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Debate on prisoner's right to vote

Broadcast Date: May 25, 1995

Gary Rosenfeldt doesn't think prisoners should have the right to vote. As executive director of Victims of Violence and the father of a teenager murdered by serial killer Clifford Olsen, Rosenfeldt feels strongly about this issue. On the other side of the debate, Winnipeg lawyer Jeff Gindin points out that "The Charter of Rights is not an elitist document; it's supposed to be for everyone." This 1995 CBC Television debate from Winnipeg looks at a topic that's been highly contentious since the 1980s.

Debate on prisoner's right to vote

• Prisoners in Canada had previously been barred from voting since 1898.
• At the time this clip (1995), the Canada Elections Act had prohibited "every person undergoing punishment as an inmate in any penal institution for the commission of any offence" from voting in federal elections.

• After the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was passed in 1982, prisoner Rick Sauvé launched what was to become a well publicized 18-year-long fight for prisoners' voting rights in Canada.

• The main argument for prisoner voting rights was that prisoners are citizens, and every citizen is guaranteed the right to vote, so prisoners should therefore be able to vote. Many advocates also pointed out that the majority of prisoners aren't serial killers in prison for life; most will be back in mainstream society at some point. So, getting them involved in the voting process will help them feel they have a say in the society they will eventually be a part of again.

• Those opposed to prisoner voting rights feel that people who commit crimes have forfeited their right to vote. As one victim's rights' group member said in a 1988 CBC Television report, "Murderers should get the right to vote as soon as their victims do." Calgary professor F.L. Morton has been very outspoken on the issue. In a 2002 National Post article, he said giving prisoners the right to vote was "both an absurdity and an insult…it is an insult to law-abiding citizens."

Debate on prisoner's right to vote

Medium: Television

Program: 24 Hours

Broadcast Date: May 25, 1995

Guest(s): Jeff Gindin, Gary Rosenfeldt

Host: Diana Swain

Duration: 5:28

Last updated:
July 29, 2009