Immigration: Canadian Elections

Mr Woo Dept: “There’s a very deep-seated self-image in this country that we are an immigrant country and a kind of instinct that treats Canadians abroad as either failed immigrants or disloyal Canadians,” said Yuen Pau Woo, CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation, according to Globe And Mail. Mr. Woo said Canadian government policy discourages attachment to Canada among its diaspora. Canadians who have lived abroad for more than five years lose their right to vote in Canadian elections, for example. And citizenship can only be passed on to the first generation born abroad and that demographic shift toward significant emigration will eventually force Canada to confront a long-established ambivalence to citizens living beyond its borders, the report’s authors say. “We’ve got to think bigger than that. … We stand to fall behind other countries that are actively courting their diaspora communities.” As reported in the news.
@t asia pacific foundation, canadian government policy