Dew Line Contract

[bigD]

So before, it was amazing that HTS lost the contract and a "real" company got the job, but now it's only tablescraps not worthy of the likes of you?

 

Make up your mind dude.

 

I got a job, and in the current economy I am extremely happy.

 

I am sad that a lot of my friends are not as lucky as I am, and are now sitting on the uncertainties of unemployment (hopefully not for too long).

 

Anyway, I am again astounded by your attitude, but it no longer surprises me.

Quit poking the bear.

 

Are we still on the TFW wagon? Here, read from the son of immigrant parents here in Calgary that embodies the Canadian spirit and makes me a bit ashamed of being Canadian sometimes. We need to go back to how we used to be known on the world stage and here at home...

 

The following is the full text of Mayor Nenshi's speech: The Canada We Hope For: A Naïve View.

 

Merci et bonjour tout le monde. C'est vraiment un grand honneur pour moi d'être ici avec vous aujourd'hui. Honnêtement, je suis surpris d'être devant vous.

 

Quand je faisais partie de bénévolat qui aidait la présentation de George Elliot Clarke ; quand j'ai fièrement apporté les citations à mon iPhone de la conférence de son altesse, lAga Khan en 2010 (elles sont encore la!) ; quand j'ai essayé de comprendre tous les plus grands mots de la première conférence de John Ralston Saul, je n'ai jamais pensé que je serais dans la compagnie de ce groupe d'artistes, d'intellectuels, et des personnes qui ont changé le monde. Je ne suis quun gars de lest de Calgary qui aime partager des histoires. Ça, je ferai aujourd'hui en espérant que ces histoires pourraient nous aider à mieux comprendre ce lieu quon appelle le Canada et la distribution dans cette pièce que nous composons ensemble.

 

[Thank you and good morning. It truly is a great honour for me to be with you today. Im honestly a bit surprised to be here. When I was a volunteer helping organize George Elliot Clarkes lecture in 2006, when I proudly carried quotes from His Highness the Aga Khans 2010 lecture on my phone (theyre still there), when I tried to understand all the big words in John Ralston Sauls inaugural lecture, I never thought Id be in the company of these artists, these intellectuals, these people whove changed the world. Im just a kid from East Calgary who likes to share stories. And I will do that today, in the hopes that the stories may help us better understand this place we call Canada and the roles we all have in this play were writing together.]

 

I bring you greetings today from a place called Mohkinsstisthe Elbow, a place where two great rivers meet. Its the traditional land of the of the Blackfoot people, shared by the Beaver people of the Tsuu Tina Nation and the Nakota people of the Stoney Nations, a place where we walk in the footprints of the Metis people.

 

The Blackfoot people have honoured me with the name Apaistootsiipsii, meaning Clan Leader: the one that moves camp while the others follow. It is a name that humbles me. And it reminds me of the humbling responsibility I have every day.

 

It is an honour to be with you here today, in this time of reconciliation, on the traditional lands of the the Huron-Wendat, the Hodnohshoneh and the Anishnabe. We are not on new land newly populated. We are on ancient land that has been the source of life for many people for thousands of years. For more than 5,000 years, people have lived, hunted, fished, met, and traded here. People have fought and lovedheld fast to dreams and felt bitter disappointment.

 

This is part of our collective historya reminder that we are all treaty people. And our common future is one of opportunity for all.

 

Today, Im going to tell some stories. Some are personal, some have nothing to do with me. But I believe in the power of stories to help us better understand who we are, and crucially, who we want to be.

 

So, please allow me to indulge in some origin stories, beginning with my own.

 

My parents came to this country in 1971 when my mother was pregnant with me. I was therefore, born in Canada, but made in Tanzania.

 

This summer, I went on a family trip. I took my mother and my sisters family, and we all went back to Tanzania. Our little group ranged in age from six to 75, and we were exploring our roots. We saw the house my mum grew up in and the hospital where my sister was born and lots of elephants. But, more important, we reflected on our own roots. I stood on the shores of Lake Victoria in Mwanza and gazed across the lake. I realized that, if my parents had been born on the other side, instead of being immigrants in 1971 they would have been refugees in 1972.

