Award winner caught composing bug at 7

What does it truly mean to welcome someone to Canada? Is saying that newcomers belong here enough, or should we also ensure they have a fair opportunity to create a stable life? In Winnipeg, welcoming immigrants and refugees should involve more than simply opening the door. It should also involve helping people get settled after they arrive.

Immigrants and refugees come to Canada for various reasons and with different goals. Some arrive to study or work, while others escape difficult or dangerous circumstances to find safety. Their experiences are different from one another. Still, many newcomers may encounter barriers as they look for housing, find meaningful work, learn about available services and form relationships in a new community. These difficulties can affect individuals as well as families trying to settle in and feel a sense of belonging.

Imagine arriving in a city where almost everything is unfamiliar. You might need to learn how services operate, understand new systems, look for housing and find a job. Even with skills, education, and a strong wish to contribute, building a new life can be challenging. Being told that you are welcome does not automatically provide the opportunities necessary to succeed. A kind welcome is important, but practical support makes it possible for people to experience that welcome in their daily lives.

For this reason, the Manitoba and federal governments should co-operate more closely with community organizations so that newcomer support is easier to access and better connected. People should not have to struggle to figure out where to get help or feel responsible for solving every problem alone. Help with housing, employment, language learning and using services should be connected instead of working as separate parts of a puzzle.

The right to a private life is a fundamental human need — that is not in dispute. However, our current practices of privacy, particularly when it comes to privacy for children, are a recipe for deprivation, an unintended consequence of our otherwise good intentions.

Two articles in the Oct. 17 Free Press — “If every child matters, why no public inquiry?” by Marion Willis; and “Student violence surges” by Maggie Macintosh — raised serious questions which make privacy seem more like neglect than benefit.

A democratic society has every right to be concerned about privacy and its many advantages. Ancient Greeks likened privacy to home life, a safe place where you could make foolish mistakes, behavioural and otherwise, away from public scrutiny and judgment. The point was that it was a place to test your ideas to make them fit for appearing in public.

Our public schools are to a large measure built on those premises — classrooms out of the public eye where children can make mistakes and learn without paying a price. It’s why all visitors must first report to the office to establish their validity. That sense of privacy has proved beneficial and essential as we try to teach children the civility, respect, empathy, integrity and personal responsibility essential for entering and contributing to a healthy public — thriving communities and a humane society where everyone is welcomed and valued.

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