A Letter to Canadian Leaders and Politicians,
Lettre aux Dirigeants et Politiciens Canadiens
رسالة إلى القيادات والسياسيين في كندا
By Lama Fawaz, Montreal
We know that every language represents a different culture, I might add that it also defines and shapes our identity. I, like many other immigrants, are bilingual and trilingual by birth to schooling to practical and professional life. What this means is that we have core values related to our culture by birth, and for the new generation that is born in Canada from immigrant parents, it is a whole different mix of core values and culture. It is also what we, as first generation immigrants, willingfully selected to adopt from Canada and its culture that ended up shaping our set of values and beliefs.
When we immigrated we chose Canada for what it represented to us as a symbol of freedom, justice, and equality. These are amongst the most important core values that brought us to this land. True, immigration can have multiple reasons and different types of immigrants consequently, but most of the people selected Canada as their new homeland primarily because of these basic rights and freedoms. Our Canadian dream was not based on wealth or comfort, but rather on the aspiration for dignity, equality and freedom at all levels, essentially freedom of speech and beliefs. In fact, many of us had better economical and social statuses in our homeland prior to coming to Canada.
Therefore, we strived since our first day to adapt to our welcoming homeland, not only that but also to succeed in becoming active members of our communities, and society. At the same time, we were keen on preserving our original culture, values, and beliefs. Hence, the sheer number of immigrants who became part of Canadian society would necessarily impact the demographics of Canada on all facets especially on the political scene. This means not only we should be striving to adapt and create our active presence in Canada, but it is also expected from the generations that were ahead of us in landing in Canada, and who welcomed us as the new generation of immigrants, to embrace us as a whole and acknowledge us in return, and accept us as fully participating members.
What we have recently seen in the streets of Canadian cities attest to our desire to voice our resolution to stay faithful to the Canadian core values of freedom, justice and equality not only in our adoptive homeland, and our children’s homeland, but also to fellow human beings elsewhere in the world. The massive demonstrations demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, and resenting the partisan stand of the Canadian government with respect to the continuation of the military offensive on Gaza which has resulted in genocidal numbers of casualties mostly being children and women, attest to the demands of a large fraction of Canadian society today.
We have faith that our political leaders will respond and not ignore a large segment of the Canadian population who took to the streets as first, second and beyond generation of immigrants, as well as other fractions of Canadian society who consider any just cause anywhere in the world is worth supporting. With that much voiced demand, we are confident that the next step is an engagement in a conversation, and an acknowledgement that a new face of Canadian demographics and politics can and will be shaped that respects, honors, reflects and values all members of Canadian society.
This is a new beginning and it is exciting to grow as Canadian citizens!
C’est un nouveau début, et c' est fascinant de mûrir en temps que citoyens Canadiens.
إنها بداية جديدة وشعور رائع بنمونا كمواطنين كنديين.
Lama Fawaz is a biomedical scientist, immunologist, and educator
She is a holder of a PhD in experimental medicine from McGill University
She currently works in academic research at McGill University, Montreal
Article photo credit : Freepik