elections Act</a> explicitly prohibits imprisoned people from voting. This act must be amended to allow imprisoned people to vote in October. </p>
<p>We call on respective governments to ensure that the relevant election agencies run the vote in prisons effectively. Elections Ontario must ensure imprisoned people are provided information on their candidates, registration assistance and facilitation by Elections Ontario employees on voting day. Voting is a right; everyone should have equitable access to it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184222/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda Mussell receives funding from SSHRC. She is affiliated with the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Evans receives funding from SSHRC. She is affiliated with the Toronto Prisoners' Rights Project. </span></em></p>Elections Ontario must ensure imprisoned people are provided information on their candidates, registration assistance and facilitation by Elections Ontario employees on voting day.Linda Mussell, Postdoctoral fellow, Political Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaJessica Evans, Assistant Professor, Sociology, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1760812022-05-15T10:44:49Z2022-05-15T10:44:49ZThe right to transportation should be a key issue in the Ontario election<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463031/original/file-20220513-8286-ovstkq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C13%2C9100%2C3337&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Transportation planning includes highways, public transit, automobile infrastructure and the movement of people and goods.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/the-right-to-transportation-should-be-a-key-issue-in-the-ontario-election" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>With high gas prices and climate change top of mind for many in Ontario, transportation is shaping up to be a key battleground in the upcoming provincial election. </p>
<p>The Progressive Conservatives have <a href="https://budget.ontario.ca/2022/capital-plan.html">pledged $25.1 billion to highway expansion and rehabilitation if re-elected in June</a>. The NDP platform includes a <a href="https://www.ontariondp.ca/platform/quality-public-services">commitment to cover 50 per cent of municipal public and para-transit operating costs and to do away with public-private partnerships</a>. Meanwhile, the Liberal party made a splash when it announced its <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/liberals-transit-fares-ontario-election-2022-1.6437982">intention to reduce public transit fares to $1 for a single trip or $40 for a monthly pass across the province until 2024</a>.</p>
<p>It is rare for transportation to feature centrally in an election. As a researcher studying environmental politics and political economy, it is encouraging to see a sector responsible for the <a href="https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/data-analysis/energy-markets/provincial-territorial-energy-profiles/provincial-territorial-energy-profiles-ontario.html">largest percentage of greenhouse gas emissions</a> in the province feature prominently in political debate.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3TuGpDIjIT8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Highway expansion was a topic of discussion at the Ontario party leaders’ debate on May 10 in North Bay, Ont.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indeed, mobility has always been a deeply political subject that affects almost every aspect of daily life. This is because mobility infrastructure, as political theorist Langdon Winner explains, is “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20024652">a way of engineering relationships among people that, after a time, becomes just another part of the landscape</a>.”</p>
<p>Mobility infrastructure includes roads, sidewalks, buses, bridges, pathways, light rail and access ramps. Mobility research tells us that the way these things are configured, maintained and governed reflects and produces particular political interests and <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Mobilities-Mobility-Justice-and-Social-Justice/Cook-Butz/p/book/9780367585532">social justice</a> outcomes. With this in mind, it is crucial that we ask who our mobility infrastructure is for and what purpose it serves. </p>
<h2>Car politics</h2>
<p>Take, for example, the dominance of the automobile today, which came about through <a href="https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-1927-6.html">significant public subsidization of automobile infrastructure</a> to expand private vehicle ownership. This was neither apolitical nor natural.</p>
<p>In fact, a significant amount of academic research suggests that <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Against-Automobility-Steffen-Bohm/9781405152709">state intervention in favour of automobiles</a> <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/political-economy/automobile-politics-ecology-and-cultural-political-economy">reflected and helped produce</a> <a href="https://unevenearth.org/2018/08/the-social-ideology-of-the-motorcar/">an individualized</a>, <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/3691-the-imperial-mode-of-living">resource-intensive consumer society</a>.</p>
