Election 2015

From the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms:

Section 3–5: Democratic Rights

Section 3 Democratic Rights

Every citizen of Canada has the right to vote in an election of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly and to be qualified for membership therein.

Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Charter contain rules that guarantee Canadians a democratic government.

Section 3 guarantees to all citizens the right to be involved in the election of their governments. It gives them the right to vote in federal, provincial or territorial elections, along with the right to run for public office themselves.

Again, some limits on these rights may be reasonable even in a democracy. For example, the right to vote or stand for election is limited to persons 18 years of age or older.

Why Vote?Remember, in not so recent times in Canada, specific groups of people did not enjoy the right to vote (First Nations could not vote until 1960 for example, women fought for the right for suffrage in 1918).

Are you registered to vote in next month's election? If you aren't sure, you can visit the Elections Canada site to check. Please click to visit the online voter registration site!