‘Big milestone’: Winnipeg welcomes 30 new Canadians in July 1 citizenship ceremony

It was Ruchira Senevirathne’s dream to become a Canadian citizen, and it was even more special for him to have it land on Canada Day.

“Canada means a lot of opportunities. It’s a great country with great people, especially in Winnipeg where everyone is so kind,” Senevirathne said. “We feel like it’s home.”

The 39-year-old, his wife and eight-year-old son were among a group of 30 new Canadians in Assiniboine Park on Tuesday who raised their right hand and took the citizenship oath. Canadian diversity was on full display, with 12 different countries represented during the ceremony.

Senevirathne moved from Sri Lanka with his family six years ago so his wife Savani could study computer science at The University of Winnipeg and so his son could get a good education. Senevirathne is proud his wife graduated university and his entire family are now Canadian citizens. He said it’s a “big milestone.”

He said he fell in love with Winnipeg from the moment they first arrived and enjoyed watching his son learn English and adapt to the culture, despite moving from tropical weather to Manitoba’s winters.

“We feel so welcome and we have a very good community,” Senevirathne said.

Dionne Clarke, 61, also signed the papers to become a new citizen. She moved to Winnipeg from Jamaica in 2017 so she could be closer to her son Nicklaus and her grandchildren.

“It’s really special. I’m just so excited,” she said. “While I’ve been here, it’s been good, and I hope it gets better with time.”

When she arrived in Winnipeg, she experienced the snow for the first time with her grandchildren.

“We had very good times. Learning to shovel the snow, because we don’t have that back home, and learning to dress up for the cold was all super fun,” Clarke said with a chuckle.

Clarke said she came to Canada hoping to start now phase of her life as she plans to retire from working as a home care support worker. Since moving, living in the city has changed her for the better and helped her show more humility to those around her, she said.

Nicklaus, 34, sat beside his mother, clutching two Canadian flags, to support her as she crossed the stage to accept her citizenship. He also came to Winnipeg in 2017, and is a citizen himself.

“It’s almost like the roles are reversed. She would be proud to see me graduating or achieving something,” he said. “I get the chance now to be proud of her, seeing her achieve and being granted citizenship.”

He said it was fate that his family ended up in Winnipeg — initially, they had no plans to settle here. But when his wife was considering attending culinary school, the city came up as the best choice.

“You can try to leave Winnipeg, but it just keeps pulling you back in,” Nicklaus said.

For Nicklaus, being a Canadian means freedom and being accepting of everyone. Canada is always seen as a friendly country and there’s never any backlash when saying you’re a Canadian, he said.

Amid the tariff war with the U.S., and President Donald Trump’s repeated comments on making Canada the 51st state, Nicklaus said he’s proud to call Canada home with his mother and it’s special to see how united and patriotic the country has become.

Despite Canadians being known as friendly people, Nicklaus said that shouldn’t be mistaken for being “pushovers.”

“We have a saying back home, ‘Don’t take my kindness for weakness,”’ Nicklaus said.

matthew.frank@freepress.mb.ca