It's not a coincidence that B.C. disenfranchises the most exploited workers in the province: non-citizens and teenagers.

Since the 1800s, the province's rich and powerful have barred specific groups from voting, to maintain political control.

It started with white women, whose unpaid labour allowed the colony to establish itself. They had to fight for the right to vote, which was finally granted in 1917.

Meanwhile, B.C. had passed laws explicitly barring South Asian, Japanese, Chinese and Indigenous people from voting.

These groups were the vast majority of the workforce in the province's early history.

They fought and repealed those racist laws in 1947 and 1949.

Who has been on the front lines of the pandemic? I think of teenagers stocking shelves and running cash registers (with anti-maskers screaming at them).

And I think of permanent residents and other non-citizens whose labour is absolutely essential to keeping B.C. running.

But – no coincidence – these people have no right to vote. Politicians can ignore them, and they have no input into the laws or policies that shape their lives.

B.C. also has a long history of slowly expanding voting rights, and I think it's time to take the next steps.

I think if you are eligible to work in B.C. and pay taxes in B.C., you should be eligible to vote in B.C.

Who agrees?