In a bar in Manhattan there is a shrine for Canadians: a huge, filled moose head, license plate from every province, a gold maple leaf on the floor and other souvenirs.
The Canuck, which describes itself as “Premier Canadian Hockey and Sports Bar” in New York City, is a familiar place for many Canadians who live in Big Apple – especially if they are looking for a hockey or baseball game that is not broadcast in a US television shipping network.
Here CBC News met a group of New Yorkers who happen to be voters in the upcoming national elections -a breed that was dominated by the relationship of the country to the United States after the Trump administration was designed by the Trump government to the 51st state after the introduction of tariffs for Canadian goods and threats.
They are just a few of the respondents from a campaign organized by the Canadian Association of New York (cany), a networked, social and non -profit group. The question has asked how expats from Canada can register to dial off and to hand over their ballot papers from abroad.
“The Canadians living abroad have to coordinate by post, and they have to do it at an early stage through direct chic of Canada elections or the consulate elections,” said Reena Bhatt, Vice President of the group.
A completed ballot must arrive on April 28, the election day, until 6 p.m. et elections, even though the application for voters with special elections will be received by April 22 at 6 p.m.
Reena BHatt from the Canadian Association of New York, which informed the Expats from Canada about how to register to choose and make their ballot papers, talks about why its members feel more concerned with this year’s federal elections.
About 4 million Canadians live abroad
Christine Hutton, Sandra Pike and Sanjay Gopal have not talked about who they vote for, but they enthusiastically shared why they are right in this choice.
“I think because Canada’s identity is questioned at this specific time, it is difficult to lean back and not to be part of things and to appear and to appear for Canada,” said Pike, a publisher that originally comes from New Year and lives in New York for more than two decades.
Gopal, an engineer, has been in New York for 28 years, but his parents still live in Halifax. He said he was voting against her interests.
“I just feel used to help you with the choice that you prefer in your special ride.”
Hutton, a biopharmaceutical consultant, is drawn up by a Canadian newspaper and keeps pace with daily headlines. She said that she takes care of Canada’s role in the world more than ever, no matter how long she lives in the United States.
“I really look at foreign policy and look at how Canada and the USA have relationships,” said Hutton, who originally comes from Ontario, but has been living in New York for 25 years. “And also in China, towards India, towards Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Gaza. These things that I think is important.”
There are estimated four million Canadians abroad – with around 800,000 in the USA and thousands in New York City. According to the Canada elections, only 27,000 Canadians, who lived outside the country, voted in the last national elections.
By Saturday, 92,000 election kits were sent to Canadians living abroad, and 20,000 have already been returned, according to Kanada.
“Canada has a moment”
BHatt from Cany said she noticed an increase in interest and engagement for this choice.
The massive limelight on relationships between Canada and the USA means that she herself asked more about Canada by her American colleagues.
“We have definitely received more information from our membership and asked if we know how to choose,” said BHATT, adding that others wanted to know how to observe the debate of managers or election results.
Canadians who live in New York City share why they feel invested in the national elections on April 28, despite decades from home.
It does not often happen that the Canadians living outside the country are part of the larger national conversation in Canada. Just ask John Stackhouse who wrote a book about it in 2020 Planet Canada: How our expats shape the future.
In his book he wrote that we could be the only big country – or smaller who does not think strategically about his diaspora.
“I think we have to be much more strategy to maintain relationships with this population and to help them subtly to help Canada all over the world,” he said in an interview with CBC News.
Stackhouse said that the Canadian expat community was an unused resource that could be particularly useful because Canada makes a new way forward to the threats of US President Donald Trump.
“The Canadian conversation, not only in Canada, but with Canadian all over the world, could be very powerful for the country,” he said. “They want to help the country. They want to be engaged.”
This is how Pike, the publisher’s professional, feels safe.
“Canada has a moment,” she said. “And those of us who live abroad want to be part of this moment, expand it and make it louder.”
BHATT, who has already sent her ballot paper, has this message for her Canadian colleagues: “We are with you, shoulder on shoulder,” she said. “We take care of the same problems and want to be your ambassadors all over the world.”
