Calgary expat fears loss of vote in federal election

A Calgarianliving abroad is upset that he may notbe able tovote in the upcoming Canadian federal election.

• Stephen Harper to launch campaign as early as Sunday
• How a long campaign will benefit the cash-rich Tories

"I was born in Canada, raised in Canada. I don't have any other citizenship. I read the Canadian news, I've paid Canadian taxes for many years," said David Damberger, who currently works in Nairobi and has been living overseas for almost five years.

Damberger'stime awayfrom Canadian soilcould put him in a situation where he wouldn't be able to cast a ballot this fall.

That'sbecause of a recentcourtdecision to uphold a law that revokes the rights of expatriatesto cast a ballotif they've been out of the country for five years or longer.

• Long-term expats don't have right to vote in federal elections, court rules

Last week,the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that it is unfair to allow Canadian expatsto participate in making laws that affectdomestic residents on a daily basis, but have little consequence on their own daily lives.

"It actually made me and my family and my friends quite upset," saidDamberger, who is also a former TEDxYYCspeaker.

"I feel that I should have a fundamental right toparticipatein our political process."

And he's not the only one.

Canadian actorDonald Sutherlandblasted the rulingthatblockslong-term expats' right to voteon Tuesdayinopinionpiece publishedin the Globe and Mail newspaper.

Damberger and his friends launched aFacebook pagerecently to spark dialogue among Canadian expatriatesaround the world.

He admitshe did vote for the Conservativesin the 2011 federal election.

"And I guess that makes me even more frustrated," he said."You know, decisions like this make me really question if the existing government is actually representing my values and I have a strong amount of friends abroad who agree with me."

The two Canadians living inthe United Stateswho initiallylaunched the constitutional challenge on the residency limits set byCanada's voting laware hoping theSupreme Court of Canada will hear the case, their lawyer said Wednesday.