Refugees in 2015, Syrians are now citizens in time for federal election
OTTAWA — Ahmad Almahmoud has dedicated time every day to following the news, wanting to be an informed citizen for this fall’s federal election.
He is one of 25,000 Syrian refugees who were resettled in Canada between the October 2015 federal election, when the Liberals came to power, and February 2016. More Syrian refugees have landed in the country since then, with Statistics Canada numbers showing almost 60,000 being resettled as of this past February.
Almahmoud is now on the verge of earning his citizenship, as others have done, so he can do something on Oct. 21 he wasn’t able to do in Syria: vote in a free and fair election.
Fleeing a war-torn country under Bashar al-Assad to exercise democracy in Canada has been a huge shift for Almahmoud and other Syrians.
“The democracy, the elections, the transfer of power peacefully and seamlessly — it’s all new to us,” he said.
Almahmoud and his family fled Syria for neighbouring Jordan in 2012. There he worked as a barber in the city of Mafraq until the United Nations said Canada was willing to resettle him, his wife and their two children.
“Anyone would look for a better future for his kids,” he said. “We travelled all the way to Canada looking for safety.”
The family landed in Canada in February 2016. A third child, a son, was born in 2017, so the toddler already has Canadian citizenship.
Soon after arriving, Almahmoud opened a barbershop that has since grown to include three other barbers, one of whom is also a Syrian newcomer.
Immediately admitting 25,000 Syrian refugees was a key foreign policy promise the Liberals under Justin Trudeau made in the last election campaign.
Almahmoud said the success of the refugee initiative was not due to just one party, but stemmed from the help and support Canadians provided for the waves of new arrivals.
In March, Almahmoud, 32, filed his citizenship application. While he awaits a date to write his test, he said he hopes he’ll be able to take the oath in time to vote on Oct. 21.
“It’s great (to become a Canadian citizen,)” he said. “We are proud to be part of Canada.”
To apply for citizenship, residents must provide proof they can speak and write in either English or French, they have lived in Canada as a permanent resident for at least 1,095 days — equivalent to three years — over the preceding five years, and they filed taxes in at least three of the previous five years.
Federal figures show 897 Syrian-born applicants became Canadian citizens in the first four months of 2019. They joined 1,597 Syrians who had become citizens in 2018, and 587 from 2017.
Almahmoud said voting in the upcoming election will be an obligation if he is a Canadian citizen by then, and that he would cast his ballot for “the best person or who you think is the best.”
To figure out how he will vote, Almahmoud said he keeps an eye on the television while he works in his barbershop, or listens to the news on the radio.
“I spend most of my time at my salon,” he said, “so either the TV or the radio is on.”