 

But Im getting ahead of myself. In the early 1970s, my parents were working in a place called Arusha. Then, as now, Arusha was used for many international and UN meetings. My dad met some Canadians working for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). They used to get the Toronto Star delivered to them, and dad, a voracious reader, used to ask for the newspaper when they were done with it. So he read, and he learned all about this strange place.

 

One day, he read an article about the new city hall in Toronto. As he saw the pictures of that great building and Nathan Phillips Square, he was amazed. How do you build such a tall building, he wondered, and make it round? He resolved that, one day, he would see that city hall.

 

A few years later, he got his chance. He had saved up so he could go to his sisters wedding in London, England. He figured that, since he was in London, he might as well make a side trip to Toronto (Im not sure he consulted a map). Just before leaving, they discovered my mum was pregnant and decided to go anyway, leaving my three-year-old sister with relatives. Much to my regret, they did eventually send for her.

 

When they got to Toronto, they immediately fell in love with the place (it was summer). They felt a certain freedom, like their kids could do anything there, and they decided to stay.

 

What followed was a very ordinary story familiar to so many of us.

 

When my parents arrived, there were six Ismaili families in Toronto and they did prayer services at someones home. On Fridays, my mother would strip her only bed sheets off the bed, wash them by hand, hang them to dry (there was no nickel for the dryer), and hope they would be done in time to fold, take on the subway, and bring to evening services so there would be a decent cloth to cover the small tables and lend some dignity to the basement.

 

Only a few months later, this little group of six families found themselves having to look after hundreds of Ismaili familiesrefugees from Ugandaand show them how to make it in this strange new place. They never once begrudged this. Even though they had so little, these new arrivals had even less.

 

Even though my parents barely knew how to navigate Canada, the newcomers had no idea. So they got to work. It was the right thing to do.

 

When I was a year old, having done my research and crafted a thorough argument, I convinced the family that our future was in the west, and we packed up a Dodge Dart and moved to Calgary. Sometimes we were very poor. Sometimes we were only mostly poor.

 

But what we lacked in money, we gained in opportunity. I went to amazing public schools. I spent my Saturday afternoons at the public library. I learned to swim, kind of, at a public pool. I explored the city I love on public transit. And through it all, I was nurtured by a community that wanted me to succeed, that had a stake in me, and that cared about me.

 

And in 2010, 20 months before he died, my dad, who loved Toronto City Hall, got to sit in another city hall and watch his son be sworn in as mayor.

 

While that story may seem extraordinary in its details, whats extraordinary is just how ordinary it is. It is a very Canadian story. It is a story of struggle, service, sweat and, ultimately, success.

 

Almost every Canadian has such an origin story and every one is worth telling. And with each telling, we share in the story of who we are.

 

There is another origin story that touches my peopleCalgariansvery deeply. This Canadian story reaches back even before the origin story of Lafontaine and Baldwin.

 

It is the story of Treaty 7. Actually, its the story about the story of Treaty 7.

 

A few years ago, a small group of visionary artists, historians, and cultural leaders came together to create a theatrical presentation about the creation of Treaty 7. With over 20 First Nation and non-Aboriginal performers, it would explore the historical and cultural significance of the events at Blackfoot Crossing in 1877.

 

The resulting production, Making Treaty 7, is the origin story of my people.

 

That may sound a bit odd. Im not that kind of Indian, after all. How can I find my origin in the story of people who signed a treaty while my ancestors were a world away?

 

But thats the point.

 

This beautiful and funny and sad and inspiring and painful work of art reminded us that we are all treaty people. All of us who share this land. Its our origin story.

 

Certainly, it hurts at times to think about what weve lost. But its elating to think about what weve gained.

 

The story doesnt end there though. It continues through unbearable tragedy and emerges in triumph.

 

A few months after the performance, and after I was granted my Blackfoot name, two of the creators of Making Treaty 7, Narcisse Blood and Michael Green (Elk Shadow) went to Saskatchewan to help the people there understand their origin storyMaking Treaty 5. And then, on their way to the Piapot First Nation, on Highway 6, with two Saskatchewan artists, Michele Sereda and Lacy Morin-Desjarlais, they were killed in a terrible car accident.

