Identification of various perspectives - Emika

The following fictional stories are based on real information, experiences, and quotes from factual sources.

Immigration officer

I used factual information from these articles:

Schwinghamer, S. (n.d.). “Young man, you take yourself far too seriously”: The memoirs of immigration officer Gordon T. Gervais. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21.
https://pier21.ca/blog/steve-schwinghamer/young-man-you-take-yourself-far-too-seriously-the-memoirs-of-immigration

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. (n.d.). Employee stories. Government of Canada.
 https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/careers/stories.html

My name is Rachel Black.I work for the Canadian government in immigration. I help people who want to move to Canada, become citizens, or start a new life here. I started by helping with citizenship ceremonies, and I loved it right away. Every time someone took the oath and became a citizen, it made me emotional. People from all over the world were choosing Canada as their home. That meant a lot to me.

I’m also an indIgenous woman. That’s why it’s important for me that newcomers learn about Indigenous history  about things like residential schools, and what happened to our people. I want them to feel welcome, but also understand the land they are coming to.

Now, I work in the Settlement section, where we help newcomers find housing, jobs, and feel at home in Canada. I’ve had great support at work and learned a lot. One day, I hope to be a leader and show other First Nations people that we can have strong voices in immigration too.
Sometimes the job is hard. I have had to say no to people who wanted to stay, and that’s never easy. I also learned that, in the past, immigration rules were unfair and used to keep out people based on race. I don’t want to repeat that. I want to do better.

My job is more than checking papers. It’s helping people start over and making sure they’re seen and respected.

immigrants

I used factual information from these articles:

Cishahayo, A. (n.d.). My last ten years as an immigrant to Canada and working at an immigration museum. Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. http://pier21.ca/blog/angelique-cishahayo/my-last-ten-years-as-an-immigrant-to-canada-and-working-at-an-immigration

McMullen, C. (2017, June 25). Canada’s immigration policy: Family reunification. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40399050

My name is Maria White. I came to Canada from Burundi ten years ago. At first, life was not easy. I didn’t speak English well, and I missed my family a lot. Everything was new!The food, the weather, the people. I often felt lonely and scared.

But things slowly changed. I went to English classes, found a job, and started making friends. I learned how to cook Canadian food and also shared my culture with others. After some years, I got a job at a museum that tells stories of immigrants. It made me proud to be part of Canada’s history.

One of the best things Canada did for me was let me bring my family here. Canada has a special immigration policy called family reunification. It helps people bring their close family members to live with them. I was so happy when my children and husband joined me. We could finally live together again.

Now, we call Canada our second home. Life still has challenges, but we feel safe and welcome. I am thankful to Canada for giving my family a new start.

(Emika)