Canadians in Mexico Do Care About the Election - Just Not Enough to Vote David Agren - VICE News
go to original October 17, 2015

A local bar in Ajijic shows the Toronto Blue Jays game (David Agren)

Thanksgiving dinner at the Canadian Club in Ajijic, Mexico, featured a far north-of-the-border menu of turkey, gravy, stuffing, peas, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie — all smacking of maple syrup. Not making the menu at most tables in one of the world largest communities of Canadian retirees: politics, even with an election in the offing Oct. 19.

"We care deeply," offered one dinner guest when asked, while insisting on anonymity. "But we wouldn't bring that up at Thanksgiving."

Those subdued sentiments and attempts at warding off unwelcome attention capture the political picture of the Canadians residing in Ajijic (pronounced, "A-hee-heek"), where most are ineligible to vote and many wouldn't cast ballots, even if they could.

It's a sharp contrast with the American community — the other half of the estimated 20,000 foreigners residing in this region, 30 miles south of Guadalajara on the shore of Lake Chapala — who can't leave politics back at the border and whose elections, even abroad, turn tense every two years.

An Ontario court upheld rules prohibiting those residing outside Canada for more than five years from voting in federal elections, drawing outrage from expats around the world – including Ajijic, though the sentiments weren't shared by all.

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