LILLEY: Liberal rules mean non-citizens could be choosing next prime minister

Forget foreign interference, the Liberal Party's own rules could see foreign teenagers helping to pick our next PM

Get the latest from Brian Lilley straight to your inbox

Published Jan 07, 2025  •  Last updated 3 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

Photo by iStock /GETTY IMAGES

Will the people who decide who the next Liberal leader, and therefore next prime minister of Canada, is even be Canadian?

Article content

Article content

Article content

That’s not a crazy or racist comment as the governing party heads into a leadership race, it’s a comment based on their rules for voting.

The Liberal Party allows people who are non-citizens of Canada and who are as young as 14 to vote in leadership races. All the parties have rules that are too loose, but the Liberals have the craziest rules of all.

It means a 14-year-old from Wuhan in China, a 15-year-old from Belgorod in Russia or a 17-year-old student from Gandhinagar in India could have as much impact as voters from Etobicoke, Calgary or Ottawa in choosing our next prime minister.

What serious country does this?

Recommended from Editorial

1. 

   EDITORIAL: Trudeau’s political legacy is a disgrace

2. 

   GUNTER: Justin Trudeau's non-resignation resignation a slap in the face to Canadians

3. 

   AGAR: It's time to run Canada with better ideas and less ego

Article content

Article content

To be a registered Liberal and to be eligible to vote in either a nomination race or a leadership race, the rules are fairly lax. Party documents show that you just need to be “at least fourteen (14) years of age” they ask that you “support the purposes of the Party” and that you “ordinarily live in Canada.”

Nothing requires you to be a citizen or eligible to vote in a general election but … you can help select the next prime minister of Canada.

The Liberals have more rules against you being a member of another party than they have against non-citizens who are residents of other countries voting to pick their next leader. If you are wondering why this should concern anyone, if you think this is no big deal, consider what we learned during the foreign interference inquiry.

Article content

Chinese nationals studying in Toronto, some as young as 14, were sent to vote in a Liberal nomination race to elect the candidate preferred by the Chinese consulate in Toronto. If they will do that for a nomination race for a candidate who never made it to cabinet, what do you think they will do for a candidate who will become prime minister as soon as they are elected leader of the Liberal Party.

And not just China but also Russia, India, Khalistanis, supporters of Hamas, and any number or groups who think they can gain influence through the ridiculously weak Liberal voting process. We need to tighten up the voting rules for all parties, not just the Liberals, and ensure the integrity of our system.

Essentially, if you are not allowed to vote in a general election, you should not be allowed to vote in a nomination race or leadership contest. If that makes it more difficult for parties to try to seek favour with various ethnic communities, then so be it.

Article content

We need to protect the integrity of our democracy and the current party voting systems do not do that.

In the last Liberal leadership contest that elected Trudeau in 2013, there were just 104,552 votes cast which at today’s population of 41,570,765 means about one quarter of one per cent of the Canadian population.

The current temporary population of Canada – those here on work or student visas mainly – is about 7.3% of Canada’s population or just more than 3 million people. If just 3% of the temporary population of Canada came out to vote in the Liberal leadership contest, based on the 2013 numbers, they could more than decide the vote.

We are in a time when clear and solid leadership at the federal level is needed. The threat of crippling tariffs from the United States is real and must be dealt with by a government with a strong mandate from the public.

Instead, we have a PM who has decided to step down, but refused to call an election, for selfish reasons. We have a governing party where the leadership rules allow non-citizens who aren’t even residents of Canada to select the next Liberal leader and prime minister.

It will be May or June before we have a properly functioning government. Every single time Donald Trump takes advantage of Canada, we can thank Justin Trudeau.

[email protected]

Article content