Sometimes I take for granted just how blessed I am to call Canada my home. I know there are problems that need to be addressed – some of them grave. But there are many reasons to be grateful.
This notion was reinforced last Friday when I attended a citizenship ceremony in Kelowna. I watched as my son-in-law and more than 80 other applicants became Canadians.
There was a palpable sense of anticipation in the Rotary Centre For the Arts theatre, which was well-filled with candidates, their families and friends.
Enter Citizenship Judge Gerald Pash, a man whose obvious and enthusiastic love for the job gave further significance to the ceremony.
“At this hour, you are the most important people in Canada and this is a state ceremony, not a formality,” Pash told the candidates. “It is equal to opening Parliament or swearing in new government members and cabinet ministers.”
Pash made note of Canada’s diversity and told candidates to be proud of the effort they had made to meet citizenship requirements. (Thirty per cent do not make the grade and are refused citizenship). Candidates were invited to the ceremony because of the hope and the trust Canada places in them, he said – and because they have shown the courage and willingness to accept and acknowledge new traditions, history, symbols, and institutions – and to adopt them as their own.
“Being a Canadian is more than having a piece of paper,” he advised. “It means sharing a common set of values and having specific freedoms and rights.”
He reminded everyone that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms declares the supremacy of God, stressing the importance of all religious traditions and the dignity and worth of all individuals, whether they are believers or not. He noted the efforts of tens of thousands to create, protect and defend our democracy – the right to work anywhere in Canada, to vote without fear, run for office, hold a Canadian passport and travel as they please.
The judge had a handshake and a word with each candidate and a high-five for every child as they received their citizenship document. Each time a young child approached him, Pash crouched down to their level to share a few words and a boisterous high-five. At one such encounter, he stood up and said “Today is this little girl’s birthday, so you know what we have to do.”
Without hesitation, the crowd burst into a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. When it came to the child’s name, the crowd paused, Pash shouted out her name and the singing resumed.
It was a moment that captured the essence of the ceremony so infused with the warm spirit of welcome.
It is the kind of welcome I hope Salmon Arm citizens will offer to refugees, who arrive seeking a safe and fulfilling life and the opportunity to become a member of our diverse Canadian family.