Cunningham v Homma

{{Short description|1902 Canadian constitutional law case}}

{{Infobox court case

|name = Cunningham v Homma

|image = File:Founding members of the Canadian Japanese Association at the Japanese Canadian War Memorial.jpeg

|caption = Founding members of the Canadian Japanese Association

|imagealt = Formal picture of 24 Japanese-Canadian men in suits, seated and standing before the Japanese Canadian War Memorial, c. 1920

|court =Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

|date decided = 17 December 1902

|imagesize =

|imagelink =

|full name = The Collector of Voters for the Electoral District of Vancouver City and the Attorney General for the Province of British Columbia v Tomey Homma and the Attorney General for the Dominion of Canada

|citations = [1902] UKPC 60, [1903] 9 AC 151, CCS 45

|transcripts =

|appealed from = Supreme Court of British Columbia

|appealed to =

|opinions =

|number of judges =5

|decision by =The Lord Chancellor

|keywords =

|italic title =

|judges = The Lord Chancellor, Lord Macnaghten, Lord Davey, Lord Robertson, Lord Lindley

|prior actions =

|subsequent actions =

|related actions =

}}

{{Italic title}}

Cunningham v Homma,{{cite BAILII|litigants=Cunningham v. Homma|link=|court=UKPC|year=1902|num=60|date=17 December 1902|parallelcite =[1903] 9 AC 151, CCS 45|courtname=P.C.|juris=British Columbia|format = 1}} is a decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council that upheld a British Columbia law that prohibited Japanese Canadians and Chinese Canadians from voting in provincial elections.{{cite book |last= Hogg|first= Peter W.|author-link= Peter Hogg|title= Canada Act 1982, annotated|year= 1982|publisher= The Carswell Company Limited|location= Toronto|isbn= 0-459-35130-3|ol=22124439M|pages=155}}

The case originated with an attempt by Tomekichi Homma, a Japanese immigrant and naturalized Canadian, to register to vote in 1900. The registrar of voters, Thomas Cunningham, rejected Homma's application. Homma took the British Columbia government to court over the issue.

Homma was successful at the County Court and the Supreme Court of British Columbia{{cite news |title= Steveston pioneer helped define Canada's democratic values with epic court battle |author= Graeme Wood |newspaper= Richmond News |location= Richmond, B.C. |date= 2018-01-04 |url= http://www.richmond-news.com/news/steveston-pioneer-helped-define-canada-s-democratic-values-with-epic-court-battle-1.23135921 |accessdate=2018-05-09 }}{{cite news |title= Remembering B.C. civil rights leader Tomekichi Homma |author1= John Price |author2= Grace Eiko Thomson |newspaper= The Georgia Straight |location= Vancouver, B.C. |date= 2017-12-08 |url= https://www.straight.com/news/1006111/john-price-and-grace-eiko-thomson-remembering-bc-civil-rights-leader-tomekichi-homma |accessdate=2018-05-09 }} However, the case ultimately made its way to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which at that time was the highest court in the Canadian legal system. In Cunningham v Homma, the Privy Council ruled against Homma. The court determined that while the federal government had exclusive jurisdiction over the naturalization of citizens, the provinces had the right to legislate who could vote in provincial and municipal elections. There was no inherent right to vote for naturalized citizens. Provinces and their municipalities could determine who could vote, which meant they could bar any naturalized ethnic group they chose. Parks Canada has designated this case as being of National Historical Significance.{{cite web | title = Cunningham v. Tomey Homma National Historic Event | publisher = Parks Canada | url = http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=13075 | accessdate = 2006-12-09 }}

Asian Canadians would not garner the right to vote until 1949, four years after Homma died.{{cite web | title = Tomekichi Homma Elementary School | publisher = City of Richmond | url = https://www.richmond.ca/cityhall/archives/exhibits/schools/80s90s/homma.htm | accessdate = 2018-05-09 }} In recognition of his contribution to the democratic system, in December 2017 the Government of Canada, through Parks Canada, dedicated a plaque in his honour at the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre in Burnaby.{{cite news |title= Voting rights pioneer Tomey Homma honoured in Burnaby |author= Patrick Johnson |newspaper= Vancouver Province |location= Vancouver, B.C. |date= 2017-12-10 |url= https://theprovince.com/news/local-news/voting-rights-pioneer-tomey-homma-honoured-in-burnaby/wcm/02dde3e9-d031-40ae-99d0-259c58f08301 |accessdate=2018-05-09 }}