Immigrant, newcomer communities seek to get out the vote

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/09/2021 (1664 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Roselyn Advincula pictures an election, she pictures a party.

In her home country of the Philippines, candidates bring in celebrity endorsements and crowd-rousing chants to inspire the electorate. Living near a polling station, she remembers sharing hellos and leaflets with the jubilant crowds walking past her door to vote.

Advincula, 39, and her husband moved to Canada 13 years ago, but just got their citizenship in March. The couple will vote for the first time in the 2021 federal election, and are looking forward to bringing the familiar atmosphere to their “second home.”

“It’s a mixed emotion for me, it brought back memories and excitement,” Advincula said at a voting campaign event Thursday in Winnipeg’s Central Park.

“I felt emotional because after 13 years I will have that right — that privilege — to vote here in Canada, too.”

The afternoon before advance voting starts in the federal election, chants of “Got citizenship? Go vote!” rose from the dozen-strong crowd gathered in Central Park, urging passersby from newcomer and refugee communities — who have Canadian citizenship and are 18 or older — to get to the polls.

Organizers and volunteers from the Ethnocultural Council of Manitoba, Manitoba Association of Newcomer Serving Organizations, Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba, and Immigration Partnership Winnipeg provided informational election materials, food, water, fill-in-the-blank signs and a supportive atmosphere, as community members encouraged each other to exercise their rights.

“We have to remind each one of our brothers and sisters to come out and vote, because it is a right as a citizen, and it is important for us to be part of the democratic process,” said Perla Javate, president of the Philippine Heritage Council of Manitoba and member of the Ethnocultural Council.

“I understand that a lot of us come from different countries, and elections mean different things to different people, but it’s just to encourage everyone to come out because it’s safe and it’s the way we can voice our opinions, our voices to be heard, so our needs and our concerns are met.”

Navigating language barriers, time challenges and a lack of easily accessible information on election processes can also prove challenging for newcomers interested in voting, said Reuben Garang, one of the event’s organizers.

“This event today is structured in a way to get the newcomer community’s attention, so they know this election process is going on and for them to be able to participate,” he said.

The voting campaign started in the lead-up to the 2019 election, Garang said, and had success helping newcomers orient themselves with the process. The event Thursday, he said, was intended to catch public attention and disseminate information before advance polling starts Friday.

Garang noted groups have also filmed multilingual videos featuring members of the immigrant and newcomer communities to help educate others on how to participate in the election. Community groups also plan to share translated election materials with anyone interested.

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Advincula, who is supporting the Ethnocultural Council in translating election information and questions from voters, said she and her husband plan to join the voting party themselves during advanced polling days.

Her excitement for the voting process — and for encouraging others in her community to participate — beamed through her laughter and sign-waving during Thursday’s event.

“I think people will see people from their communities, people that they trust,” she said. “Maybe now will be the start of getting that awareness, so that people will know that election time is coming and we can use our voice.”

julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jsrutgers

Julia-Simone Rutgers
Reporter

Julia-Simone Rutgers is the Manitoba environment reporter for the Free Press and The Narwhal. She joined the Free Press in 2020, after completing a journalism degree at the University of King’s College in Halifax, and took on the environment beat in 2022. Read more about Julia-Simone.

Julia-Simone’s role is part of a partnership with The Narwhal, funded by the Winnipeg Foundation. Every piece of reporting Julia-Simone produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.