Trump’s threats top of mind for these new voters
Hello! Producer Michelle Song here.
We spoke to a few new Canadian voters about the issues that they are focusing on, as it will be the first time they ever vote in a federal election. And they say it’s all about Canada-U.S. relations.
Gaurav Marik became a Canadian citizen in 2023, but left India about a decade ago. Initially, affordability was one of the most important issues for him. But now he says the economic impact of tariffs and the threats to annex Canada are top of mind.
“I feel that when someone attacks you, and especially externally, you feel much more guarded and you try to defend, saying that, OK, this is an identity … we all stand for,” he said.
Evaristo Vocaj came to Canada from Albania. He has been working at Calgary’s Centre for Newcomers for five years now.
He says maintaining the spirit of being Canadian and fighting for Canadian values is weighing heavily on him before he heads to the ballot box.
Vocaj has always been politically engaged, but said that after going through the difficult process of becoming Canadian, voting matters even more for immigrants like him.
“Because of that long process that we’ve gone through, we feel like we deserve this now and we feel like we definitely have started feeling, more recently as well, that spirit of being Canadian,” Vocaj said.
