Our home and multicultural land
Thousands of immigrants settle in Canada every year. Why Canada? This is the question newcomers and immigrants get asked the most.
To start, Canada is considered to be a safe country. Immigrants, like my family and I, were forced to leave our native country in search of safety and better opportunities.
My family and I were all born and raised in Colombia. I had a happy childhood until the armed guerrilla invaded my parents' farm, which we visited on weekends. After this horrible incident, my parents decided to send my sisters and I to Orlando, Florida, in September 2000, where most of my family from my mother's side lived. My parents joined us a year later.
We made an asylum petition in the States, but it was denied. Our appeal of the denial also received a negative response. During this time, a friend of my parents, who lives in London with his family, told my parents of how great will it be for us to come to Canada. Although I had a son while living in the US, his citizenship did not provide me with any legal status. My family, son and I left Orlando, Florida in December 2003.
We went to an organization called “Vive” in Buffalo, New York. Right there we requested a Canadian refugee petition. On January 2, 2004, we crossed the border, and made the refugee petition at Fort Erie, Ontario. Between December and January we stayed at a hotel.
Since arriving to Canada, my family and I are very thankful for all the opportunities we have received. The most important detail is that we feel safe and happy. My parents are working, one of my sisters goes to Western; my youngest sister goes to Fanshawe College, and my son goes to daycare.
Leaving your native country and settling into another is a tough experience to go through. The biggest obstacle for my parents when they came to Canada was the language barrier, but they began taking ESL (English as a Second Language) classes two months after we arrived in London.
Over the past two and a half years, I have yet to met someone who is 100 per cent Canadian. Everyone I have met comes from a Polish, Arab, English, Italian or any other background.
What does this mean?
It means Canada is a multicultural country. In London, there are 30,000 Muslims, and 20,000 Latin Americans, and thousands of other nationalities.
According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 206,859 new permanent residents came to the country in 2005. Canada has become, and will continue to be, a country of opportunities for thousands of immigrants who want to provide a better life for their families and themselves.
Thanks Canada.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
To start, Canada is considered to be a safe country. Immigrants, like my family and I, were forced to leave our native country in search of safety and better opportunities.
My family and I were all born and raised in Colombia. I had a happy childhood until the armed guerrilla invaded my parents' farm, which we visited on weekends. After this horrible incident, my parents decided to send my sisters and I to Orlando, Florida, in September 2000, where most of my family from my mother's side lived. My parents joined us a year later.
We made an asylum petition in the States, but it was denied. Our appeal of the denial also received a negative response. During this time, a friend of my parents, who lives in London with his family, told my parents of how great will it be for us to come to Canada. Although I had a son while living in the US, his citizenship did not provide me with any legal status. My family, son and I left Orlando, Florida in December 2003.
We went to an organization called “Vive” in Buffalo, New York. Right there we requested a Canadian refugee petition. On January 2, 2004, we crossed the border, and made the refugee petition at Fort Erie, Ontario. Between December and January we stayed at a hotel.
Since arriving to Canada, my family and I are very thankful for all the opportunities we have received. The most important detail is that we feel safe and happy. My parents are working, one of my sisters goes to Western; my youngest sister goes to Fanshawe College, and my son goes to daycare.
Leaving your native country and settling into another is a tough experience to go through. The biggest obstacle for my parents when they came to Canada was the language barrier, but they began taking ESL (English as a Second Language) classes two months after we arrived in London.
Over the past two and a half years, I have yet to met someone who is 100 per cent Canadian. Everyone I have met comes from a Polish, Arab, English, Italian or any other background.
What does this mean?
It means Canada is a multicultural country. In London, there are 30,000 Muslims, and 20,000 Latin Americans, and thousands of other nationalities.
According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 206,859 new permanent residents came to the country in 2005. Canada has become, and will continue to be, a country of opportunities for thousands of immigrants who want to provide a better life for their families and themselves.
Thanks Canada.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
