‘We are better because you are here': Citizenship ceremony in Halifax welcomes 51 new Canadians
Canada Day has an even more special meaning this year for a group of people who received their Canadian citizenship.
A total of 51 people from 18 different countries took part in a citizenship ceremony Tuesday held at the Canadian Museum of Immigration in Halifax.
The ceremony brought together the families and loved ones of those becoming Canada's newest citizens to hear speeches and musical performances.
'Whether you arrived just a few years ago or decades ago, starting today, you're part of shaping the next chapter of that story,' Lena Metlege Diab, the federal minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, told the group at Tuesday's ceremony.
'Whether you came looking for economic opportunities to reunite with family or fleeing conflict, you have worked hard and shown resilience to reach the moment.'
'You chose Canada, and today I'm delighted to say that Canada is voting in favor of you,' says citizenship judge, Joan Mahoney.
Sherah Obien, originally from the Philippines, says the experience of getting her Canadian citizenship was one she's waited for patiently.
'It's very emotional for me. It's amazing that I'm finally a Canadian citizen. I feel that all my hard work has been paid,' says Obien.
After getting married and buying a house in Nova Scotia, Obien says she has decided to stay in the province, making her one of many in attendance.
'For those of you that are choosing to stay in Halifax, a special thank you for choosing Halifax. We are better because you are here,' says deputy Mayor, Toni Mancini.
The gravity and responsibility of being Canadian could also be felt, as Mahoney explained a few of their rights.
'We have freedom of speech and freedom of thought. We have the important right to vote. And of course, you gain this right today and I hope you will take advantage of it at your first opportunity. You also have the right now should you choose to run as a candidate in a future election,' says Mahoney.
Brad Pease and his family previously lived in Denmark, but have since settled in Tantallon, N.S.
'We're very proud to be Canadian now. It's nice to have roots in a place. I've lived as a guest or visitor for over 20 years and other countries. So, it's very meaningful to have roots and knowing that we're planning to stay here for a long time,' says Pease.
For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
A day outside an LA detention center shows profound impact of ICE raids on families
LOS ANGELES (AP) — At a federal immigration building in downtown Los Angeles guarded by U.S. Marines, daughters, sons, aunts, nieces and others make their way to an underground garage and line up at a door with a buzzer at the end of a dirty, dark stairwell. It's here where families, some with lawyers, come to find their loved ones after they've been arrested by federal immigration agents. For immigrants without legal status who are detained in this part of Southern California, their first stop is the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in the basement of the federal building. Officers verify their identity and obtain their biometrics before transferring them to detention facilities. Upstairs, immigrants line up around the block for other services, including for green cards and asylum applications. On a recent day, dozens of people arrived with medication, clothing and hope of seeing their loved one, if only briefly. After hours of waiting, many were turned away with no news, not even confirmation that their relative was inside. Some relayed reports of horrific conditions inside, including inmates who are so thirsty that they have been drinking from the toilets. ICE did not respond to emailed requests for comment. Just two weeks ago, protesters marched around the federal complex following aggressive raids in Los Angeles that began June 6 and have not stopped. Scrawled expletives about President Donald Trump still mark the complex's walls. Those arrested are from a variety of countries, including Mexico, Guatemala, India, Iran, China and Laos. About a third of the county's 10 million residents are foreign-born. Many families learned about the arrests from videos circulating on social media showing masked officers in parking lots at Home Depots, at car washes and in front of taco stands. Around 8 a.m., when attorney visits begin, a few lawyers buzz the basement door called 'B-18″ as families wait anxiously outside to hear any inkling of information. 9 a.m. Christina Jimenez and her cousin arrive to check if her 61-year-old stepfather is inside. Her family had prepared for the possibility of this happening to the day laborer who would wait to be hired outside a Home Depot in the LA suburb of Hawthorne. They began sharing locations when the raids intensified. They told him that if he were detained, he should stay silent and follow instructions. Jimenez had urged him to stop working, or at least avoid certain areas as raids increased. But he was stubborn and 'always hustled.' 