Category Archives: Latest Stories

Family Practice

Long before the Canadian government adopted their “policy”, multi-culturalism was woven into the very fabric of my family’s life. In spite of my dad fighting in the Royal Air Force during World War II, or perhaps because of it, my parents embraced friends from across Europe, India and Asia irregardless of differences in culture or station. As civilian air travel improved and became more accessible, I’m told it was a great time to meet and experience people from around the world. A parade of nations passed through Edinburgh where my parents lived during those early years of their marriage.

Their attitudes didn’t change when they emmigrated from Scotland and settled in small town Ontario. That’s when I arrived on the scene. Continue reading →

Who’s Your Neighbour?

Last year I was involved in the production of a television documentary in Nova Scotia. It was the story of a man who moved with his family into a black community outside Halifax in the early 1970’s. He became active in civil rights issues and inspired many people in his new community to value and respect their heritage and culture once again,

Surprisingly, after several years he was arrested by the RCMP and turned over to the FBI. It turns out that Francis Beaufils was a member of the Black Panther organization and was on the run from U.S. authorities.

The documentary followed Mr. Beaufils over thirty years later, when he returned to Nova Scotia for the first time since his arrest. People who knew him talked about the critical influence he had on their lives and on an entire community. The documentary also brought together members of the Nova Scotia black community today. Some were active in rights issues decades ago, others are young people who did not witness the turmoil of the sixties and seventies but continue to experience racism today. The program was fascinating – the older generation described the racism they faced and how they fought to overcome it and at times chided the younger people for failing to carry on the fight.

The content of this documentary was outstanding, but the value of the program stood out clearly to me when I saw it screened at the Atlantic Film Festival. Continue reading →

Sit or Stand?

Imagine the scene. About 2500 people in a formal performance hall, many of them regular subscription holders, all rustling with anticipation and dressed for an evening at the opera. They are here to see the Magic Flute. The music is Mozart’s but in this production, the storyline has been interpreted as a First Nations narrative.

The executive director of the Vancouver Opera steps out on stage to say a few words. He acknowledges, among other things, that the performance, which is occurring at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in downtown Vancouver, is on traditional Coast Salish territory.

He then introduces Ian Campbell, Hereditary Chief of the Squamish Nation, who is present to greet the audience in the traditional manner with a song of welcome.

As Chief Campbell begins the song, a half-dozen people in the rows ahead of us begin to rise – and my partner and I stand up as well. It’s almost instinctive – a gesture of respect. However, in the split second as we stand – a whole bunch of information gets processed in my brain. Continue reading →

Cultures Found and Lost

About fifteen years ago a friend of mine was getting married and invited me along with a few other work colleagues to a pre-wedding celebration. My friend is of South-Asian ancestry and the celebration was based around her South-Asian culture. She stayed upstairs for the first part of the evening while a woman beautifully painted hennas on her hands and feet. I had a henna painted on my hand along with a few of my friends.

Later on in the evening my friend came downstairs and was greeted in a cultural way by both families and many friends. Continue reading →

Looking Both Ways

As a secondary school administrator in Burnaby, BC, I’ve had extensive experience with students and their families from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds. Some experiences have been humorous, some uplifting, and some disappointing.

On the positive side, I’ve been able to help steer families to needed community resources and have been the recipient of expressed gratitude by people who are thankful to be here in Canada, undertaking a new life as individuals or families. On the negative side, I have inappropriately been called a ‘racist’ for helping people navigate the established guidelines and regulations of public education in British Columbia. Continue reading →

A Second Bowl of Soup

“Go back down south where you belong you kablunak itik!”

“Kablunak itik! Kablunak itik! Laying on the stretcher she kicked her legs against the guard rails and screamed at the top of her lungs. I didn’t know much Inuktitut but I knew kablunak itik: white asshole.

I bristled but did my best to maintain my composure. As I dropped the guard rail, the loud clang interrupted her insult. Continue reading →

Which Way to the Elderly?

We had a group of West African nurses visiting, working on their graduate studies; and because we were all nurses, naturally we talked about nursing. One African nurse looked at me and said, “Why do you put your elderly away, locked up in buildings, and not look after them yourselves?”

I felt guilty, ashamed and embarrassed by this challenge to my culture. Continue reading →

A Silence Silenced

My family came to Canada from Eastern Europe at the turn of the 19th century and settled on the prairies where I was raised. In the 1970′s and 1980′s I lived in a small community in rural British Columbia. I was part of many circles there which intersected socially and politically. These circles included women of all backgrounds – those whose families had lived in the valley for generations and those who had arrived only recently to make the valley their home. There were people whose roots were Canadian, American, European, British, East Indian, Chinese to name a few. But my circles did not include any of the Aboriginal women who had been the original inhabitants of the valley and were a strong tribe who still made this their home.

At this time many of us became aware that the issue of violence against women and children was prevalent in the valley. We talked, we met, we had coffee, we sat in each other’s kitchens, told our stories and discussed what we could do to help those who were falling victim to this menace. Continue reading →

Pop Quiz on Who is Canadian?

I was at a staff breakfast meeting with several of my colleagues. As I looked around the table, I realized that I was sitting with teachers from South Africa, Australia, England and Kenya.

It made me smile because, while I was the only visible minority, I was also the only one who was born in Canada. We were discussing how fortunate we were as a group to have such diversity in our backgrounds. Yet, anyone joining the conversation would not assume that I was the native-born Canadian. As a good friend said to me, don’t believe everything you think!

- Stella in Vancouver

The Global in Hyperlocal

I was speaking with my class of primarily East Indian students, Registered Nurses in their own country, studying in Canada and hoping to become nurses here. We were talking about cultural differences between our worldly realities.

I asked my students how they felt in Vancouver, being from another country and culture, what their experience was like. One male student responded by saying, “I expected to see all white people, like you, that I would stand out, be noticeably different. But most days I see less white people and more people from everywhere else. I was surprised, but I feel as if I blended in right away. I didn’t feel as different as I expected I would.”

- Lou in Vancouver