Letter to the Editor #2

I am a recent resident having moved here last November from Toronto. I moved up here to live with my boyfriend and his two sons and I have enjoyed the transition. I love going to Millbrook to get lunch at the Pastry Peddlar, or watch a play at 4th Line. I am getting to know the area (especially the Millbrook arena) and feel like this county is going to make a wonderful home.

This week, with all the disturbing news about our neighbours in the USA barring refugees and suspending green cards, I’ve been thinking a lot about how hard it is to make a new home somewhere. I am only two hours away from friends and family, and still sometimes I struggle with feeling like a stranger.

I can’t imagine how scary and sad it must be for green card holders and refugees to be turned away on familiar soil or worse yet, turned away after a brutal struggle to achieve safety and peace of mind.

We know that Canada was built on the work of immigrants. In this region many families of Irish descent can trace their ancestors back to a specific village of origin. My father arrived from the Netherlands when he was 26 and my mother’s parents arrived from the Ukraine in the early part of the 20th century with little more than what they were wearing and a letter of introduction to their foster families.

We all have arrival stories, and this is what makes us great. We are vast country with pockets of welcome sewn into the fabric of our culture.

So it makes me extremely sad, and very worried to see that we have political leaders and figureheads in Canada, in particular in the leadership race for the Conservative Party, who seem to take the actions of America’s president as a sign that Canada is ready to give up on being a welcoming nation, and embrace intolerance and fear. In fact some people seem to be basing their entire campaign on this belief.

Before the Conservative party picks a leader we need to tell them that basing a candidacy, much less an election on fear and intolerance is not a winning strategy.

I would ask as a non-partisan request, that the people of Millbrook (if they are in the same riding as I am) call MP Jamie Schmale at 613-992-2474 and let him know that racism and xenophobia aren’t part of the Canada we love.

Miriam Verburg, Millbrook

Tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.