Alan Marshall ranks becoming a Canadian citizen as the third luckiest thing to happen to him.
“The first was marrying my wife. The next was having my four wonderful children and now my Canadian citizenship because I love it here in Thunder Bay,” said Marshall, who came to Canada from England eight years ago.
On Thursday, Marshall was one of 46 people to officially become Canadians in a citizenship ceremony on board HMCS Ville de Quebec.
His wife Linda was in the crowd and Marshall surprised his wife with a bouquet of roses. He had the crew bring them on the ship for him the day before and surprised his wife with the flowers when he accepted his citizenship certificate.
The ceremony was something Marshall had been waiting eight years for. He said he’d kicked up a lot of fuss to make it happen and was grateful the immigration officers were so good about it.
“It was well worth the wait,” he said.
Linda was born in Canada but moved to London, England with her father when she was still an infant. Her father had lost contact with his Canadian relatives over the years but the Marshalls later reconnected with them and came to Canada to meet their long-lost relatives.
“We fell in love with the country, packed up and left England,” he said.
And even though they weren’t used to the cold and snow, it’s the Canadian people that they love about the country.
“And where else can you see bears?” said Linda with a laugh.
Delon Thomas and his family moved to Toronto from Grenada 16 years ago.
Six years later he ended up in Thunder Bay. He had met his wife, who is from Thunder Bay, in Toronto and the couple now lives here in the city.
“I’m happy to be here in Canada, to be a Canadian citizen. Now it makes it more exciting. Now I can be free to run around the place,” he said.
It was also a proud day for Tamlashee Htoo and her family. The Korean family came to Canada from Burma and said they came to this country for the freedom.
“In our country, we don’t have freedom. We don’t have freedom to go to school or to do things we want,” she said. “In Canada, we can do anything.”
