A new home
Twenty-nine individuals celebrate Canada Day by receiving citizenship
David Mitchell is one of the oldest people ever sworn in as a Canadian citizen.
While the 93-year-old has lived an extraordinary life, his path to
citizenship has been bittersweet.
Mitchell was born in England and received his wings with the Royal Air Force (RAF) just a few months before the end of the Second World War.
“From there I kept working my way up. I went into the Vulcan
Force which was our nuclear deterrent unit,” said Mitchell, who had a 30-year career with the RAF where he always had to be on high alert in case of a Soviet attack.
While visiting Canada, Mitchell met his future wife, Eleanor Mary Duffy, who later moved to England
to be with him.
The two had plans to move back to Canada with hopes that Mitchell could become a citizen.
They began realizing that dream when they moved to P.E.I. in 2007.
However, Duffy died shortly after moving from Parkinson’s disease, which she had been diagnosed with in 1996.
“She died pretty much as soon as we got here (to P.E.I.),” said Mitchell, who himself suffered a stroke about three weeks ago.
It wasn’t enough to stop him from finally obtaining his citizenship on Canada Day, as Mitchell was one of 29 immigrants from 11 different countries sworn in as Canadian citizens at Ardgowan National Historical Site in Charlottetown.
“My wife passed so quickly when we got here we weren’t able to fill out family immigration forms. I am here under a sympathetic scheme,” said Mitchell, who despite the circumstances was happy to finally have his citizenship. “It feels really great, I have been working for it since 2007. It has been frustrating.”
There were many tears during the ceremony Sunday.
The immigration lawyer for Balasubramaniam Muthusamy and his family wept as she congratulated them on their citizenship.
Muthusamy, who works as a chef in Summerside, and his wife Manjula moved to Canada in 2011 with their two daughters Prithinkkraa and Shobhitha.
Every member of the family was born in India except for Shobhitha, who was born in Bermuda where she and her sister grew up.
“It was a family decision to move. I wanted my girls to grow up in Canada. I think it is a safe place to live,” said Manjula.
Shobhitha said she was most excited about the education opportunities in Canada.
“The primary reason we came here was for education purposes. There is no university (in Bermuda), most students go off to the U.K., the States, or Canada.”
Shobhitha and her sister Prithinkkraa moved to P.E.I when they were 14 and 10.
The sisters never experienced any bullying trying to adapt to Canadian culture, said Shobhitha.
“People here are pretty accepting. They were very interested in my ethnicity and my experience in Bermuda.”
Having Indian heritage, growing up in Bermuda and being honoured as Canadian citizens mixes many cultures, but the Balasubramaniam family says each one of these aspects make up who they are.
The family was excited to celebrate their first Canada Day as citizens although said they already felt like part of the country before the official ceremony. Mitchell was also excited. “I’m going to rest up, a stroke makes you quite feeble. I play bridge (at) a reasonable level, I want to get back to doing that as soon as possible,” he said.
With his documents finalized, Mitchell wants to stay here on P.E.I. with his wife.
“She is buried in People’s Cemetery,” he said.