<p>This had an immediate and lasting impact on social justice outcomes. In a study of the impacts of the Highway Act of 1956, civil rights lawyer and legal scholar <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=3539889">Deborah Archer</a> found that highway construction planners disproportionately targeted poor and predominantly Black communities. The effect was to “symbolically and physically encourage racial segregation.” </p>
<p>The <a href="https://ilr.law.uiowa.edu/print/volume-106-issue-5/transportation-policy-and-the-underdevelopment-of-black-communities/">economic</a> and <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w23622">health</a> impacts of demolishing homes and businesses in favour of highways in these communities endure today. </p>
<p>Uneven access to mobility has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101486">proven challenging to undo</a>. Much of the car-centric mobility infrastructure built in the postwar era is still with us or has expanded. </p>
<p>In Canada, cities have been designed around the movement of cars. Vast areas have been paved and residential areas have been built close to high-volume roads, <a href="https://secure.cihi.ca/estore/productSeries.htm?pc=PCC552">contributing to poor health outcomes related to pollution and excessive summertime heat</a>. Low-income areas are disproportionately affected.</p>
<h2>Infrastructure is political</h2>
<p>In recent years, research has expanded our understanding of these dynamics and linked them to the role of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1215/00382876-8177747">infrastructure</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2019.1677990">development</a> in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0263775821991537">settler-colonialism</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132519895308">racial capitalism</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132519828458">patriarchy</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463025/original/file-20220513-12-3shtkj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a car driving on an ice road" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463025/original/file-20220513-12-3shtkj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463025/original/file-20220513-12-3shtkj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463025/original/file-20220513-12-3shtkj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463025/original/file-20220513-12-3shtkj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463025/original/file-20220513-12-3shtkj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463025/original/file-20220513-12-3shtkj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463025/original/file-20220513-12-3shtkj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Across Canada, there are at least 10,000 kilometres of roads that depend on freezing temperatures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Infrastructure in Indigenous communities is chronically underfunded. Many remote northern communities rely on temporary ice roads to access southern municipalities in the winter, and these ice roads are becoming <a href="https://www.thestar.com/autos/2022/02/12/cold-connections.html">less reliable due to climate change</a>. For those with all-year road access, <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/greyhound-canadas-cuts-are-a-public-safety-crisis-for-indigenous-people/">the reduction of Greyhound bus routes in 2018</a>, followed by the <a href="https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/feds-should-be-doing-something-about-loss-of-greyhound-bus-service-mmiwg-advocates/">end of the company’s operations in 2021</a>, cut off many Indigenous communities from urban centres and the family, employment, health and other services located there. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-communities-should-dictate-how-1-billion-infrastructure-investment-is-spent-158027">Indigenous communities should dictate how $1 billion infrastructure investment is spent</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Indeed, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, found that the “<a href="https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Final_Report_Vol_1a-1.pdf">lack of supportive infrastructure and transportation</a>” created significant risk.</p>
<h2>The pandemic’s effects</h2>
<p>The pandemic has only served to further heighten and highlight transportation safety issues. Since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, we have seen how the mobility of <a href="https://theconversation.com/giving-up-public-transit-during-the-coronavirus-is-a-luxury-many-canadians-cant-afford-138875">public transit</a> users and those who <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-pandemic-highlights-the-importance-of-walkable-and-wheelable-neighbourhoods-165204">walk or wheel</a> for transportation has been negatively impacted by diminished service and maintenance. </p>
