| Calgary resident Daniel Gibbons feels so strongly that U.S. President George Bush has to go that he’s moving to the United States for a few months and volunteering for Democratic candidate John Kerry’s campaign until the November election.
The 29-year-old advertising writer says he’s extremely concerned about the direction Bush has taken the U.S. and the world during his presidency. He says he wants to play a part in the fight to remove him from the White House, even if it’s the limited role of making coffee or answering e-mails.
"We live in an age of globalization," says Gibbons, when asked why a Canadian without American citizenship would want to become involved in the political affairs of another country. "We can’t be isolated from the country that borders us. U.S. policy influences us at least as much, if not more, than Canadian policy."
Gibbons may be one of the few Calgarians who can afford to take such action to try to influence the outcome of the American election. However, there’s another group of Calgarians who have launched a grassroots campaign to try and get rid of Bush. The Calgary chapter of Democrats Abroad estimates that eight per cent, or 80,000 Calgarians, are American, and the group’s volunteers are hoping to make sure they all cast a ballot in the upcoming election.
Betty Rice, a spokesperson for Calgary’s U.S. consulate, says there are no firm statistics on the number of American citizens in Calgary. However, she says the figure is in the "tens of thousands."
"(Calgary) has one of the largest, if not the largest, concentrations of Americans anywhere in the world," she says.
In the lead-up to what will likely be another extremely close, polarized election, Rice says American citizens in Calgary could play an important role in the election.
"Never underestimate the power of a single ballot," says Rice. "Look what happened in the last election. It came down to an absentee ballot. They were counting ballots from abroad in Florida," she says.
Bush won the election after winning 537 more votes in Florida than Democratic candidate Al Gore. Six U.S. states were won by less than 7,500 votes. Meanwhile, there are estimated to be 400,000 eligible American voters living in Canada.
With those statistics in mind, the Calgary chapter of Democrats Abroad has been more organized than ever before, says member Anne Jayne. This is the first year the group has held monthly meetings and it has also organized several voter registration events. On August 17, Kerry’s sister, Diana Kerry, made an appearance in Calgary to encourage voting and advertise a new website, www.overseasvote2004.com. Kerry, who bears a strong resemblance to her brother, has also been to Toronto and Vancouver.
"This is an important group of people to us," says Kerry of the American population in Calgary. "I think there’s a great deal of passion involved in this election. I think most of us realize the stakes are very high and I think people overseas in particular realize that."
Jayne, who has been helping American citizens in Calgary to register to vote, says support for the Democrats is very strong in Calgary.
"There is a strong desire to see President Bush leave the White House," she says. "I think this is an extremely important election. I think this could be the most important election in our lifetime."
Jayne says quite a few people who have American citizenship through their parents, but who have never lived in the U.S., are registering to vote in this election for the first time. She says she talked to one Second World War veteran who has decided to register to vote for the first time because he’s so concerned about the political situation south of the border.
However, Jayne is willing to concede that not every American citizen in Calgary votes Democrat. "No doubt there will be people who are supportive of Bush in Calgary," she says.
There is a Republicans Abroad chapter that is active in Alberta as well. No one from the organization could be reached by press time. |
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