Eager to vote, new Canadians get crash course on electoral system in Winnipeg

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 13, 2025 10:33 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

Elizabeth Andrea ne'er formed a ballot successful her location country. The warfare raging successful the Sudan stood betwixt her and the polling station. 

In 1998 she moved to Canada. Four years aboriginal she became a citizen, and with that came a accidental she had waiting for a agelong time.

"I was truthful excited and couldn't hold to vote," Andrea told Radio-Canada connected Saturday. "I knew what it meant for me."

After marking "x" connected the ballot respective times since then, Andrea is trying to amended the adjacent procreation of voters successful her household connected the value of voting truthful that erstwhile the clip to deed the polls comes for them, they are engaged capable to bash it. 

That's wherefore she brought her grandchildren, who are 13 and 15, to an informative league for caller Canadians connected the national electoral system.

"This is their home. They request to larn astir politics, authorities are everywhere," she said. "The idiosyncratic you ballot for is your voice." 

Roughly 60 radical came to the lawsuit held Saturday day astatine the South Sudanese Canadian Community Centre. Dubbed 'Got Citizenship? Go Vote!' The informative league went implicit the voting process including the antithetic ways of casting a ballot. 

Candidates from the NDP, Liberal and Green parties moving to beryllium the adjacent MP successful the venue's national riding, Winnipeg-Centre, spoke to the audience.

It is the benignant of league Amy Wang wished was astir years agone for her archetypal national predetermination arsenic a Canadian citizen. 

Like Andrea, Wang, who has been surviving successful Winnipeg for the past 20 years, didn't ballot successful her location country. 

The archetypal clip she was eligible to formed her ballot successful Canada, she was astatine a loss. English was initially an obstacle to familiarizing herself with the governmental landscape, and she believes that up of April 28 determination mightiness beryllium different caller Canadians who are successful the aforesaid presumption she had been then.

But "every ballot is precise important," she said. "This is what caller Canadians oregon caller immigrants request to cognize … that [they] tin marque a change."

Voting sometimes not a priority

The electoral strategy tin beryllium acold backmost successful the minds of new Canadians, who, up until getting their citizenship, might never person thought astir voting oregon however it works, said Reuben Garang, the manager of Immigration Partnership Winnipeg, which organized Saturday's event.

"Elections oregon voting sometimes is not a priority," helium said, but erstwhile caller Canadians are educated connected wherefore it is important to formed a ballot, they are much apt to spell to a polling station. 

While the lawsuit covered the basics of the electoral system, it besides "assures [new Canadians] that this is simply a escaped process due to the fact that immoderate of the radical are coming from places wherever the predetermination is not free," helium said. 

The radical has besides taken to the net to beryllium a root of accusation connected elections, uploading videos successful respective languages different than English and French, helium said. 

The situation remains successful engaging radical successful the civic process, particularly erstwhile the voting reflex is not ingrained successful them, Garang said. 

However, caller Canadians "are present due to the fact that they wanna larn and beryllium portion of the society," helium said, truthful "we marque definite to ... inform them of the value of voting successful a democracy."