'He could be sick and he's still trying to make it out to work,' Jimenez said. After learning of his arrest, she looked him up online on the ICE Detainee Locator but couldn't find him. She tried calling ICE to no avail. Two days later, her phone pinged with his location downtown. 'My mom's in shock,' Jimenez said. 'She goes from being very angry to crying, same with my sister.' Jimenez says his name into the intercom – Mario Alberto Del Cid Solares. After a brief wait, she is told yes, he's there. She and her cousin breathe a sigh of relief — but their questions remain. Her biggest fear is that instead of being sent to his homeland of Guatemala, he will be deported to another country, something the Supreme Court recently ruled was allowed. 9:41 a.m. By mid-morning, Estrella Rosas and her mother have come looking for her sister, Andrea Velez, a U.S. citizen. A day earlier, they saw Velez being detained after they dropped her off at her marketing job at a shoe company downtown. 'My mom told me to call 911 because someone was kidnapping her,' Rosas said. Stuck on a one-way street, they had to circle the block. By the time they got back, she says they saw Velez in handcuffs being put into a car without license plates. Velez's family believes she was targeted for looking Hispanic and standing near a tamale stand. Rosas has her sister's passport and U.S. birth certificate, but learns she is not there. They find her next door in a federal detention center. She was accused of obstructing immigration officers, which the family denies, but is released the next day. 11:40 a.m. About 20 people are now outside. Some have found cardboard to sit on after waiting hours. One family comforts a woman who is crying softly in the stairwell. Then the door opens, and a group of lawyers emerge. Families rush to ask if the attorneys could help them. Kim Carver, a lawyer with the Trans Latino Coalition, says she planned to see her client, a transgender Honduran woman, but she was transferred to a facility in Texas at 6:30 that morning. Carver accompanied her less than a week ago for an immigration interview and the asylum officer told her she had a credible case. Then ICE officers walked in and detained her. 'Since then, it's been just a chase trying to find her,' she says. 12:28 p.m. As more people arrive, the group begins sharing information. One person explains the all-important 'A-number,' the registration number given to every detainee, which is needed before an attorney can help. They exchange tips like how to add money to an account for phone calls. One woman says $20 lasted three or four calls for her. Mayra Segura is looking for her uncle after his frozen popsicle cart was abandoned in the middle of the sidewalk in Culver City. 'They couldn't find him in the system,' she says. 12:52 p.m. Another lawyer, visibly frustrated, comes out the door. She's carrying bags of clothes, snacks, Tylenol, and water that she says she wasn't allowed to give to her client, even though he says he had been given only one water bottle over the past two days. The line stretches outside the stairwell into the sun. A man leaves and returns with water for everyone. Nearly an hour after family visitations are supposed to begin, people are finally allowed in. 2:12 p.m. Still wearing hospital scrubs from work, Jasmin Camacho Picazo comes to see her husband again. She brought a sweater because he had told her he was cold, and his back injury was aggravated from sleeping on the ground. 'He mentioned this morning (that) people were drinking from the restroom toilet water,' Picazo says. On her phone, she shows footage of his car left on the side of the road after his arrest. The window was smashed and the keys were still in the ignition. 'I can't stop crying,' Picazo says. Her son keeps asking: 'Is Papa going to pick me up from school?' 2:21 p.m. More than five hours after Jimenez and her cousin arrive, they see her stepfather. 'He was sad and he's scared,' says Jimenez afterwards. 'We tried to reassure him as much as possible.' She wrote down her phone number, which he had not memorized, so he could call her. 2:57 p.m. More people arrive as others are let in. Yadira Almadaz comes out crying after seeing her niece's boyfriend for only five minutes. She says he was in the same clothes he was wearing when he was detained a week ago at an asylum appointment in the city of Tustin. He told her he'd only been given cookies and chips to eat each day. 'It breaks my heart seeing a young man cry because he's hungry and thirsty,' she says. 3:56 p.m. Four minutes before visitation time is supposed to end, an ICE officer opens the door and announces it's over. One woman snaps at him in frustration. The officer tells her he would get in trouble if he helped her past 4 p.m. More than 20 people are still waiting in line. Some trickle out. Others linger, staring at the door in disbelief.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Northern Ont. MPP calls on Ford government to spend more on education
