Newcomers can see through darkness
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/05/2016 (2878 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
It has been a week to reflect upon my Canadian citizenship, something easily taken for granted. On Monday, I stood with 50 new Canadians, joined by their friends and relatives, and took the oath of citizenship. Now, I was born here, but spurred on by award-winning author John Ralston Saul — who presided over a special citizenship ceremony at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights — I swore I would “faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen.”
Prior to the ceremony, the Institute for Canadian Citizenship and the CMHR organized roundtable discussions moderated by some well-known Winnipeggers. People from Vietnam, Pakistan, Eritrea, Bulgaria, India and the Philippines talked about why they chose to take the oath because after all, becoming a Canadian citizen is time-consuming and costs more than $500. In Canada, 85 per cent of immigrants become Canadian citizens within five years. In the U.S., it’s is only 40 per cent.
I asked Thai Nguyen why he chose Canada as his new home.
“Canada is the ‘it’ country,” the beaming welder, nattily dressed in a suit and tie, said with the help of his 12-year-old son.
The boy — also named Thai — has lived here for half his life and was happy to be part of this ceremony.
Some of the people at the roundtables told me they love Canada because everyone is on equal footing regardless of income. They love this country because of its universal health-care system and how easy it is to get a job and buy a house. Despite cold winters and the lack of year-round local fresh fruit, they love our — and now their — standard of living.
I was taken aback near the end of the discussions when a man from Pakistan spoke of the need to send prayers to Fort McMurray, as that city struggles with the devastation and loss in the wake of the catastrophic forest fire. Imagine that — a new Canadian concerned about how other Canadians are doing — people he likely doesn’t know, on a day of celebration for him.
It gave me pause, particularly since reading some awful things from Canadians in the midst of that chaos. Things like a letter-writer who complained in the Globe and Mail: “The federal government will spend more than $1 billion to bring in and help Syrian refugees, but the best it can do for the 88,000 displaced and homeless residents of Fort Mac is to match the public contributions to the Red Cross and bring in some equipment? I thought charity began at home.” Or a post on Facebook from someone wondering why Fort McMurray evacuees couldn’t be called refugees to access federal funding, as if being left homeless by a disaster equates to refugee status.
It’s not a long way from “refugee” to “immigrant.” Reading those comments made me ashamed and embarrassed. When I heard that young father ask us to pray for Fort McMurray and its displaced residents, I hoped he would never see what mean things were being said by these “ugly Canadians.”
However, as Ralston Saul pointed out, most Canadians haven’t fallen into the pit of Trump-ian divisiveness and fear-mongering. These are minorities.
“Canada is the only country in the West that hasn’t given in to the rhetoric of fear,” he said. “The dominant rhetoric is a line of inclusion.”
At the ceremony, Ralston Saul urged these proud new Canadians to embrace all Canada has to offer but to not forget the lessons of the past — our own struggles with human rights.
And he told me he really hopes our newest citizens help us to be better. I do, too.
Shannon Sampert is the perspectives and politics editor at the Winnipeg Free Press.
shannon.sampert@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @PaulySigh
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Updated on Thursday, May 12, 2016 7:55 AM CDT: Attaches new photo