By Maggie Padlewska
Voter turnout has declined in recent years, but some Canadian newcomers in Ottawa Centre say they’re eager for their first chance to participate in the democratic process.
“I’m excited to vote” says Gisèle Nyembwe, who will cast her first ballot on Jan. 23.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada says the country welcomed nearly 236,000 immigrants and refugees in 2004. While Toronto and Vancouver still attract the greatest numbers of newcomers, Ottawa has seen a steady immigration influx in recent years.
City of Ottawa statistics say there are roughly 70,000 recent immigrants living in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.
Nyembwe became a Canadian citizen last November. Although she was too young to vote in her native country – the Democratic Republic of Congo – she says she feels a sense of duty and responsibility as a Canadian.
“I think that it is an obligation for everyone,” she says. “It is my moral obligation to vote and to have my voice be heard.”
Nyembwe, a public information assistant at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, is particularly concerned with immigration issues.
After living in Canada for a decade, Nasir Tarafder, a South Asian immigrant and settlement councillor for the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization, is still excited about voting.
Despite his disappointment over what he sees as broken promises on health care, and education he’s about to cast his third ballot.
“I am losing a bit of faith in politicians but I will still vote because I think that it is one of my national duties and responsibilities as a citizen,” he says.
In some countries, voting rights don’t always translate into the rights and privileges enjoyed by Canadian voters. “What is happening here is much better than in some other places of the world,” Nyembwe says.
Tarafder echoes this notion through his own experience.
“I voted twice in my country, but there was a lot of intimidation and it was not a very peaceful atmosphere — it was always a volatile situation, even going to the polling station was unsafe, political parties could kidnap you … there were so many problems,” he recalls.
In some countries, not voting is a crime punishable by law. Nyembwe rejects the idea.
“You have the right to choose to vote — that’s where democracy lies,” she says. “The system here is … among the top ones.”
Tarafder doesn’t want politicians to promise things they can’t deliver.
“There is a lot of talk but little substance. Canadian standards should be much higher,” he says.
Aside from being an avid newspaper reader, Tarafder collects campaign pamphlets and information brochures.
“Although I am not an active politician, I am interested and follow all developments in politics, not just in Canada but around the world,” he says.
“At the beginning, I was a bit confused but I sorted it out very quickly and it is going very smoothly,” he says.
Nyembwe has yet to find the time to visit the Elections Canada website as she’d planned, but says she’s “quite far” along in her understanding and knowledge of Ottawa’s political scene.
“I read a lot, and I know what happens on Parliament Hill … every morning I screen the paper,” she says.
Freezing weather and icy streets won’t stand in the way of voting for these Canadians.
“For me the time doesn’t matter, if they call a vote, an election, I will go, I am looking forward to voting and knowing what happens” says Nyembwe.