Expat Canadians deserve the right to vote in Federal Elections

I want my right to vote.

My entire family lives in Canada. I will have to make decisions about the care of my parents, eventually. Why can't I vote for the people who will decide the options I have?

Canadian citizens deserve the right to vote in Canadian elections!

curious why you would think the MAJORITY of Canadians feel that way. I get the impression that the majority of Canadians have no idea that we are being stripped of our Charter right to vote. The majority I have heard from, regardless of political stripe, are in favour of expats having the right to vote.

Funny that this happened months before a federal election. Funny that the vast majority of expats are highly educated and involved in Canadian politics despite being away...Sad that the majority of Canadians seems to believe we don't have a right to participate.

This is an unfair rule. I'm Canadian an plan to return to Canada.

The right to vote is "every" Canadians right.

I am a Canadian citizen living in the US. My voting rights are about to expire. I am dismayed by this policy. In an increasingly global economy it is un-democratic and backwards.

I AM CANADIAN. I have been living in Germany for 8 years. I voted in the last election, this time I can't. I have friends and family in Canada, I visit regularly and I care about what is happening there. I read the papers and if I return, will have to live with the decisions I WASN'T ABLE TO VOTE ON! This is against the Charter of Rights. I want my vote back.

My vote is my voice. I'm as Canadian as anyone else. Just because I chose to marry a non-Canadian and we live and raise our kids in his country doesn't mean I should lose my enshrined Canadian rights. Enough!

Voting is a Canadian right. I am Canadian and I am a tax payer. Therefore, I should have the right to vote.

This fiercely proud Canadian plans to return to her home, but has no say in her home's future. Isn't voting a RIGHT of all CITIZENS? It's not like I renounced my Canadian citizenship when I moved to the U.S., and I never became a citizen here. I am and always will be 100% CANADIAN!!

I kept telling my Japanese college students how important voting is and, as I could not vote in either Japan or Canada, how much it meant to me that they exercised their right (not privilege). Finally I was going to be able to vote again! Boy, was I proud and ready to show them my first voter package in years…now all I can do is remind them that they are lucky to be citizens of a country that lets *all* of its citizens (if not long-term residents) vote... (my citizenship is only Canadian)

I am a Canadian first, and an expat second. I feel strongly about my country, and I want to have a say in how, and by whom, it's governed.

Absolutely agree that expats should be allowed to vote! It's still their country too/

I could be at home, driving a taxi or doing some other job I hate. I could also be home living on EI or welfare. Instead, I left my family, friends and life behind so that I could be gainfully employed at a job I love. And for that, I'm told that I'm not allowed to vote because I'm not contributing? How is my choosing NOT to live off of other people's tax dollars NOT a contribution?

This must be reversed.

I was naturalised as a Canadian after my parents and I were welcomed to Canada as refugee boat people following the Vietnam War. As a result of this, I now work in the international development field so I can help make a difference to others. This often takes me abroad and means that I have had to live outside the country for many years, but it has never made me feel any less Canadian. My parents and I nearly died to find political freedom and now, my own country has stripped my right to vote from me! I cannot accept this. Restore my right to vote and that of Canadians everywhere regardless of where we live!

I do hope we will be able to amassed enough signatures to make this a reality

May 2014 - the right to vote; July 2015 - no right to vote.