Dear Editor, Canada; we are an immigrant and a refugee nation.
Dear Editor,
Canada; we are an immigrant and a refugee nation.
Unless you are a First Nations' People, you are from elsewhere. Whether your fore bearers came with the fur traders to New France, or as mine did at the turn of the 20th Century from Eastern Europe and Ireland, you are from immigrant or refugee families. You or your parents or grandparents may have arrived after the first or second war or with the boat people from Viet Nam as refugees. Your parents or grandparents may have come from the Far East or Middle East or India as immigrants or refugees.
What they all had and continue to have in common is a search for a better life for themselves and their children in a safe and democratic country. So also are the current refugees from war torn countries of the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere. Some of our Canadian immigrants and refugees were welcomed without bigotry or name calling, were assisted in learning their new language and learned the ways of Canada while still maintaining their cultural roots, favourite foods and customs. Some of them lived through ridicule, bullying and “why don't you go back to where you came from” comments. Eventually your parents and grandparents received their citizenship in their adopted country.
We who were born in Canada are fortunate. Those who wish to live in Canada are fortunate as well. We still must be mindful of the security issue of letting in anyone who applies for refugee status and do our due diligence, but at the same time welcome those who meet the criteria of refugees and immigrants. Remember our roots and remember that Canada has always been an immigrant and refugee country. We have nothing to fear from those who appear to be different from us; however you define “us”.
Dan Garvey, Barrhead
