Now or never52:52Are you voting for who?
This column in the first person is the experience of Fernando Ameth Pinzon, a native of Panama raised in Montreal. For more information about the first person stories of CBC, please See frequent questions.
I am 41 years old, I have been Canadian citizen since 2004, and I have never voted.
I never felt it necessary. For me and my family, all the immigrants of Panama, our dream of being together in Canada had been made. The worst thing could happen was behind us.
In 1989, when I was six years old, the United States invaded my country of origin in an offer Outlet to former dictator Manuel Noriega. While it was too young to understand the political implications, memories are still flooded in a blur: helicopters roaring over, large trucks that rumble and the tension around me.
Later I would find out that hundreds of Panamanians were killed in the invasion of one month and the houses and the infrastructure were destroyed. The tense relationship between Panama and the United States, together with Years of sanctionsI had also sunk my homeland into the economic chaos. The invasion ignored the sovereignty of Panama and, by extension, that of my people.
During the riots, my father chose to leave the country to find a place to regroup, rebuild and make a new home for us. He arrived in Montreal with my sister at the end of the 1980s.
It would be eight years until I saw them again due to the waiting time to be sponsored. So, when my family finally arrived in Montreal on a cold January night in 1996, we felt a feeling of triumph. We had achieved it.
Like new immigrants, we kept our heads down and did what we needed to assimilate and restart our lives. My dad was working long hours to get to the end of the month. Somewhere on the road, we forget to discuss civic duty.
It is not that he is not grateful for what Canada has given us. I had the luxury of growing in security, living my adult life in a country that welcomed different aspirations, such as becoming a graphic designer. If I had stayed in my hometown, I could have ended up working at the local beer buttons plant.
In my 21 years as a Canadian citizen, I clung to the belief that when you come from modest media, the only way it ends. My life has been better than I thought it could be, so voting for any exchange rate never happened to my head.
All that changed one night when I was at dinner and I heard people at a neighboring table talk about Panama. I was surprised because I often do not listen to the name of my country of origin. Much less on a random Sunday, in a random restaurant, with random people by my side.
I was confused and asked my friend to give me a second while looking at Panama’s news. It was then that I saw the US president Donald Trump talking about Recovering the Panama Canal In December 2024, despite being He gave me Panama in 1999. He talked about that as if treated It did not exist and as if Panamanian sovereignty was something to be ignored once again.
I started paying more attention to the news. Shortly after Trump’s teasing about Canada arrived: my adoptive country, my chosen home. The threat of making it the state 51referring to ours Prime Minister as Governor – The feeling was too familiar.
I was being attacked on both sides of my identity. One of them for the second time. I felt helpless.
When the The commercial war was launched by the United States. In February, I finally registered to vote. Then I realized that I had assumed my state as a Canadian citizen during the last two decades. Studying for the citizenship test is one thing, but understanding the weight of civic duty is something completely different. Voting is what I am responsible, and I can do my part.
It was a child when my country of origin was invaded by the United States, I had no voice at that time and in my opinion there was little value. Now, I am voting because my opinion is important, and I feel that I must be with my Canadian classmates.
In these next elections, I am looking for a specific plan of the next federal leader, one that prioritizes the protection of Canadian interests and sovereignty through collaboration with reliable allies. Liberal leader Mark Carney reminds me of my economy teacher, a little boring, but seems focused on the laser to unite Canadians against Trump’s threat. I will be looking to see how the other leaders talk about unite, instead of focusing on our divisions and How Canada is brokenas the conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
The tensions and economic pressure of the United States have been a thread that crosses the history of my family, from Panama to Canada.
Caught between a rock and a difficult place, I understand why Panama reached a agreement Last week, which allows US troops to step on once again the Panamanian soil and also why opposition leaders in my country of origin have called it “Camouflaged invasion.“
I hope my vote helps ensure that Canada never has to admit its autonomy in this way.
What is the problem that matters most in these federal elections? CBC News will publish a variety of perspectives of voters who share the personal experience that mold their choice at the polls. Read more columns in the first person related to the elections here.
Do you have a convincing personal story that can provide understanding or help others? We want to know about you. Here is More information about how to launch us.