At a news conference Wednesday, Sudbury MPP Jamie West called on the province to increase education spending. Northern Ont. MPP calls on Ford government to spend more on education Sudbury MPP Jamie West is calling on the province to increase education spending. Speaking at a news conference Wednesday morning, West said his office receives calls regularly from parents who are concerned with the state of the public school system. 'Our kids need … more funding,' he said. 'We want to ensure that people know it's not because of the educators, it's not the principals, it's not the school boards. It's a result of a lack of provincial funding from the Conservative government.' West said per-capita spending on education has dropped 11 per cent since Doug Ford was elected in 2018. West held a press conference Wednesday morning at the local (ETFO) office, joined by concerned parents and ETFO affiliates. Liana Holm, Elementary Teachers of Ontario Federation (ETFO) Rainbow local president, said the impact of the cuts can be seen in the amount of violence in the classroom. 'I get calls from educators almost every day,' Holm said. 'Seventy-seven per cent have personally experienced violence or witnessed violence against other staff members.' She said students are not being served the way they need. She added classroom sizes are too large, and there are not enough staff to meet student needs. 'The world has changed, so we need to change with it,' Holm said. West education spending Speaking at a news conference Wednesday morning, Sudbury MPP Jamie West said his office receives calls regularly from parents who are concerned with the state of the public school system. (Amanda Hicks/CTV News) 'That requires bodies in our schools to help deal with the dysregulation and some of the violent incidents.' Gina McAfee, president of the Rainbow Designated Early Childhood Educator Local, said children often enter the school system less emotionally and socially prepared for school. 'The children that are coming into school now are not representative of children in the past,' McAfee said. 'Children are coming to us with challenges -- special needs challenges -- that are undiagnosed. Families don't have family doctors. They don't have pediatricians. So, we have a lot of challenges in our classrooms. And not a lot of support.' Jessica Montogomery has an 11-year-old son with a communication disorder who recently required special accommodations for a physical injury. 'We are still on waitlists for supports that he was referred to when he was in Grade 2. We are now in Grade 6,' Montogomery said. 'We've had to privately pay for the therapy that he needs in order to be successful in the classroom, but also outside of the classroom, as well.' During the speeches, statistics were presented showing the impact of education cuts at local schools, averaging roughly $1,500 per student. 'It shows how much money has been deducted from the school board budgets,' she said. 'It's a very eye-opening experience to understand that one school could be $700,000 down in funding, which could be equal to seven adults. Seven adults in a school would make a huge difference.' More information can be found here. Statement from the province In response to a request from CTV News, the province sent this statement: 'Our government has made historic investments in education, including $29 billion in funding to school boards for the 2024/25 school year, the largest investment in Ontario's education system. Rainbow District School Board funding has increased to over $227.6 million, despite relatively stable enrollment, while the Sudbury Catholic District School Board was provided over $104.8 million despite declining enrollments. 'Since coming into government, we have increased special education funding year over year to over $3.5 billion this school year and supported the hiring of 9,000 additional education staff. We've also provided $118 million in mental health supports, representing a 577 per cent increase. We will continue to support student achievement and get students back to basics on building foundational reading, writing, and math skills that prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow.' Holm said she would like to see the province improve recruitment and retention, as well as more occasional teachers, smaller class sizes and resources for special education teachers. She said she'd also like to see specially trained mental health professionals in schools. 'If we had the people and then the mental health support, a lot of what we're seeing in schools right now would be able to put a lid on it,' Holm said. 'And then we'd actually be able to assess where we need the rest of the support to come.'
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
CTV National News: Frustrations over tolls to cross Confederation Bridge
Watch Frustration is growing over a lack of a firm timeline for when the federal government will drop tolls at the Confederation Bridge. Maria Sarrouh has more.
