Welcome to Canada!

“What a wonderful, liberating thing it would be if more of us, more of the time, could see diversity not as a burden, but as a blessing; not as a threat, but as an opportunity.”

– His Highness the Aga Khan

At the end of March I was part of the panel at the Youth Innovation Summit organised by the British Council and the United Nations Association of Canada. It was a brilliant event and you can read more about my trip here.

An expected bonus of my three days in Ottawa was that I attended a Citizenship ceremony welcoming new Canadians and it was an inspiring and moving experience.

I didn’t have much downtime in Ottawa but the Global Centre for Pluralism was on my list of a number of reasons:

·        I was raised an Ismaili Muslim and the faith’s spiritual leader, the Aga Khan, founded the centre alongside the Canadian Government. Although I am no longer part of any faith I do still respect and admire the work of the Aga Khan and feel connected to that part of my cultural heritage. Also, I knew it was a fairly easy way to keep my dad happy!

·        I’d been asked to deliver a talk on diversity at the Summit and although I am really interested in this topic I wouldn’t say I was an expert by any stretch. I thought a visit to the centre might inspire me.

·        I admire its work. This world can be a really depressing place with some politicians and media outlets seemingly determined to exacerbate the differences between us, blaming the ‘other’ and encouraging us to find fault with people who are different to us. The Centre’s vision is “a world where human differences are valued and diverse societies thrive.” https://www.pluralism.ca/who-we-are/

I nearly didn’t make it along though. I checked the opening hours on the website the morning I arrived only to find that they don’t offer visitor tours in the winter! Gutted!

As Ottawa seems to be a walkable wee city I decided to head along anyway, take some pictures and maybe pop in and grab a few leaflets if the centre looked to be open.

The building itself was originally the public archives and the Canadian War Museum https://www.pluralism.ca/global-headquarters/ and is somehow both impressive unimposing and welcoming. It sits near the Royal Mint and the National Gallery of Canada and not too far from Byward Market where I intended to go for some lunch afterwards.

In a case of ‘right place, right time’ I turned up five minutes before a Citizenship Ceremony was due to start and I was welcomed in by a lovely volunteer, feeling rather sheepish in my winter boots, jeans and jumper. I sat at the back and just soaked in the atmosphere – well behaved, well-polished kids sitting patiently, and excited smiling adults, some dressed in western clothes and dresses and others in their own national outfits.

The ceremony started with a piece from the Ottawa River Singers, not a style of music I am familiar with at all, but very fitting. In fact, I was struck by the attempts to acknowledge the indigenous inhabitants of Canada. Both the Citizenship ceremony and Youth Innovation Ceremony began by recognising that they were holding the events on traditional territories belonging to tribes. NOTE: I acknowledge right here that I don’t know enough about Canadian history and I don’t know if what I’m saying here is controversial, if so, I apologise. My point is that as a tourist, it was a really public, visible way of bringing the issue to the fore, and prompted me to do more research afterwards.

We heard from a number of speakers and highlights for me were:

-         Canada is characterised by diversity, “it’s not who you are or where you’re from, but what you can contribute. What unites us is a deep respect for those who are different, and an appreciation of shared values.”

-         “Diversity is a reality, inclusion is a choice”.

-         Birth is a lottery. So much of what you can easily achieve is not determined by how hard you work, or how good you are but the circumstances to which you are born and every one of the new citizens had proactively sought ways to make life better for themselves and their families and that’s impressive.

-         The new citizens were thanked for choosing Canada – contrast with the general narrative on immigrants, particularly in ‘Brexit Britain’.

-         What does Canada want from its new citizens? Pay your taxes, obey the laws, vote, do your best. If, every day in face of the minor and major challenges, you do your best to be a better person, that will make Canada a better country.

-         In order to encourage a greater understanding of their adopted home, new citizens were given a free one-year pass to galleries, parks, museums etc across Canada.

-         Citizens were given the choice to swear their oath on the bible or holy book of their choosing.

-         “Son of a moose!” is a real thing people say and I think it should be said more!

It was a really uplifting ceremony and I was completely inspired for my talk on diversity but the cynic in my asks how true the rhetoric was. I wonder how many new Canadians from previous years would recognise the welcoming picture painted. In terms of representation, 4 out of the 5 people on the stage were men, and the single woman didn’t actually speak, although 2 of the people were people of colour, which I guess is quite high.

My natural cynicism aside, I thought it was a lovely event and the Global Centre for Pluralism a great location. Last year I attended an event and heard MP Jo Cox’s sister speak about the movement their family set up after Jo’s murder, More in Common, and I was really struck by the synergies between what they are doing and the messages from this ceremony – in order to overcome the many challenges we face we need to recognise and celebrate each other’s differences, but also pull together over what we have in common.

It’s actually a key tenet of the community engagement work that we do at CEIS – get disparate groups of people to work together on a common project or to a common purpose. Often, we’re engaged by clients who have a group of people who live near each other but don’t see themselves as being very similar at all. It’s a long process but when it works, it’s a really rewarding and the basis for sustainable improvements.

Overall, we watched 40 people from 14 countries receive their certificates, a smile, a kind word and a handshake before standing for the national anthem and heading to the foyer to celebrate with tea and cupcakes. It really was a privilege to be witness to the start of a new chapter for some many people.