New citizens share their journeys
Record number take oath locally
A record number of immigrants are gaining their Canadian citizenship this week in Saskatoon.
He would normally preside over a crowd of 60 to 80 people, but citizenship judge Terry O’Malley welcomed 150 new Canadians Tuesday morning at the Western Development Museum.
The work is “thrilling,” he said.
“We’re all immigrants to Canada, when you think about it.”
About 500 people will become Canadians this week, “an indication Saskatchewan is booming,” he said.
The StarPhoenix spoke to some of our newest compatriots, to learn why they now call themselves Canadians.
To Saskatoon with Love
Oleg and Anastasia Kougiya moved to Saskatoon from St. Petersburg on Dec. 27, 2007.
The date sticks in Oleg’s mind because it was his birthday.
“It was the longest day of my life” because of the time gained travelling west, his birthday actually lasted 36 hours, he said.
The couple became permanent residents before going back to Russia to care for older relatives. In 2008, Anastasia, by then pregnant, returned; Oleg followed in 2009.
In Canada, unlike Russia, the government and police are “facing towards the citizens,” Oleg said.
“My motherland is a beautiful place to visit as a tourist. Living there is a little bit of a hard time every day.”
Russia is certainly no place to raise a family, Anastasia said.
Julia, now five, “was born only because we had Canadian permanent resident cards. Before, I wasn’t planning kids at all ... no future for them in Russia,” she said.
Freedom and equality in Lloydminster
Seven members of the Haile family — a father and six children — gained their citizenship Tuesday. They’re originally from Eritrea, and moved to Lloydminster in 2007.
“My parents brought us here to get educated,” said Haben, 24, adding that getting his citizenship certificate felt like a “dream.”
“Unbelievable, really. It’s good — it’s indescribable.”
His sister Kelezam, 21, said becoming a citizen is the start of a new life.
“Back home, ladies, they don’t work. The ladies just stay at home.” In Lloydminster she can work as a care aid. She’ll graduate as a nursing attendant in June before going on to become a registered nurse.
An ‘unlimited’ life
Ana Ashraf got a surprise when O’Malley called her from the audience to read her submission on why citizenship matters to her.
Slightly breathless from carrying her son up to the podium, and pausing to hold back tears, she said it makes her feel “unlimited.”
Ashraf came to Canada from the Philippines in 2001.
She landed just south of Montreal to live with her sister, and met her future husband, Mohammed, in 2007.
The couple moved to Saskatoon last year to be closer to his family.
Along the way, she forgot to apply for her citizenship. So while her two children are citizens, she wasn’t — until Tuesday.
The couple runs a delivery business, and now she hopes to start a daycare — or maybe a restaurant. There are many possibilities.
“I can do anything, anything I want,” she said.