Downtown Kelowna library plays host to citizenship ceremony
54 people from 25 countries swear allegiance to Canada at ceremony in downtown Kelowna
Fifty-four people from 25 countries became Canadian citizens in a ceremony at the library in downtown Kelowna on Tuesday.
“Welcome home,” said Kelowna West MLA Ben Stewart after certificates had been distributed and hands had been shaken.
The ceremony was co-hosted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. The ICC, a non-profit organization founded in 2006, has 75 ceremonies planned across the country in 2018.
Before each ceremony, citizenship candidates attend a roundtable discussion at which they can discuss their hopes for the direction of the country, and for their lives in Canada.
Fisnik Imeri, from Kosovo, became a citizen after five years of residency. An engineer, he had to work at Walmart at first as no one would hire him without Canadian employment experience.
At the ceremony, family and friends jostled for seats with the best camera angles. This was the first ceremony of its kind at the library in 20 years.
Longtime Canadians were encouraged to reaffirm their oath along with those swearing their allegiance to our country for the first time. The crowd proudly pronounced the English and good-naturedly limped through the French.
The oath is the final step to citizenship, and the new citizens’ first task was to congratulate their neighbours — an apt sentiment.
The ceremony was filled with pride and, finally, acknowledgement for Indigenous Peoples.
Pamela Barnes of the Westbank First Nation emphasized the importance of the Syilx (Okanagan) traditions and culture.
“I think there is room for more representation, but new Canadians still seem to be more aware of the problems we face than people born here,” she said.