Saturday
Aug212010
They came on a boat
Saturday, August 21, 2010
They came on a boat.
They came on a boat across the ocean on a grueling journey lasting several months. They came on a boat in search of a better life in a new land. They came on a boat with hopes and dreams based on promises made by a man they had to trust with their lives. That man was Samuel de Champlain. One of the people who trusted him with his life was a boy named Jacques, the first of my ancestors to arrive in Canada. The year was 1615 and Jacques, only about 12 years old, was sent to live in a First Nations community to learn the language and then act as an interpreter.
I don't know exactly how Jacques, at the age of 12, ended up on that ship. His parents were alive in France at the time where they remained and eventually died. I don't know if he had any siblings. I don't know if there was a reason they felt they couldn't care for their son and that he would be better off leaving for a place they had never seen and would never see. I don't know if he ran away from home to escape a bad situation or in search of adventure. I don't know if he was kidnapped or sold.
I do know that he was part of one of the first settlements in New France. I do know that he was one of thousands and thousands of settlers who ended up pouring into Canada from France, England, Scotland, and Ireland over the next few centuries. I do know that they were not invited by the original inhabitants, the First Nations, nor did they go through an official application process to be accepted by those in power in Canada at the time. They were settlers, colonizers, people intent on taking the land because it hadn't yet been claimed by a Christian Prince. I know that they had a colourful history of relations with the First Nations, being allies with the Algonquins and Hurons and waging war with them against the Iroquois as well as trying to convert their native trading partners to the Christian religion. The fact that they were nice at times, does not change the fact that they came and took what was not theirs.
And yet the descendants of people just like Jacques look at the Tamil migrants aboard the Sun Sea, and worry about the impact of their arrival on our tax dollars. They worry that the people who came on a boat will take away something that is ours. They worry that the people who came on a boat will put us in danger. Some of them even say we should have simply turned the boat away.
When there is so much pain and suffering in so many places on this earth, there are no easy answers in terms of what countries like ours should do especially when there are sometimes no easy answers in terms of how people came to be on those boats. Our immigration laws and policies are flawed, yet there is no easy way to fix them. One thing is sure though. We shouldn't sit here, arms crossed and noses in the air acting as though we are morally superior or entitled. We are not.
We came on a boat.
They came on a boat across the ocean on a grueling journey lasting several months. They came on a boat in search of a better life in a new land. They came on a boat with hopes and dreams based on promises made by a man they had to trust with their lives. That man was Samuel de Champlain. One of the people who trusted him with his life was a boy named Jacques, the first of my ancestors to arrive in Canada. The year was 1615 and Jacques, only about 12 years old, was sent to live in a First Nations community to learn the language and then act as an interpreter.
I don't know exactly how Jacques, at the age of 12, ended up on that ship. His parents were alive in France at the time where they remained and eventually died. I don't know if he had any siblings. I don't know if there was a reason they felt they couldn't care for their son and that he would be better off leaving for a place they had never seen and would never see. I don't know if he ran away from home to escape a bad situation or in search of adventure. I don't know if he was kidnapped or sold.
I do know that he was part of one of the first settlements in New France. I do know that he was one of thousands and thousands of settlers who ended up pouring into Canada from France, England, Scotland, and Ireland over the next few centuries. I do know that they were not invited by the original inhabitants, the First Nations, nor did they go through an official application process to be accepted by those in power in Canada at the time. They were settlers, colonizers, people intent on taking the land because it hadn't yet been claimed by a Christian Prince. I know that they had a colourful history of relations with the First Nations, being allies with the Algonquins and Hurons and waging war with them against the Iroquois as well as trying to convert their native trading partners to the Christian religion. The fact that they were nice at times, does not change the fact that they came and took what was not theirs.
And yet the descendants of people just like Jacques look at the Tamil migrants aboard the Sun Sea, and worry about the impact of their arrival on our tax dollars. They worry that the people who came on a boat will take away something that is ours. They worry that the people who came on a boat will put us in danger. Some of them even say we should have simply turned the boat away.
When there is so much pain and suffering in so many places on this earth, there are no easy answers in terms of what countries like ours should do especially when there are sometimes no easy answers in terms of how people came to be on those boats. Our immigration laws and policies are flawed, yet there is no easy way to fix them. One thing is sure though. We shouldn't sit here, arms crossed and noses in the air acting as though we are morally superior or entitled. We are not.
We came on a boat.
Reader Comments (15)
Yes. Just ... yes.
There are probably no easy answers. But generally speaking, I believe that the people who have come to Canada in search of a better life, working hard to build such a life, have enriched our country immeasurably. They are us. The fact that I was born here myself doesn't change that.
