Letter from the Prime Minister
Free We Choose Canada Newsletter
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Sara’s story – American living in Canada
I remember the first time I set foot in Canada. I was 19 years old, and
I was crossing the Bluewater Bridge in someone's old junk car. I was with
my 4 friends, all of whom were Canadian, and they were taking me home
with them to see the place they call home.
I remember immediately feeling a difference, something indescribable. Everything seemed so much greener, and cared for, and unique from what I had ever seen. I remember driving through south western Ontario, watching green farms and clean roads go by. I remember visiting Toronto, walking down sidewalks and hearing a million languages go by me, hundreds of different colours of people speaking to each other, working together, sharing neighbourhoods. I couldn't believe my eyes. Never had I seen a place where you could feel safe, and unique and accepted, all at one time.
Canada doesn't ask its inhabitants to assimilate--in language, culture or custom. Canada doesn't need people to be rich in order to afford a doctor, nor does it perpetuate a culture of fear of your neighbour.
This is why 4 years ago, I moved here. This is why I love being here. This is why I feel pride in my home, for the first time in my life. This is why I will someday raise my kids here. This is why, in my heart, I'm Canadian.
Vicki’s
story - Canadian
Wow, hard question but somehow the easiest question I've ever had to answer....
I feel one of the fortunate few who were BORN in Canada...I am of United
Empire Loyalist stock. My ancestors were forced from Westchester, New
York and in 1783 lived in a TENT during winter at Sorel, P.Q. prior to
receiving their land grants...
I can only be "EVER GRATEFUL" to those very, very tough ancestors of mine for ensuring I would be born many generations later in a country that EMBODIES the word and the spirit of freedom. That has been unfortunately lost in the United States...IF I have to list just ONE reason why I'm sooooo, soooooo grateful to those ancestors, it would have to be summed up in the word: PEACE...
I've travelled a bit, not as much as I would have liked to, but a bit. In every single country, when you say CANADA, you say PEACE!
Wow! that's something to be soooo proud of. We CARE about the world; about its peoples; about their freedom of choice, culture, language.
This does not EVEN have a price. Yes, reconsidering....it DOES come with a price: American ridicule and anger. I'm just so proud of Canada. I'm in chat rooms online and trust me…everyone knows I'm Canuck.
The proudest words I ever UTTER are: where am I from? I AM CANADIAN! Those 3 words set me in a class by myself!
Lydia's story
- Canadian
I am the proud daughter of Mrs. Tracz, the first lady to own
a gas service station in Cape Breton. In 1946, Mr.Irving Sr. approached
my mother and asked if she would sell Irving Gas and she did. From the
age of 4 to 20, I worked in the store helping her in the store on the
Barron Road.
Meeting and helping people was natural for me. This is why I have spent 36 years as a volunteer with various associations from participating on the distress lines to a leader in Brownies and Cubs.
My personal motto is, "Every job that is asked of a person to do
is as important as any other." And my mother’s motto was, "
As a senior, I have an obligation to ensure that I help in maintaining
a wonderful organization where my children can be useful to my society."
I make sure that I live out these two important mottos in everything that
I am involved in. I have experienced that if you come across a Canadian
organization that does not have what you want, there is the freedom to
created it!
Court's story
- Canadian
My family was living in Thailand during our daughter’s early childhood.
My wife (from Thailand) and I had to decide where our daughter would be
educated. Being a Canadian and educated in Canada, I was familiar with
the school system. We decided that we would move our family to Canada
so that our daughter could get the best education possible at an Ontario
school.
Since that time (in 1990), the education system has changed and it has its areas for improvements, yet, our daughter has grown up as a Canadian with an extensive Thai community around her. Living in Canada, our daughter has had the advantage of a living a multicultural life. So our family, in essence, has the best of both worlds.
Now if we could only do something about the weather!
Peter's story
- came to Canada from Switzerland
I was born in Basel, the German-speaking part of Switzerland.
I went through the compulsory Swiss school and military system, and acquired
an education in accounting and banking. I never dreamt of leaving Switzerland,
let alone to immigrate to any other country. But to get ahead in the very
traditional Swiss banking system, you need three languages – English,
French, and German. I had dyslexia, a learning disability that made it
very difficult for me to learn languages so, in desperation to learn English,
I decided to spend a year in Canada.
I fell instantly in love with the country’s freedom, its opportunities, and the acceptance by Canadians of other people, no matter what their background. I decided to stay. Looking back, it was the best decision I ever made. I would never have had the opportunities in my homeland to do the things I have done here in Canada. For instance, I taught business on a part-time basis at Ryerson Polytechnic Institute, now a university, in Toronto. (I am proud to say that I was the youngest teacher there, at the time.) I had an education, of course, but by no means any academic teaching credentials for this type of position. In Switzerland I would never have been allowed near any teaching institution without the proper papers. Here, the authorities took my work experience and practical abilities into consideration, and took me on. I have said ever since that if you can’t make it in Canada, you can’t make it anywhere!