This First Person column is the experience of Fernando Ameth Pinzon, a Panama native raised in Montreal. For more information about CBC’s First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
I’m 41 years old, I’ve been a Canadian citizen since 2004, and I’ve never voted.
I never felt it necessary. For me and my family — all of us immigrants from Panama — our dream to be together in Canada had been realized. The worst that could happen was behind us.
In 1989, when I was six, the United States invaded my home country in a bid to overthrow former dictator Manuel Noriega. While I was too young to understand the political implications, the memories still come flooding back in a blur — helicopters roaring overhead, large trucks rumbling by and tension all around me.
I would later learn that hundreds of Panamanians were killed in the month-long invasion and homes and infrastructure were destroyed. The strained relationship between Panama and the U.S., coupled with years of sanctions, had also plunged my homeland into economic chaos. The invasion disregarded Panama’s sovereignty — and, by extension, my people’s.
During the unrest, my father opted 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 in the late 1980s.
It would be eight years until I saw them again due to the wait time to be sponsored. So, when my family finally arrived in Montreal on a cold January night in 1996, we felt a sense of triumph. We’d made it.
As 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 make ends meet. Somewhere along the road, we forgot to discuss civic duty.
It’s not that I’m not grateful for what Canada has given us. I had the luxury of growing up in safety, living my adult life in a country that welcomed different aspirations — like becoming a graphic designer. Had I stayed in my hometown, I might have ended up working at the local beer-bottling plant instead.
In my 21 years as a Canadian citizen, I held onto the belief that when you come from modest means, the only way is up. My life has been better than I ever thought it could be, so voting for any type of change never even crossed my mind.
That all changed one night when I was at a dinner and overheard the people at a neighbouring table talk about Panama. I was taken aback because I don’t often hear the name of my country of origin. Much less on a random Sunday, in a random restaurant, with random people sitting beside me.
I was confused, and I asked my friend to give me a second as I looked up Panama news. That’s when I saw then U.S. president-elect Donald Trump talking about taking back the Panama Canal in December 2024 — in spite of it being turned over to Panama back in 1999. He spoke about it as if treaties did not exist and as though Panamanian sovereignty was something to be disregarded once again.
I started paying more attention to the news. Soon after came Trump’s taunts about Canada — my adopted country, my chosen home. The threat of making it the 51st state, referring to our prime minister as governor — the feeling was all too familiar.
I was being attacked on both sides of my identity. One of them for the second time. I felt powerless.
When the trade war was launched by the U.S. in February, I finally registered to vote. It hit me then that I had taken my status as a Canadian citizen for granted for the past two decades. Studying for the citizenship test is one thing, but grasping the weight of civic duty is something entirely different. Voting is the one thing I’m responsible for, and I can do my part.
I was a child when my home country was invaded by the U.S. I had no say then and there was little value in my opinion. Now, I’m voting because my opinion matters, and I feel I must stand with my fellow Canadians.
In this coming election, I’m looking for a concrete plan from the next federal leader, one that prioritizes protecting Canadian interests and sovereignty through collaboration with trustworthy allies. Liberal Leader Mark Carney reminds me of my economics teacher — a little boring, but he seems laser-focused on uniting Canadians against the threat of Trump. I’ll be watching to see how the other leaders talk about bringing us together, rather than focusing on our divisions and how Canada is broken, like Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
U.S. tensions and economic pressure have been a thread running through my family’s story — from Panama all the way to Canada.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, I understand why Panama reached an agreement last week allowing U.S. troops to once again step on Panamanian soil and also why opposition leaders in my home country have called it a “camouflaged invasion.“
I hope my vote helps ensure Canada never has to concede its autonomy in this same way.
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