Thank you for writing this.
mr ebb and i were debating this today too. it isn't an easy discussion to come to a clean conclusion on, and i think there are many shades of grey. i've also been listening to the CBC series on escaping to canada, airing on cbc radio one most mornings. there are some harrowing tales of what it meant to a lot of refugees to come to canada and how they accomplished their journey. it is truly humbling to realise what some families went thru to accomplish what my husband and i did easily thru moderate paperwork, a job offer and privilege. it's also quite sobering to sit on a bus as some (white) canadian whispers conspiratorially to you that "they should go back where they came", mistaking me for something i'm not all because of the colour of my skin. at the time i felt it very odd to be hearing that opinion in a country of immigrants. quite a wake up
You have a way with words!!! I love this post it says what you have to say so well!!! Thank-you - it is wonderful to see some sanity in this crazy world!!!
I quite believe in the approach that everyone is welcome to come, as long as they are willing to WORK, pay taxes and accept that they WILL NOT be qualified to receive any type of benefits unless they become citizens and earn it!
The problem is that a FEW will give the MANY a bad name by crime, benefits freeloading and such.
I simply cannot blame the hard working citizens for wanting to keep the hurds of freeloaders out. Harsh, but true.
expatB:
There are plenty of "benefits freeloaders" and criminals already here. Percentage wise probably much higher than among those that are coming on those boats. Harsh, but true.
The reality is that the people arriving on boats probably will require some benefits because they are coming here with nothing and in some cases with less than nothing. Canada sends aid to countries abroad. Should we stop that too? Why is helping the people who have arrived here and who do want to become productive members of our country worse than sending foreign aid? (not that I think foreign aid is bad either).
Well said Amber.
Lovely post. And very timely reading for me after our god-awful election here in Australia where xenophobia was an actual policy platform.
I love your posting today. I completely agree with you, both about the complexity of the issue and about the hypocrisy of turning away those in need. Immigration policy needs to be fixed, but the xenophobia that is spreading these days is against the very nature of our country, which was formed on the backs of immigrants. It's funny how whenever the economy is in trouble, xenophobia rears its ugly head.
I am an ESL teacher, and my job is to teach children (many of them immigrants) how to speak English. I work with families from all over the world, and their parents are from all walks of life. From the engineer recruited from Germany, to the dishwasher from Mexico, all of the parents I work with want the same thing for their children: a better life than they had.
It wasn't until I became a parent that I truly understood why a family would risk everything to go to another land. Often, families are starving or persecuted or desperate for work, and were I in that position, I know that I would do everything possible to get a better life for my child. . . even if that meant going to another country, without papers, to find work and get my child a decent education. Knowing that I, as a parent, would do anything for my son, how can I possibly blame others for doing the exact same thing?
Thank you for saying what I know so many of us are thinking during these crazy xenophobic times.
Wonderful post. Wonderful.
It bothers me so much that our society stereotypes people who immigrate to Canada as 'freeloaders' who don't work or contribute to society. I find this even more frustrating the more I hear stories of immigrants who are qualified and educated in a particular field, but can't get work in that field here in Canada. There could be doctors, teachers, nurses, ect. on that boat, and yet it will be very difficult for them to get work in their field. (I realize that this most recent group of Tamil migrants may not have had the opportunity to have the education of other immigrants, as it is hard to get an education while living amidst war. But many people who come here are educated, even if they come from very poor countries.) Certainly it is valuable for all people living in Canada to work, pay taxes and contribute to society, but it is our government policies that make it hard for immigrants to find work sufficient to take care of their families. We really need to re-look at our policies.
Love this. I had the very same thoughts as I sat on the porch of our semi-detached last night listening to the neighbours discuss "these people" who have come to "their" country and don't want to learn "Canadian" ways. And one woman talking about how she is third generation Canadian and somehow that gives her some entitlement to something. I wanted to go over and shake her and remind her how she got here and who had to suffer for it, and how many generations of First Nations were here before her (since time immemorial I believe they say).
Excellent post. Thank you.
Thank you, Annie. Living on the US-Mexico border taught me many things, but one of the most important was that all of the benefits I enjoy as an American citizen are not a god-given right, or a reward for being better somehow than non-Americans. I did not earn them, nor did my parents or grandparents. I don't even always appreciate them. I am a (grateful) American by what was essentially a happy accident of birth - people born on the other side of an imaginary line in the sand were not so lucky.
Thank you for posting this.
Beautifully written. Thank you for your inspiring words.
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