Being
born in the most wonderful country in the world to black Jamaican immigrant
parents, I am thankful to God every day that I am a free citizen of
Canada. I can be whoever I want to be,
and be friends with the whole world at my doorstep.
When
I hear that there are “citizens” living in Canada who would not officialize
their citizen ship, it saddens me to the point of disbelief and
bewilderment. Why would anyone risking
everything including their lives want to come to a country that has so much
opportunity yet in turn they don’t want to be a participating citizen? That is the puzzling question.
One
of the reasons that I want to comment on is the fact that there are people who
won’t become citizens because they have to pledge allegiance to the Queen. That alone must be one of the stupidest,
brain-dead excuses for not being a Canadian.
If that is the case, then what the hell are you doing here? You came to Canada, pledge to the Queen
buster for the sake of your freedom, rights, and benefits in this great land.
That
is what I am exactly saying to Charles Roach, who lived for fifty-six years in
Canada but will not become a citizen as a result of pledging allegiance to the
monarchy. He would even go so far as to
fight the constitution to remove the monarchy from being pledged for Canadian
citizenship. He is basing this on the
fact that the monarchy is responsible for such racist, oppressive and
imperialistic policies throughout history.
No
system is a perfect system, but the monarchy is vital to Canada having its
distinct identity from another threat to our cultural significance,
Americanization. He may have his
opinion, but don’t come to Canada if you have a problem with the monarchy. The monarchy is what makes this country a
vital force in the world stage and cultural identity.