19 October 2011

Citizens


Forty-two new citizens took the oath of citizenship in Belleville today and four of them were our family. There were 18 countries represented in the group and it seemed that England was the supplier of the largest number, with about nine of us in all (there were also two Scots, so a fairly good showing by the UK!). The ceremony had everything necessary: a convivial presiding official (Roy Bonisteel), civic dignitaries, bilingual proceedings, lots of maple leaves and, of course, a Mountie. We swore our Oath of Citizenship (which involved promising to obey the laws of Canada and "to be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second"), received our Certificates of Citizenship and then sang 'O Canada'.

We came away clutching bags of Canadian swag (I am never going to be short of Canadian flags) and feeling, on the whole, quite proud and happy.

9 comments:

Emily said...

Congrats on your new citizenship!

Shirley said...

Congratulations! Can you keep your British citizenship too?

Amanda said...

Thanks! Yes, we can be both British and Canadian at the same time, which I think will give us the best of both worlds (certainly when it comes to travelling abroad, to Europe and the US, anyway).

Quinn said...

Congratulations to you and your family :)

VP said...

Canadian eh! ;)

We used to sing O Canada at school sometimes and we had to stand because it's a National Anthem. Strange what some English schools get up to!

Amanda said...

That does seem surprising, VP! I'd never sung the anthem until the day of the ceremony - so I learnt it for the occasion and now I can't get it out of my head. Turns out to be a very persistent earworm...

Linda said...

Congratulations! If we were younger we would be joining you - not keen on the prospect of life in an independent Scotland. As it is, our children both intend to emigrate - one to Canada and one to the USA.

Northern Beauty Seeker said...

Congratulations! It's nice to be reminded what a great place Canada is. (Now I have O Canada in my head too...!)

Erin said...

Congratulations. Welcome.