 

That night, as news spread, one after the other, Calgary buildings and roads and bridges lit up in yellow to honour Michaels artistic home, One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre. No one organized itit just happened. It was the right thing to do. Michaels memorial service was held in a packed concert hallthe same place that had hosted the memorial for a much-loved former mayor and premier just a year earlier.

 

And, of course, the stories continue to be told. On January 7, One Yellow Rabbit will open the 30th Annual High Performance Rodeo. And, on Wednesday, Making Treaty 7 will remount as one of the first shows in a brand-new concert hall, reminding us again that we are all treaty people.

 

So far, I have only told you origin stories. I have told you two Indian stories, and they show us what we love about Canada and what we hope Canada was and will continue to be.

 

They tell us about when Canada works.

 

And when Canada works, it works better than anywhere.

 

What we know is that the core strength of our community is not that there are carbon atoms in the ground in parts of this country and maple trees with amazing sap in others.

 

What we know is that weve figured out a simple truthone which evades too many in this broken world. And that simple truth is just this: nous sommes ici ensemble. Were in this together. Our neighbours strength is our strength; the success of any one of us is the success of every one of us. And, more important, the failure of any one of us is the failure of every one of us.

 

This means that our success is in that tolerance, that respect for pluralism, that generous sharing of opportunity with everyone, that innate sense that every single one of us, regardless of where we come from, regardless of what we look like, regardless of how we worship, regardless of whom we love, that every single one us deserves the chance right here, right now, to live a great Canadian life.

 

But this is incredibly fragile. It must be protected always from the voices of intolerance, the voices of divisiveness, the voices of small mindedness, and the voices of hatred. Its the right thing to do.

 

As that great Canadian philosopher, Bruce Cockburn, reminds us nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight/Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight.

 

And our fight is for that Canada.

 

And I worry that, in our current public and political discourse, we are losing that fight.

 

Lets talk about Bill C-24.

 

One of the highlights of my time as mayor is being able to go to citizenship ceremonies. Every time, without fail, I cry. I cry with joy to be with so many people to have chosen to be Canadian. They have worked so hard to be a citizen (in the formal sense of the term). They have taken on the great responsibility of being a Canadian. And I weep as I share in that special moment, talking about how growing up, I always wondered why my family all had these fancy citizenship certificates and all I had was a lousy birth certificate.

 

As I grew up, I realized that those pieces of paper were not only the most valuable possessions we had, but that they were really the same.

 

No longer.

 

How is it that those individuals I get to watch saying their oath should somehow be less Canadian than others? How is it that we should allow it to be easier for our government to strip them of that privilege and responsibility of citizenship?

 

How is it that I, born at Saint Mikes in downtown Toronto, could be stripped of my Canadian citizenship? How did we let this happen?

 

(An aside: two weeks ago, when asked about my concerns about this, a spokesperson for Minister Chris Alexander said As for his views on our strengthened citizenship laws, unless he [Nenshi] intends to commit and be convicted by a Canadian court of acts of terrorism, treason, espionage or taking up arms against the Canadian military, he has nothing to worry about. Not only does this person spectacularly miss the point, she doesnt even know what the act that her boss is responsible for actually says. As Prime Minister Harper likes to say, look, let me be clear: either you believe in the rule of law in Canada, or you dont.

 

One Canadian citizen committing the same crime should be treated the same as any other citizen, not subjected to a different sort of justice if they had a parent or grandparent who was born somewhere else. And the bill allows her boss to exile people from Canada without any Canadian court being involved. I suspect Canadians dont really want him to have that authority.)

 

How did we get here?

 

I am deeply troubled at the language of divisiveness we hear in Ottawa these days. The label of terrorist is thrown around with disturbing regularity. But it is not done haphazardly. It is targeted language that nearly always describes an act of violence done by someone who shares my own faith.

