Gabriela Martinez is photographed in Toronto Oct 11, 2010. Martinez is originally from Venezuela and although she works in North York and lives downtown she cannot vote in the upcoming municipal election because she's not a citizen.Moe Doiron/The Globe and Mail
If you're casting a ballot in the Beaches on Oct. 25, chances are you'll see Natalia Sambrano and Jorge Acosta.
After an application process and day-long training session, they're practising their English in preparation for voting day, when they're volunteering at an east-end polling station in the ward next to theirs - giving directions and multilingual instructions to Torontonians coming in to vote.
But they won't be among those casting a ballot.
Ms. Sambrano and Mr. Acosta, who came to Canada from Bogota, Colombia in 2007, are among more than 300,000 Torontonians who have permanent resident status but aren't Canadian citizens. They pay property taxes and fees, and use public services; according to statistics published last week, they're disproportionately more likely to live in under-serviced pockets of the city that are becoming increasingly stratified.
But they can't vote to elect the politicians whose decisions have the most direct impact on their lives.
The rule in Canada, as it is in many other countries, is simple - no citizenship, no vote. But many advocates argue that doesn't cut it at the local level, especially in Toronto, where more than 15 per cent of the adult population is comprised of permanent residents.
In some neighbourhoods, according to research by Ryerson University professor Myer Siemiatycki, that number rises above 30 per cent - nearly a third of the permanent adult population barred from casting a ballot.
In Ms. Sambrano's mind, that doesn't make sense.
"We want to see changes in the city - we want someone to speak for us," she said. "We are also part of the community."
And three of the four leading mayoral candidates are inclined to agree - or at least say they would consider the idea.
"If someone decides to give up the life they had in Mumbai or Rio de Janeiro and come here, and the minute they arrive they become a taxpayer," George Smitherman argued, "then at the municipal level I strongly support their being given the rights of voting."
In Joe Pantalone's mind, it amounts to "taxation without representation. These Torontonians are paying taxes, water charges, parks fees, whatever it is. And they don't get any representation at the moment."
Even Rob Ford, who has expressed reservations about giving non-citizens the vote during debates over the course of the campaign, said this weekend he'd be open to discussing the possibility.
"I am not going to close the door if a proposal were to come forward extending voting rights to these individuals," he said in an e-mailed statement, noting the decision's ultimately up to the province. "If you pay taxes, you should have a say in how they're spent."
Rocco Rossi, who begins every debate with the declaration that he's the "proud son of Italian immigrants," opposes the proposal - it diminishes the value of citizenship, he argues, without providing a "silver bullet" on voter turnout or newcomer integration.
"In a country where it only takes three years to get to citizenship, our focus should be on getting people through that process as quickly as possible," he said.
University of Toronto politics professor Phil Triadafilopoulos is inclined to agree. Even if, in principle, you don't mind the idea of giving non-citizens the vote - a move some argue diminishes the value of citizenship to begin with - it's harder to determine whether it's actually worth the trouble.
In places where it's been tried, giving permanent residents the vote hasn't affected naturalization rates. But it also hasn't improved voter turnout, although it has helped diversify city councils. To do that, Prof. Triadafilopoulos argues, you need concerted integration and engagement campaigns.
At the same time, revamping the definition of an eligible voter is more complicated than it looks. And the province would have to approve; Premier Dalton McGuinty has so far shown no interest in changing those rules.
"For me, if the startup cost is worth it in terms of the outcome, then okay," Prof. Triadafilopoulos said. "But if the overall benefit is minimal, I think we should be doing more to protect the current citizenship regime.… If citizenship becomes more difficult to attain, then the argument in favour of local voting becomes more attractive."
If all goes well, Gabriela Martinez will be able to vote in the 2014 election. By then, the 33-year-old, who moved to Toronto with her husband Rene Mendizabal from Caracas, Venezuela, will have been a worker, condo owner, taxpayer and TTC user in the city for seven years.
Ms. Martinez says she feels fairly well served in her Trinity-Spadina ward, although she'd like more bike lanes and off-leash areas for her schnauzer. But "the things [the candidates]are talking about are things that are related to me - transit, housing, parks and recreation. And I don't have a say."