Many in Markham don't speak English. So candidates are pitching plans in Cantonese, Mandarin

When candidate Ritch Lauis out knocking on doors, he starts bysaying "hi"in all the languages he knows English, Mandarin and Cantonese, his mother tongue.

Lau is running for municipal council in Markham, wherenearly 17 per centof residentspredominantly speakCantonese at home; for Mandarin, it's justover12 per cent. Hefeels hisapproach especially resonateswith seniors and new immigrants.

"They instantly smile," said Lau, a host and news reporter who spokeCantonese on airbut stepped down from his job to run.

"They feel like you are one of them. They feel at home."

Depending on what he hears back, Lauthen quickly grabs for a brochurefrom thebackpocket of his pants. In one pocket, he's got pamphlets in traditional Chinese. The otherhas hisEnglish fliers. He memorizes whichpamphlets arein each pocket so he's not grabbing the wrong one.

Lau'scampaigningin Markham's Ward 2, an open racewith no incumbent running. At least four of the five candidates, including Lau,speak bothMandarin and English, while three also speak Cantonese and areusing these languages at the door.

Larry Lau speaks Mandarin, Cantonese and English, as does Yan Wang, while Steven Sun speaks Mandarin and English.CBC Toronto did not hear back from Trina Kollis.

Driving around Markham, curbs and corners are packedwith campaign signs, many includingtraditional or simplified Chinese as well as English. For Lau, it was a difficult decision to include traditional Chinese on his signs and fliers.

"I don't want to be off putting for English speakers when they look ...to be like, 'Oh, there's a language that I don't really understand,'" he said.

"But I hope they understand on the other side of the story ... it's a choice that we can take to be more inclusive and take care of people who are being left out, mostly."

Making elections more accessible

Lau knows language barrierspose a significant challengeto getting people involved in elections and thinks Markham could be doing more to fix that.

The City of Markhamsays it's translating key election information on its website and hasa voter helpline, offering election assistance in more than 150 languages. The city also says it's beenrunning election education sessions in multiple languages.

The City of Toronto is touting itshow-to-vote bookletwhich comes in25 languages and is running election ads onradio, Facebook,online and in community papers in severallanguages.

On election day, the citysaysstaff who are fluent inmultiple languages will havename tags with all the languages they speak. Voters can also bring aninterpreter if they wish. If none of that works, the city suggests calling 311 for interpretation.

Seher Shafiqhas done a lot of front-line work in past electionsto make them more accessible forpeople who speak limited English or none at all.

She applaudscampaign literature in other languages both from candidates and election staffbut says the biggest barrier is lack of civic literacy.

• LISTEN |How to knock on doors in different languages:

"Newcomers don't understand the way the system works ... For example, an MP versus an MPP sounds very similar," said Shafiq, whoworkswith North York Community House creating acivic engagement curriculum for groups who serve immigrants and refugees.

"You're answering things like, 'How do I register to vote? How do I find out where to vote?'"

Shafiqsays a goodapproach is tailoringcampaigns directly to communities with lower voter turnout. That might includeusing local community leaders in advertising about how and where tovote.

"If there's two posters,one has a local community leader that you see at your mosque every week ... versus a stranger's face, you're more likely to engage with the one that you resonate with."

She says more work needs to be done in the years between elections, not just in the months leading up to them. But Shafiq says the local grassroots organizations thatdo this work don't have the resources.

She thinks this is where thecity could step up bymakingmore funding available.

"That could go a really long way."