<p>Data from the United States also suggests pedestrian injuries and deaths, which have been on the <a href="https://www.ghsa.org/sites/default/files/2021-05/Pedestrian%20Traffic%20Fatalities%20By%20State%202020%20Preliminary%20Data%20Addendum%205-20-21.pdf">rise for a decade</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/14/us/pedestrian-deaths-pandemic.html">spiked</a> during the pandemic. </p>
<p>We know too that transportation-related injuries are not evenly distributed, with <a href="https://www.spph.ubc.ca/indigenous-people-face-higher-risk-of-transportation-injuries-in-british-columbia/">Indigenous</a> and <a href="https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813118">racialized</a> peoples and those in <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2011.300528">low-income areas</a> being much more likely to be injured or killed.</p>
<h2>Just and equitable access to mobility</h2>
<p>This raises important questions about how to make sure our mobility infrastructure is accessible, safe, equitable and sustainable. We need to ensure that infrastructure investment is not solely aimed at spurring capitalist growth, <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/economic-insight/global-leaders-call-for-infrastructure-spending-to-spur-growth/article28244458/">as many have called</a> for, but serves the needs of all its users. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463030/original/file-20220513-15-e3znzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="streetcars heading in opposite directions on a city street" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463030/original/file-20220513-15-e3znzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463030/original/file-20220513-15-e3znzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463030/original/file-20220513-15-e3znzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463030/original/file-20220513-15-e3znzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=379&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463030/original/file-20220513-15-e3znzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463030/original/file-20220513-15-e3znzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463030/original/file-20220513-15-e3znzg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Social justice movements working toward access to transportation focus on its affordability, accessibility and inclusion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In this sense, we need to ask what vision for the future our leaders, like those vying for political office in Ontario, have for mobility. But, more importantly, we need to recognize that the changes required to create a just and sustainable transportation system cannot be achieved in a single election but only through systemic, structural changes in how we think about, govern and build mobility.</p>
<p>Toward this aim, researchers and activists — like those at <a href="http://www.untokening.org/">The Untokening, a collective focused on mobility justice</a> — have advanced the concept of mobility justice as a “<a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/2901-mobility-justice">social movement to protect and reclaim the shared mobility commons</a>.” Mobility commons, according to sociologist Mimi Sheller, are “co-operative” and “shared infrastructures of movement,” in contrast to the enclosed, private and exclusionary systems that are dominant today. </p>
<p>There are many movements currently working to increase access to shared, collective forms of transportation. These include movements calling for <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/fare-free-public-transit-ottawa-1.6279951">fare-free transit</a>, to <a href="https://transitcenter.org/publication/safety-for-all/">reduce the policing of mobility</a>, <a href="https://www.ijurr.org/spotlight-on/disabling-city/crip-mobility-justice/">disability transportation equity</a>, <a href="https://trid.trb.org/view/1729807">better sidewalk maintenance</a> and a <a href="https://theconversation.com/canada-needs-a-national-public-transportation-system-heres-why-161786">public intercity bus service</a> among others. </p>
<p>Mobility justice can only be achieved by taking the politics of movement seriously. This means planning processes must not only listen to, but meaningfully include and be governed by the communities that will use the infrastructure. </p>
<p>It means remaking mobility systems so that they are democratically controlled, equitably distributed and accessible to all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176081/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua K. McEvoy volunteers with Free Transit Ottawa. </span></em></p>Mobility justice — the right to access spaces and means of movement — means that transportation planning should address marginalization.Joshua K. McEvoy, PhD Candidate, Political Science, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1733842022-01-03T16:00:06Z2022-01-03T16:00:06ZThe cost of inaction for youth ‘aging out’ of Ontario foster care is estimated at $2 billion<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437325/original/file-20211213-27-18ms26h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C0%2C3805%2C2155&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Reinvesting some of the $2 billion Ontario is spending could keep more families together.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last spring, the Ontario government <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-changing-child-welfare-system-aging-out-1.5932470">committed to redesigning the child welfare system</a> to better prepare youth leaving state guardianship. As we head towards a provincial election in June 2022, few details of the proposed redesign are available. We urge voters to pay attention to action or inaction on this issue — not only for ethical reasons but for monetary reasons too.</p>
