Hong Kong-born Senator says diversity enriches Canada
Vivienne Poy, a Senator in Canada, says she had never
felt she had national roots. Before my immigration to
Canada, I was Chinese in a British colony (Hong Kong) where
I had no vote. But Poy says her emotions changed when she
became Canadian. "I felt that at last I had a country to
call my own," she says. She came to Canada as a student, met
her husband, and stayed. Prior to becoming a Senator, Poy
was a self employed fashion designer, who marketed her
merchandise both in Canada and overseas, two countries such
as, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Japan and the United States. Even
today she manages a couple of her private companies, as
entrepreneur. Poy believes Canada is unique in the way it
welcomes people from diverse cultures and encourages them to
keep their cultures alive. "I do believe we enrich Canada
with what we bring to this country, but there will always be
segments of the population who oppose immigration. At a time
when everything is being globalized, the economy, travel,
everything, why not globalize people?" she asks. Senator Poy
has three children - Ashley, a social worker with teachers
degree, Justin, an artist and an entrepreneur, and Carter,
who got his business degree in Canada and works in Canada,
and works in China.
First Indian to be elected premier in
Canada
Ujjal Dosanjh was a young boy, his grandfather would tell
him stories about Kamagata Maru and heroes of India's
freedom movement, Mahatma Ghandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. He
says, at some point, those stories impacted solidly and
steered his thinking towards higher and nobler goals.
Kamagata Maru was a Japanese steamer that an infuencial
Sikh, Gurdit Singh, had leased an order to bring some 360
East Indians mostly Punjabis, to Vancouver. Dosanjh who came
to Canada from Punjab as a young man of 20, was elected
Premier of British Columbia of February 2000. Dosanjh left
India when he was 17 to England to study. "But I didn't have
the money ,and so I took up part time jobs to pay for my
schooling," he says. Three years later while strolling
alongside the Canadian High Commission in London he decided
on impulse to apply for Canadian immigration. He ended up in
Vancouver. He initially went to work at a lumber mill while
he studied at night school. A few months later an injury at
the mill put him out of school and work for about a year.
But he bounced back and finally finished is bachelor of arts
degree and graduated in law from the University of BC. "I
didn't wake up one morning and tell myself, let's get into
politics." Activism, he says, has been a life-long interest.
"I've always spoken out for farm workers rights, racism and
human rights issues," he says.
Pakistani brings his talent to Canada's
5-star hospitality
On a good day especially when the Halifax Sheraton was
hosting a banquet, Tahir Salamat, the hotel's former
executive chief would be challenged to buy a truck-load of
garden-fresh produce or dairy and cattle products worth
anywhere up to $25000.
What did Salamat have to bother most about? "Well, the
challenge is about staying on top - being the leader in the
hospitality industry in Atlantic Canada," he says. "It's
about keeping standards high." It may mean never having to
fail and meeting gust expectations. Or it may mean constant
staffed training and more important staff-empowerment.
British photographer says Canada is a
culture shock
You would think that a British citizen would take to
Canada like a duck to water. But you'll be surprised, says
June Spindloe, who came to Canada from England few years
ago. "It's truly a culture shock for us for many reasons.
Firstly, because the British are arrogant, the courtesy of
Canadian society appears to be overwhelming. How does one
respond to a parcel pick-up suggestion at a store in Canada
when one is used to jostling at cramped supermarkets in
Britain?" The point is that while many would think that
Canadian and British lifestyles are akin, they are really
not. "The Tim Horton's coffee-culture that lets you walk out
with a cup, is a world apart from England's, where you must
sit down for a cup of coffee." Spindloe trained as a
photographer in England but she works as a cosmetician at
Sears, which brings her in contact with people of diverse
origins. She says she enjoys this interaction with
inter-races and therefore mixes business with pleasure. Her
home is listed as a host-family in the St. Mary's University
student-exchange program. But why are Britons coming to
Canada anyway? Spindloe thinks it's because the average
Briton is struggling with low incomes, the lack of housing,
high-crime, and stressful living. Equally disconcerting is
the class system, she says. She talks of the fact that
factors of where you were born and raised, the "somewhere
accent" and even religious discrimination come into play in
British society. Thus the need for the average Briton to
look for opportunity and a new society in Canada. Britons
who come to Canada imagine that settling down will be a
cakewalk, but that's not reality. When you come here you
find that you are a non-person, no credit card for 6 months,
no house mortgage, because one lacks a local credit record.
The immigrant syndrome is not confined only to those who
speak another language, but she never dreams of never
getting back to Britain. "I shall never be able to resettle
in Britain or fit into that class-driven society again."
Nigerian in Canada-Levy Eziruke
Nigeria's civil war between 1966 and 1970 drew thousands
of its country-men in neighbouring Ghana. Levy had to leave
Ghana for reasons of violence and repression. Levy decided
to take the flight to the United States however he changed
his mind having run into a Canadian. He instead took a
flight to Toronto. Levy settled down in London, Ontario
where he studied and worked his way up until his job brought
him to Nova Scotia. He studied public administration at
Dalhousie and currently serves as a Financial Officer with
the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Turmoil on the
African continent today, he says, is forcing an exodus of
people into Canada.
