Celebrating Citizenship
49 people become Canadians
The smiles and celebrations of Canada Day couldn’t be dampened by the rain as Edmonton welcomed 49 new Canadians outside the legislature grounds Monday.
Among the new Canadians was Ruphin Kouadio and Rachel Gbita, immigrants from the African nation of Ivory Coast, who were able to walk across the stage and recite their oaths of citizenship with their four children.
“I’m feeling awesome, I’m feeling wonderful. It is a blast, that’s all I can say,” said Kouadio. “We are going to remember this day as the day the whole family crossed this process of being Canadian and being fully part of the community.”
Kouaido and his family moved to Canada in 2013, living in Edmonton ever since. He said it hasn’t been an easy process relocating halfway around the world to a place with a climate that’s nearly polar opposite from the one his family left.
“It has been lots of sacrifices, mostly being an immigrant. Discovering the snow or the cold for the first time,” said Kouadio. “The process hasn’t been easy but with love, with help from other people, we have very friendly families that helped us. We are so thankful for the people that have helped us along the way.”
The ceremony started brightly as the sun beat down on smiling friends, family members and onlookers sprawled across the grass as they took in the Canada Day celebrations, but within mere minutes the rain came down forcing the newly minted citizens to gather intimately under cover to sing O Canada for the first time as Canadians.
After waiting for more than half a decade to be able to call himself Canadian, Kouadio said the rain didn’t bother him as he continued to grin ear-to-ear, proclaiming there was no better day and no better place than the legislature grounds to complete the citizenship process.
“When we got our form, our confirmation to attend to the ceremony, we checked the date and saw it was Canada Day, we thought this is a blessing,” said Kouaido. “For us as a family it is a blessing.”
Kouaido and Gbita weren’t the only ones celebrating as a family. Julie Girard and Alex Girard, originally from France, joined their three-month-old daughter Lily-Rose in becoming Canadian citizens.
Julie Girard said the rain was fitting weather for becoming a citizen.
“It was interesting, the weather, well it is a typical Canadian day,” said Girard.
Girard will now be a dual citizen. She said she is grateful she will now be able to vote and have a voice in the community.
“When you’re part of a country and you see life unfold and you’re not able to express yourself I find it’s a bit frustrating. As French citizens we were allowed to express our opinions and you can make a difference. It’s important and we wanted to be able to do that here in Canada,” said Girard.