<p>We undertook cost-analysis and interview research to help guide policy debate. In a <a href="https://www.stepstonesforyouth.com/about/what-happens-to-youth-from-care/">new report</a>, we estimate the costs of inaction on this issue and provide youth-informed recommendations. </p>
<p>For youth under state guardianship the state has assumed the role of the parent. But state parenting <a href="https://cwrp.ca/sites/default/files/publications/report-exploring-youth-outcomes.pdf">falls short</a> of how most people would treat their children. This includes cutting support when youth turn 18.</p>
<h2>Aging out</h2>
<p>There are approximately <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1000055/ontario-taking-steps-tobetter-%20prepare-and-support-youth-leaving-care">11,700 children and youth under state guardianship in Ontario</a>. Black and Indigenous children are highly represented, with Indigenous children comprising <a href="http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/interrupted-childhoods">30 per cent</a> of kids under Ontario guardianship alone. </p>
<p>Each year, around <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/04/25/ontario-urged-to-track-foster-kids-after-they-leave-care.html">1,000 youth “age out”</a> of the system. For many, the transition is difficult, creating lifelong adverse outcomes including low educational attainment and income, unstable housing and homelessness, worse physical and mental health and criminalization.</p>
<p>Drawing on the work of <a href="https://melaniemdoucet.com">Melanie Doucet</a>, a social work scholar and former youth under state guardianship, we use the term “<a href="https://f54667c7-b33a-4709-8cba-66716a068b2d.usrfiles.com/ugd/f54667_30baf6f5b4eb4a8194c47ab10ec17ad7.pdf">aging out</a>” to mean youth who are turning 18 and will lose access to certain services and supports. We use quotation marks to denormalize the term. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An illustration of a teenager sad and alone amongst a group of people walking by" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437329/original/file-20211213-23-1qumhe5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437329/original/file-20211213-23-1qumhe5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437329/original/file-20211213-23-1qumhe5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437329/original/file-20211213-23-1qumhe5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437329/original/file-20211213-23-1qumhe5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437329/original/file-20211213-23-1qumhe5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437329/original/file-20211213-23-1qumhe5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The youth we interviewed all described profound isolation, loneliness and few caring relationships underpinning the challenges they face.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sector redesign</h2>
<p>In March 2021, the province committed to <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/document/child-welfare-redesign-strategy">redesigning child welfare</a>, releasing its plan in July 2020. In February 2021, a <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/03/10/advocates-want-governments-to-better-support-youth-leaving-foster-care-amid-pandemic.html">moratorium was placed on “aging out” of guardianship until Sept. 30, 2022</a>, so that youth can continue to receive supports and services after they turn 18 during the pandemic.</p>
<p>No other changes for youth “aging out” have been made. Youth who “age out” by the end of September will face significant challenges. </p>
<p>In the <a href="https://f54667c7-b33a-4709-8cba-66716a068b2d.usrfiles.com/ugd/f54667_30baf6f5b4eb4a8194c47ab10ec17ad7.pdf">words of Cheyanne Ratnam</a>, the co-founder and executive director of the <a href="https://business.facebook.com/ChildCoalition/?business_id=129131562612324&fref=tag">Ontario Children’s Advancement Coalition</a>, and a former youth under state guardianship, “Child welfare is the largest pipeline into other violent systems, such as homelessness, prison and poverty.”</p>
<h2>Report findings</h2>
<p>Our report, <a href="https://oacasmeetings.zoom.us/rec/share/-drPo2R-5VFLWXmjJq4Bux2cl8avz2tmy_1-cjK24nI4mrC7xLMIq37JJU1Bh6w.a4K8p4N_qjaB3LhC">launched at a session</a> held by Ontario’s <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/office-childrens-lawyer">Office of the Children’s Lawyer</a> on Dec. 8, 2021, explains the situation in Ontario. </p>