 

The man who murdered Edmonton Constable Daniel Woodall was, we are told, a very unwell, dangerous man. The man who ran over two soldiers in Quebec was a radicalized terrorist. According to our Prime Minister, one of our greatest threats is of Jihadi terrorism. Well, sometimes he says jihadist terrorism. He generally avoids saying Islamist terrorism these days, so I guess there are small blessings.

 

But this is very specific, very deliberate language. It ties violent action to a religious groupmany of whom are Canadian citizens. It does little to understand the causes of violence or the potential solutions. Instead, it encourages division; the opposite of the Canada to which we aspire.

 

The ridiculous debate on the niqab at citizenship ceremonies is another example. On the one hand, our government warns us of the radicalization of Muslim youth in our own communities. Law enforcement officers and community activists have repeatedly warned us that the cause of this radicalization is alienation and isolation; that the kids being radicialized are the same kids who join gangs. It truly is not about religion. So, we work hard to make these kids feel part of the community.

 

But then, on the other hand, in order to give a sop to some elements in our society, the government picks a fight on a completely irrelevant issue. So the government announces it will appeal two court decisions (an unwinnable appeal if Ive ever seen one) and spend millions of dollars of taxpayer money, to prevent one woman from voting.

 

And those kidsthe ones we are trying to convince that theres a place for them in our societyare told that no matter what, they can never be truly Canadian. That their faith is incompatible with our values. All that good work on de-radicalization? Completely undermined by our own actions.

 

When we act like this, whether the issue is dealing with the extraordinary human suffering of those fleeing conflict or the right to vote, we are failing ourselves, our nation, and the world. Its the wrong thing to do.

 

And Im serious when I say the world. Canada, the idea of Canada, is a powerful beacon for all humanity. But here again, I fear we are failing.

 

The government has been running commercials that end with the slogan, Strong. Proud. Free. (Who knew that countries have slogans). The Economist last week called us strong, proud and free-riding. A study by former CIDA president Robert Greenhill and Meg McQuillian indicates that our foreign aid performance from 2008-2014 ranks us dead last in the G7.

 

In a recent interview, Mr. Greenhill suggests that that if spending had stayed at 1979 levels and the money been used to help destabilized countries, hundreds of thousands fewer people might now be fleeing, and thousands fewer dying.

 

And its important to note that this is not a partisan argument. Our commitment to assisting in global poverty began to flag in 1995 and has largely continued for 20 years, under Liberal and Conservative governments.

 

My friend John McArthur tells a story about a recent debate. December 2013 marked the multi-year replenishment deadline for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malariaone of the worlds most successful modern life-saving institutions. Months earlier, the United States and the United Kingdom had made their own anchor pledges. They also offered matching grants to help motivate other countries contributions. Nations such as Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden each stepped in with commitments equivalent to $8 to $10 per citizen, per year. Canada, by contrast, left its decision to the final moment. After a flurry of last-minute internal deliberations, the government committed less than $220 million per year, or only $6 per Canadian. The lowball pledges from Canada and a few other countries meant that hundreds of millions in matching dollars were left on the table and the Global Fund suffered a billion-dollar annual shortfall. That billion-dollar shortfall will cost one million lives. And we bear too much of that responsibility.

 

The shocking part of all of this is not that it happened, but that we collectively did not notice. It was as though we had stopped thinking about the world around us and about our role as leaders.

 

Former Prime Minister Joe Clark warned in 2013 that we were gradually turning inward, writing:

 

"An essential question for citizens of lucky countries is not simply who we are or what we earn, but what we could be. That question implies others: To what do we aspire? What are our talents and advantages and assets? How can we be better than we have been, in our impact on events both inside and outside our country?"

 

I say we aspire to a better Canada in a better world, and that we have that power as citizens to make it happen. Its the right thing to do.

 

In just a few days, while those kids are performing Making Treaty 7 in Calgary, we will be witness on the other side of the continent to the largest gathering of world leaders in history.

 

Those leaders will adopt a new series of Sustainable Development Goalsthe Global Goals. They will commit to an extraordinary vision: a vision of a world free of poverty, hunger, disease, and want. A world of universal respect for human rights and human dignity. A world of equal opportunity permitting the full realization of human potential.

