Classmates cheer for new Canadian
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/02/2012 (4964 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
WHEN Daryl Boado took his oath of Canadian citizenship on Tuesday, he was cheered on by his Grade 5 class.
The three members of the Boado family, originally from the Philippines, took their oath of citizenship along with 40 other new Canadians at the Manitoba Legislative Building at a special ceremony in honour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
As chance would have it, Daryl, 10, had the choir from his school sing at the special ceremony. The grades 4 and 5 choir from Sister MacNamara School cheered for their classmate and his family as they received their citizenship certificates.
Daryl’s mother, Natividad Boado, said they only heard they would take their oath on Monday after a year of waiting for approval as citizens.
“We were waiting for a very long time,” she said. “It’s an unforgettable moment for us.”
Citizenship Judge Harold Gilleshammer presided over the ceremony, which was attended by Premier Greg Selinger and Christine Melnick, the provincial minister of immigration and multiculturalism.
Selinger commended the new citizens’ courage for leaving their home country.
“It is such a gigantic decision to make because you don’t know what you’re coming to,” Selinger told them. “You don’t know how cold the winters are,” he joked.
Coming to Canada was important to get the best education for Daryl, said Boado. It’s free, the schools are better and there are a lot more job opportunities, she said.
For 20-year-old Esperance Bienfait, taking her oath meant freedom.
“It makes us (my family) feel like we’re protected and we have a better future to look ahead for ourselves and for the generation to come,” she said.
Born in Congo, her family fled persecution to Kenya where they were refugees for 14 years. They immigrated to Canada in 2006.
Bienfait is happy to leave behind the troubles her family faced in Africa. She said soldiers in Congo would torment people and their lives were in danger.
Her father, Musenga Bienfait, became a Canadian citizen a year ago. He said Canada is the promised land.
“Everything is here,” he said. “There is peace, there is life, there is democracy. We are happy.”
jennifer.ford@freepress.mb.ca