<p>It applies the approach of economist Marvin Shaffer and colleagues, which estimated the costs of youth “aging out” in <a href="https://www.fosteringchange.ca/opportunities_in_transition_out_now">British Columbia</a>. We estimate that in Ontario the cost of inaction totals more than $2 billion. </p>
<p>The figures we present draw on the limited data available, and we believe the numbers are likely much higher. We draw on Statistics Canada data, peer-reviewed academic research and data released by non-profits to produce these figures. Much of this report was shaped by the voices and experiences of youth who “aged out” and youth in transition workers.</p>
<p>One youth, Jesse, says: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“From the time you’re 17 to 21, that’s the most fragile time you should be involved with youth … I can bet you $10 million if my life was aided a little more from 17 to 21, I can guarantee you I’d probably be in college right now, I probably wouldn’t have a (criminal) record.…”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Five hundred and sixty youth who “age out” each year <a href="https://cwrp.ca/sites/default/files/publications/en/report-exploring-youth-outcomes.pdf">don’t finish high school</a>, experience lost earnings over their lifetime and become trapped in precarious work options. </p>
<p>We found that each youth who “ages out” of state guardianship stands to lose between $705,000 to $1,880,000 in earnings over their lifetime. Based on the combined total of taxable lost earnings of youth leaving state guardianship over their lifetimes, the province stands to lose approximately $118 million to $315.8 million in tax revenue. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person holds open an empty wallet, its a close-up on the hands and the wallet." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437323/original/file-20211213-21-1hker2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437323/original/file-20211213-21-1hker2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437323/original/file-20211213-21-1hker2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437323/original/file-20211213-21-1hker2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437323/original/file-20211213-21-1hker2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437323/original/file-20211213-21-1hker2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437323/original/file-20211213-21-1hker2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many youth experience lost earnings over their lifetime.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The majority of youth “age out” to poverty. Five hundred and seventy youth “aging out” each year <a href="https://openpolicyontario.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2012/02/25istheNew21.pdf">rely on income supports</a> — the lifetime cost to the province is around $235 million.</p>
<p>Five hundred and eighty youth “aging out” each year will <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/TransitionSupportReport-31082020.pdf">experience homelessness</a>. Over their lifetimes, they may cost the province approximately $629.8 million in emergency shelter.</p>
<p>During the report launch we heard from frontline workers who can offer little more than a tent to some youth leaving the system amidst the housing crisis.</p>
<p>Approximately 460 youth in state guardianship <a href="https://qspace.library.queensu.ca/bitstream/handle/1974/29465/Rampersaud_Marsha_202109_PhD.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y">experience criminalization</a>. Provincial imprisonment of these young people costs the province approximately $19.6 million to $36 million annually; and over their lifetimes, that number could be nearly $1 billion. </p>
<p>These are just some of the areas the province may incur costs, the total estimated costs based on the adverse outcomes youth leaving state guardianship face in their lifetimes is more than $2 billion.</p>
<h2>Recommendations</h2>
<p>Our report presents 18 recommendations provided by youth who “aged out,” youth-in-transition workers, people who used to be under state guardianship and people who work in the sector. Future youth-led data collection is needed to inform policy change, as there is little available in Canada.</p>
<p>One key recommendation is to rethink the norm of independence at 18. From interviews with youth, all describe profound isolation, loneliness and few caring relationships underpinning the challenges they face. We must shift to a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340037274_Exploring_the_Tension_Between_Independence_and_Interdependence_among_Former_Youth_in_Foster_Care_who_are_Emerging_Adults">model of interdependence</a> — fostering non-professional caring relationships for youth under state guardianship that extend long after 18.</p>
<p>One youth, Riyad, says: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Half the time I felt like nobody loved me, you know? I think people are just telling me they love me and they care about me but I don’t think they do, you know, because if they did, why am I in an emergency shelter?”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In addition, youth need continued financial support and services, and increased monthly funding adjusted for cost of living. The youth we heard from are unable to maintain housing and get post-secondary education due to financial hardship, lack of interpersonal support and trauma.</p>