 

There are 17 goals, 107 outcome targets, and 62 targets for implementation. And we have to do it by 2030.

 

So what, then, is our role as Canadians? We must take on the challenge given us as lucky citizens. Its the right thing to do.

 

Im speaking as though these failures of the Canada to which we aspire are recent. Theyre not. Im naïve, but Im not that naïve.

 

After all, we are the nation of Japanese internment camps. We are the nation of the Chinese head tax and Africville. We are the nation of Komagata Maru and provincial eugenics programs. We are the nation of none is too many. We are the nation that created and sustained residential schools.

 

These are our stories too. They are not lapses in our citizenship. They are not moments when we temporarily forgot what it was to be Canadian. They are real and they are stories we tellas uncomfortable as we are in the telling.

 

We feel a deep, cold, dark discomfort when confronted with those stories of ourselves. The truth is not easy. It wasnt easy for the victims of residential schools to tell their stories to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It wasnt easy for Canadians to bear witness to those stories. But it is profoundly important that we did and that we do.

 

But theres something noble in this.

 

We cannot shy away from these stories of divisiveness.

 

In telling those stories alongside our origin stories, we move forward.

 

But there is also something noble and true and real and perfect and Canadian in the stories that we tell that inform us about who we want to be. The stories of the best Canada. The stories of the Canada to which we aspire.

 

They allow us to proudly say to the world who we are and what it means to be Canadian. They are stories of ideas and, more important, they are stories of actions. Because the best stories are stories of action. Stories of everyday people using their everyday hands and their everyday voices to make extraordinary change. Because its the right thing to do.

 

Lets start with usour actions as individuals.

 

When I first became mayor, I pulled together a group of super-volunteers and gave them what I thought was a simple task: figure out a way to get more people involved in the community and report back in 30 days. Forty-five days later, they came back and said great news, mayor! Weve come up with a name for our committee! They could not have done worse. The Mayors Committee on Civic Engagement. (Theyve since changed it, I kid you not, to The Mayors Civic Engagement Committee.)

 

A few days after that, they came to me with a simple idea: Three Things for Calgary. A social movement that encourages every citizen, every year, to do at least three things for their community. Three things, big or small.

 

I thought this idea was crazy. Its paradoxically too simple and too complex, I said. Its too simple because were not telling people what to do. Im a researcher, and I know the research shows that the number one reason people dont volunteer is nobody asked me. We have to match people with non-profits. We have to give them ideas.

 

Its too complicated because we want to lower the barriers. Why ask people to do three things instead of one small thing?

 

I was wrong.

 

It turns out the weaknesses I saw were the strengths of the idea. In not telling people what to do, we allowed them to answer two questions for themselves: What do I care about? What am I good at? Its at the nexus of these two things that people figure out the right thing to do.

 

And they do things I would never have thought of. Like the mum who had the terrifying experience of rushing her child to the childrens hospital and spending the night in the emergency room. She didnt get any sleep, of course, and felt awful in the morning as she took her daughter to various tests and appointments.

 

When they were all safely at home, she reflected on the experience. And now, every year, she conducts a toothbrush drive for the Alberta Childrens Hospital ER. Not kids toothbrushesadult ones. This is so that parents, having gone through the scariest night of their lives, can brush their teeth in the morning and feel just a little more human. And as they brush their teeth, they are reminded that they live in a community that cares about themthat has a stake in them. For that mum, it was the right thing to do.

 

And, of course, its not really about doing three things every year. Its about setting up an expectation for a lifetime of service. Its about creating a habit of service. Its about internalizing the right thing to do and doing it.

 

And that habit manifests itself every day in a million little ways. This was never on display as much as during our communitys greatest challenge: the 2013 floods. I wont dwell on the crisisthats a whole other speechbut Ill share a couple of, you guessed it, stories.

