A majority of Canadian immigrants feel they don't have enough information to vote with confidence in the upcoming federal election, a new poll concludes.
The poll, conducted by Canadian Immigrant Magazine, found that 74 per cent of newcomers who are ready to vote for the first time feel like they don't know enough about the electoral process.
Of that 74 per cent, nearly half (48 per cent) said they didn't know they were allowed three hours paid leave to go out to vote, said Naeem Noorani, the magazine's publisher, in an interview with CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday
Noorani called this result "important" considering the latest Statistics Canada data that shows that over the last five years, 70 per cent of Canada's population growth was from immigration. He also pointed the StatsCan prediction that by 2011, about 100 per cent of the country's labour force growth will be from immigration.
The government has put out election material in nearly 30 languages but Noorani says politicians need to do a better job of reaching out to people, especially since many of them don't have regular access to the Internet.
"The question is, how do we get this information to them in a way that will engage them in the development of this country?" he said.
The magazine also asked its readership about the issues that are of concern to them. The state of the economy was their main concern followed closely by health care.
The survey also found that skills recognition, law and order, and family reunification were important concerns that immigrants would like Ottawa to address.
With less than a week left before the election on Oct. 14, Canadian newcomers say they are equally split in their support for the Liberals and the Conservatives. The survey showed that 27 per cent immigrants supported each party.
Noorani said after the poll was published and the results started to become clear, political parties called the magazine to explain what they have been doing to reach out to newcomers.
Noorani said politicians have addressed some of the issues pertaining to immigrants but that mostly the issues have been "top level" and don't reach into the root of the problem.
"It's not enough," he said.
About 100 people have responded to the survey. However, the poll doesn't close until 9 p.m. Wednesday.
"We wanted to find out from readers what it is that they think, what are the issues because the other aspect is that issues that immigrants have are hidden, they don't come out in polls," Noorani said. "Polls don't talk about issues like family reunification, they don't talk about skills recognition - that's a huge one.
"Immigrants are still driving cabs. They could be doctors, lawyers, engineers and they're still driving cabs," he continued.