<p>Change is needed earlier for families, reinvesting some of the $2 billion Ontario is spending could keep more families together. It will cost less to reinvest early on, and it will help disrupt this trend of hardship for generations of youth to come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173384/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda Mussell receives funding from SSHRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marsha Rampersaud works with StepStones for Youth. Her doctoral research received SSHRC funding.</span></em></p>For youth under state guardianship the state has assumed the role of the parent. But state parenting falls short of how most people would treat their children.Linda Mussell, Postdoctoral fellow, Political Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaMarsha Rampersaud, Postdoctoral fellow, Rights for Children and Youth Partnership, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1693122021-11-01T16:26:51Z2021-11-01T16:26:51ZA vote for Canada or Indigenous Nationhood? The complexities of First Nations, Métis and Inuit participation in Canadian politics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426764/original/file-20211015-30-1w2i4o0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C4876%2C3245&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">For some Indigenous people, participating in Canadian elections continues the legitimacy of the Canadian state</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/election-2021-no-shows-and-no-interest-leaders-may-regret-ignoring-indigenous-voters">question of Indigenous participation</a> in Canada’s elections <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/unreserved-heads-to-the-polls-1.5314954/why-are-some-indigenous-people-reluctant-to-vote-in-federal-elections-1.5315048">is repeatedly in the news</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nunavut-election-2021-results-1.6224306">Nunavut held its territorial election</a> on On Oct. 25, and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/federal-general-election-results-2021-1.6182364">Canada’s 44th federal election concluded</a> earlier this fall.</p>
<p>Some of the likely reasons it was <a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-election-canadas-next-government-should-shift-from-reconciliation-to-decolonization-and-indigenous-self-determination-166225">top of mind recently are reconciliation</a> and the <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/canadas-residential-schools-were-a-horror/">number of unmarked graves of Indigenous children</a> found at Canada’s most notorious attempt at getting rid of Indigenous Peoples: “<a href="http://www.7generations.org/we-need-to-stop-calling-them-schools/">Residential Schools</a>.” </p>
<p>The question of Indigenous participation in Canadian electoral politics is one that is constantly debated among First Nations, Métis and Inuit Peoples. I don’t think many Canadians consider whether or not Indigenous Peoples should participate in Canada’s electoral process at all.</p>
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<p>When addressing this topic, it’s important to consider differing views and citizenship — <a href="https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=eim/issue9&document=p2&lang=e">especially because most research doesn’t</a>. Making up a small percentage of Canada’s electorate — <a href="https://www.sac-isc.gc.ca/eng/1602010609492/1602010631711">4.9 per cent of Canada’s population</a> (this number doesn’t take into account eligible voters) — it is often argued that it is imperative that Indigenous Peoples vote <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/analysis-chasing-the-indigenous-vote-in-canada">in order to be heard and adequately represented</a>. </p>
<p>What is not considered in this conversation is the historical formation of the Canadian state and what “citizenship” and enfranchisement mean for Indigenous Peoples. As someone <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/1993/22226">who has studied this extensively</a> — let’s get into it. </p>
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<h2>First Nations citizenship</h2>
<p>When discussing First Nations citizenship, it is important to note that, like the term “Indigenous,” it is a blanket term that represents over <a href="https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100013785/1529102490303">50 different nations and confederacies</a> – all of which have different legal, political and socio-economic structures. </p>
<p>First Nations constantly remind Canada <a href="https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/october-2018/ottawa-must-talk-to-canadians-about-nation-to-nation-agenda/">of the concept of nation-to-nation relationships</a>, which inadvertently enforces the notion that they never agreed to being a part of the Canadian state in the first place. </p>