 

Very early on during the flooding, we were inundated with people asking simply, how can I help? We werent quite sure what to do, and eventually invited everyone who wanted to assist with the cleanup to meet one morning at McMahon Stadium. My colleagues at the City of Calgary didnt give much noticejust a couple of hours. When I asked why, they said well, your worship, we dont really know what were doing. We figure that if we keep this low-key, only a hundred or 200 people will come, well figure out what were doing and be ready for more tomorrow.

 

I was skeptical, but I went to the stadium to meet the few volunteers I expected. Youve probably seen the pictures. I was greeted by thousands of peoplesome in work boots and some in flip-flopsunited only in their desire to help strangers in their community.

 

There was no PA system. I climbed up on a folding table, reached into the drivers side window of a fire vehicle, and used the radio attached to the sirens. My city colleague yelled up at me, Send them home! Weve run out of forms!

 

I took a deep breath, visions of municipal lawyers danced before my eyes, and I said Weve run out of forms. Theres no more room on the buses. But youre here to help. Just go help. You know what neighbourhoods have been badly hit. Just go. You may have to go door to door, but it will probably be clear what to do. Just go.

 

And they went. And they went. And they went. In the hundreds and thousands, they went. The largest outpouring of humanity I have ever seen. Not organized, driven only by the very real, the very Canadian, desire to help. Because it was the right thing to do.

 

I got into a habit during the flood of just taking quiet walks in the flood-impacted neighbourhoods. If I could steal away from the emergency operations centre for an hour, I would. No fanfare, just a chance to talk to people about what had happened and how they were coping.

 

On one of those walks, on a quiet street in Rideau/Roxboro, just down from the Mission Bridge, I met Sam and his mum, Lori. They were kind enough to invite me into their home, or what was left of it. Everything was gone; it was stripped down to the studs.

 

Weve had a tough few days, she said. Theres nothing left in my house. I have no stove, no fridge, no cabinets. I have no way to prepare meals for my family. But you know what, Mayor? Tonight, for dinner we have hot shepherds pie.

 

I often think about that shepherds pie. When Im having a bad day, I think of the anonymous hands that made it. The hands that boiled the potatoes and peeled them, that mashed them and turned the mixture into a casserole dish and covered it tightly in foil. The person who stopped and thought: Im never going to see my casserole dish again. But you know what, it doesnt matter. Somewhere out there, theres a family that hasnt had a hot meal in days, and they have to get this shepherds pie while its hot. Its the right thing to do.

 

I think of Bev. Bev, like so many others in Calgary, went to help a friend. Then she helped the friends neighbour, and the neighbours neighbour. One day, she found herself in a strangers basement and she saw the one thing that finally knocked her to her knees. It was a beautiful photo albumOur Babyand it was ruined.

 

She stopped short, and she thought: We can replace peoples furniture. We can replace their appliances and their flooring and their drywall. But how do we replace their memories?

 

And she made a decision. Bev has a hobby. Shes a quilter. And she decided that she would make a quilt. She would make it good, and she would make it strong. And she would give it to a family that had lost everything.

 

And they would make blanket forts with it. And they would curl up under it to watch a movie on cold nights. And the kids would want it when they left home.

 

And that one family would have a new heirloom and create new memories.

 

Word spread about Bevs project. People started talking; they wanted to help. A group of senior ladies wanted to help, but didnt have any materials. Someone organized a small fundraiser and got scraps of fabric and cotton batting.

 

I had no idea any of this was happening until I got a call in September. They were going to distribute the quilts, door-to-door in the flooded areas. Could I please come and say thank you to the volunteers?

 

So, on a sunny and crisp autumn Saturday morning, I went to the Inglewood Community Hall to see 1400 quilts.

 

They had come, not just from a few senior citizens in Calgary, but from across Canada and the worldas far away as Brazil. And every one of them had a card attached. In this difficult time, please know that you are part of a community.

 

It was the right thing to do.

 

And my dream for Canada, my dream for this nation in the world, is that simple. That we do the right thing.

 

Can you imagine if for 2017, for the sesquicentennial of this great nation, we give Canada a birthday gift? Can you imagine if Canada gives the world a birthday gift? Can you imagine Three Things for Canada? Lets make the commitment today to each do three things for our country, for the world, starting now and continuing through our 150th birthday. Showing everyone the right things to do.

