Italians in Canada want right to vote in Italian elections
OTTAWA, Dec 13, 2012 (AFP) A group representing 140,000 Italians living in Canada appealed Thursday to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to remove roadblocks preventing them from voting in elections back home next year.
In a letter to the prime minister obtained by AFP, the General Council for Italians Abroad expressed "grave concern" over a Canadian policy implemented in 2008 that denies all requests from foreign states to include Canada in extraterritorial constituencies.
The Canadian policy would technically not prevent the Italians from voting in the April ballot to elect a senator and two MPs that would represent Italians living in North and Central America.
However Italian election law requires approval from a foreign state before setting up polls within its borders.
"Citizens of other countries in Canada should be free to participate in their home country's elections," said Rick Roth, press secretary for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.
But Roth told AFP that Canada rejects being marked "an extraterritorial electoral constituency," saying it infringes on its sovereignty.
"Foreign election campaigns in Canada could focus on political issues in Canada and/or bilateral disputes, and impair inclusiveness, identity and social cohesion," he explained in an email.
Ottawa stuck to this position when Tunisian expatriates voted in 2011 and during French elections this past June, but made no effort to block people from voting at makeshift polling stations set up at embassies and consulates across Canada.
There seems to have been no diplomatic fallout despite protests to Tunisian and French envoys.
So far there has been no official response from the Canadian government to the Italian letter.
Roth confirmed: "No permission has been granted to Italy to include Canada as an extraterritorial electoral constituency."