<p>As British colonies grew and formed the Dominion of Canada and subsequent confederation, <a href="https://www.nationalmagazine.ca/en-ca/articles/law/in-depth/2017/decolonizing-the-indian-act">citizenship and enfranchisement became a tool that attempted to erase and destroy First Nations</a>.</p>
<p>When citizenship and enfranchisement was <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/tomas-jirousek-why-some-indigenous-people-dont-vote-and-others-do">eventually given to First Nations people in 1960</a>, the reason for doing so was not to recognize a nation-to-nation relationship. It was <a href="https://www.ictinc.ca/indian-act-and-the-right-to-vote">because of the idea that Canadian citizenship would further integrate First Nations into Canadian society</a>, assist with socio-economic issues and <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/1993/22226">help Canada in continuing to ignore First Nations autonomy</a>, nationhood and their own citizenship.</p>
<h2>Métis citizenship</h2>
<p>For Métis men, Canadian citizenship <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/csj-sjc/constitution/lawreg-loireg/p1t21.html">was granted by the Manitoba Act in 1870</a>. Their rights and identity as Métis were quickly eclipsed in the 1880s and ‘90s as <a href="https://acs-aec.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/646_AEC-CITC_8x8_EN_V13_LR.pdf">they were targeted and the tyranny of the democratic majority</a> was used to repel much of their recognition. </p>
<p>After the expansion of citizenship to Métis women in 1917, most Métis had to <a href="https://acs-aec.ca/en/publications-en/manitoba-and-canadas-north-west-founders-and-builders/">hide their identity, claiming to be Francophone, to avoid persecution</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://acs-aec.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/646_AEC-CITC_8x8_EN_V13_LR.pdf">Constitution Act of 1982 recognized Métis as a distinct group</a> that required inclusion and their rights be recognized. Since 1982, there has been strong movement on Métis recognition and their rights confirmed. </p>
<h2>Inuit citizenship</h2>
<p>For Inuit, <a href="https://electionsanddemocracy.ca/voting-rights-through-time-0/inuit-and-right-vote-case-study">Canadian citizenship was granted in 1951</a>, but the ability to vote or participate in electoral politics was denied well into the 1970s as <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/indigenous-suffrage">ballot boxes and ballots were withheld from many Inuit</a>. </p>
<p>Inuit rights and territorial rights were heavily ignored until the 1980s. In fact, one could argue that granting Canadian citizenship to Inuit was less about giving the rights of a citizen and more about <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/human-flagpoles-dark-story-behind-inuit-scene-on-2-bill-1.2632380">using Inuit as human flagpoles as Canada sought to solidify its claims of sovereignty in the Arctic</a>.</p>
<h2>A delayed recognition of citizenship means something</h2>
<p>For many First Nations, Métis and Inuit, Canadian citizenship did not and has not equated to belonging within the Canadian state but rather another form of degradation of Indigenous rights, recognition and nationhood. </p>
<p>For many, Canadian citizenship has been used to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/first-person-anishinaabe-vote-federal-election-1.6178236">further entrench Canadian sovereignty and legitimacy while ignoring Canada’s colonial legacy and ongoing settler-colonialism</a>. Canadian citizenship has been utilized in a matter that leads to misunderstanding, and a Canadian-centric view on nation-to-nation relations.</p>
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<p>For those who fall under the blanket term “Indigenous,” <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/the-irony-of-the-first-nations-vote/">participating in Canadian elections continues the legitimacy of the Canadian state</a>, a state that has unilaterally imposed its will, and its settler-colonial presence on not only their territories but also their nations and themselves. </p>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/unreserved-heads-to-the-polls-1.5314954/why-are-some-indigenous-people-reluctant-to-vote-in-federal-elections-1.5315048">Indigenous Peoples opt to not participate for this reason</a>. </p>
<p>But those who choose to participate, do so as citizens of their nations; they do this as a way to not only remind Canada of the nation-to-nation relationships that continue to exist and as a way to bring change from within the very structure that has been used to erase them. A structure that taught Canadians to forget that Canada is built on over 50 different nations and confederacies that have their own political, legal and socio-economic structures that were never given up.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169312/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chadwick Cowie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Indigenous people who vote are reminding Canada of the nation-to-nation relationships that continue to exist and to bring change from within the very structure that has been used to erase them.Chadwick Cowie, Faculty Lecturer, Department of Political Science, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.