 

But the real answer in crafting an ideal Canadathe Canada to which we aspirelies in engaging muscularly with the past and the future. It means a thousand simple acts of service and a million tiny acts of heroism. It means acting at the community level: on our streets, in our neighbourhoods, and in our schools. It means refusing to accept the politics of fear.

 

And then it means exporting the very best of Canada, that ideal and real Canada, to the rest of the world.

 

I want to leave you with one last story. One I tell all the time. One that I will keep telling, since it encapsulates who we are and who we aspire to be.

 

I had the chance a couple of years ago to visit the 100th Anniversary of a school in Calgary. Its called Connaught School, named after the Duke of Connaughtthe Governor General of Canada, the son of Queen Victoria.

 

Now, the population of the school looks different than when it first opened. Because its right downtown, its often the first point of arrival for newcomers to Canada. There are 240 students. They come from 61 different countries. They speak 42 different languages at home.

 

I spoke to some of those kids and their parents. I heard horrible things. I heard stories of war and unspeakable poverty. I heard stories of degradation and loss of dignity. I heard stories of violence so horrific I could not imagine one human being doing that to another, let alone in front of a child.

 

I looked out at those kids, sitting on the floor in the gym, wearing their matching t-shirts celebrating their schools birthday.

 

I looked beyond them, at their parents, in hijabs and kanga cloth, in Tim Hortons uniforms and bus driver caps, in designer suits and pumps.

 

At that moment, it would have been so easy to feel despair, to mourn for our broken world.

 

But I didnt.

 

Because in that second, I had a moment of extraordinary clarity. I knew something to be true beyond all else.

 

I knew that regardless of what these kids had been through, regardless of how little they have or had, regardless of what wrath some vengeful God had visited on them and their families, they had one burst of extraordinary luck.

 

And that luck was that they ended up here.

 

They ended up in Canada, they ended up in Calgary, they ended up at Connaught School. They ended up in a community. They ended up with people who would catch them if they fell. They ended up in a community that wants them to succeed, that has a stake in them, that cares about them.

 

And I knew at that moment, that those kids, right here, right now, would live a great Canadian life.

 

Thats the promise of our community. Thats what I have the humbling responsibility to make real every day.

 

And thats the opportunity you have. Because its the right thing to do.

Rotor there is a big difference between a TFW and an immigrant. The T in TFW means temporary.

[tin lizzie]

@Rotor, thanks for that! That was an awesome speech, and story to read.

 

@Winnie, with a month gap in any updates on this thread, bigD has it right. Kind of a childish poke there. I don't understand why people only seem to post on here to slag others - doesn't anyone have anything nice to say, or industry news to contribute? Lessons learned? Funny anecdotes?

 

@bigD I think Rotor's point is that TFW is not applicable here,however certain people keep bringing up the point just to be nasty. One example raised is Winnie, who may have at one time been a TFW, but has since earned the right to be called a Canadian, like so many others. The enlightened among us embrace these immigrants and acknowledge them as a contribution, not a detriment to our culture and society. Most of us don't have to dig very far in our own family history to find an immigrant story.

 

There was an initial fear from contributors (and I use this term lightly) to this thread that the CHL bid would include a raft of TFW in order to fulfil the contract. This was purely fear-mongering, logistically impractical (due to time constraints and the impending election if nothing else) and completely unfounded. Subsequently proven to be untrue. For lack of substantiated TFW threat, the above mentioned "contributors" instead chose to attack the immigrant angle and present certain Canadians as tainted TFW.

 

May this thread RIP.

[R0T0R]

Thanks Tin. That's exactly why I posted this speech.

[tin lizzie]

Welcome!

[Baja Guy]

A year into the contract, I'm looking for any feedback and experiences, positive or negative. It seems to be that time of year again. Have one source so far, and looking for more if possible. A lot of negative sentiment going into the contract last year (as evidenced above) and wondering how it turned out for those in the know. Thanks in advance, pm if you'd rather.