Learning from history
Vimy Pilgrimage Award winner hosts roundtable discussion during citizenship ceremony
Charlotte Armstrong knows her Canadian history.
The winner of P.E.I’s 2017 Vimy Pilgrimage Award has had the opportunity to travel and see the impact Canada has had at an international level.
“Going to France and Belgium to see the Vimy Memorial and all the different historic sites from World War One and World War Two was really meaningful,” said Armstrong. “It was a very emotional experience and just being able to see in real life how Canadians contributed to making what our country is today.”
The 17-year-old graduated from Charlottetown Rural High School in June and will be studying history at Bishop’s University.
“I plan to do something with that either through conservation or teaching others about our history here,” she said. Armstrong is off to a good start. On Canada Day, she chaired a roundtable discussion where she shared the country’s history with several candidates for citizenship at the Ardgowan National Historic Site in Charlottetown.
The citizenship ceremony and roundtable discussions were set up by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC).
Leon Marr, senior director of
communications for the ICC, said citizenship ceremonies are set up differently than other ceremonies.
“We set up roundtables, so candidates can discuss their experience with one another comfortably.”
After sharing their stories, candidates from each table spoke about what it meant to be Canadian.
Armstrong’s table, which was comprised of individuals from the Philippines, highlighted the freedoms Canada affords citizens.
“They mentioned Canadians have a lot more freedoms and their own rights. They talked about LGBTQ+ rights and how they are a lot more free in Canada to pursue what we want for
our futures.”
Armstrong also shared with her group what it meant for her to be a Canadian and said Canadians should respect all cultures that come to the country.
“I really just tried to stress the point we should learn about our past and learn about our history. That way we can ensure it doesn’t repeat itself,” said Armstrong, adding that her experience visiting war monuments has only strengthened that philosophy. “The First World War was traumatic and terrible and the fact the Second World War happened makes it all the more worse, but if we can remember those sacrifices Canadians made then we are less likely to have to make those sacrifices again.”