‘You are as equal as anyone’ | Toronto Star
2013/11/18 1 Comment
An alternate “welcome to Canada and Canadian citizenship” speech by Haroon Siddiqui of The Star, with the classic liberal emphasis on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and human rights (as part of the changes introduced along with Discover Canada, the 2010 citizenship guide and test, the Charter was no longer handed out at citizenship ceremonies, replaced by a pamphlet emphasizing the role of the Crown):
Respect that Canada is a Christian-majority nation. But know that it is not a Christian country. Canada has no official religion. All faiths are equal. Canada has no official culture, either. So be free to practise your faith, if you so choose, and live your culture as fully as you like — within the rule of law.
The rule of law is what binds all Canadians together, new and old, the foreign-born and the Canadian-born. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is our common holy parchment.
Canada wants you to succeed. The more you succeed, the more successful Canada becomes.
About Andrew
Multicultural Meanderings 
If the Charter of Rights and Freedoms our “holy parchment”, why am I and many others now (since 2003 in my casee) excluded from citizenship because i was born prior to my parents’ birth (in the words of CIC employees, “a bastard”. Like many other Lost Canadians, I am the child of a Canadian soldier from WWII (Royal Canadian Artillery) and his English War Bride. Never had a problem with citizenship, nor did my brother (as Canadian Navy Veteran) from 1946 until late 2003 when we were told we no longer have it, should never have been given it because of the illegitimacy reason (my parents could not marry until the end of the war, military orders) and the fact this government claims there were never any Canadian soldiers before 1947 so my father could not have qualified either. I don’t feel very welcome in my own country where I have lived all my life!
Thanks for your work and excellent articles.
Marion Vermeersch
Simcoe, Ontario