Welcome to Canada!

Kathy Bellemare of Dauphin, Man., writes, “Through our local church, we helped bring this family to Canada from a refugee camp in Jordan. I captured this pic (right) of baby Yousef waving his Canadian flag as he celebrated his first Canada Day last year in Wasagaming, Man., located in Riding Mountain National Park. Yousef’s parents Asya and Louai, his grandma Shaha and his two siblings arrived in nearby Dauphin, Man., as Syrian refugees in February 2016. On this day, Yousef and his family watched 89 people become Canadian citizens during the outdoor citizenship ceremony. While Yousef is the first Canadian citizen in his family (as he was born here), the rest of them are eagerly learning English and dreaming of the day when they, too, can become Canadian citizens. Hopefully, they will be participating in a citizenship ceremony on July 1st in Wasagaming very soon!