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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, M ar ch 15 ,2 01 8 | 30 Fifty people from 29 coun- tries became new Canadian citizens last week at a cere- mony held at Georgetown District High School for the first time. The event was one of 75 such ceremonies held across Canada each year in a partnership between the In- stitute for Canadian Citizen- ship and Immigration, Refu- gees and Citizenship Cana- da.For this ceremony, the ICC's Oakville volunteer committee worked with Georgetown District High School (GDHS) to host the event.It was an at-times emotional proceeding, with congratulations being the correct greeting term since many of the new citizens have lived in Canada for sev- eral years. One by one the candidates took the oath of citizenship from presiding Judge Albert Wong and re- ceived a certificate of citizen- ship following the hour-long ceremony. "A relief and an over- whelming sense of obliga- tion, right? Because we all work hard to become a Cana- dian citizen," said Ibrahim Malik, a native of Nigeria who is a family doctor in Georgetown. "It's a surreal feeling. I've been here for five years, so it's just the culmination of everything you've always dreamt of as a child, to be part of a society that is free. The values of the people here - I hold them extremely dear." Malik began his practice here in 2016, completing his training at the University of Toronto. One of the gifts that the new citizens received was a 50-per cent discount on a cross-Canada train excur- sion and Malik intends to take advantage of that in the near future, setting aside two or three weeks for the adventure. "I'd like to see the Prairies and Rocky Mountains and I think a train journey encap- sulates all that," he added. "The scenery I hope will be amazing." Prior to Thursday's cere- mony, roundtable sessions were held involving the citi- zen candidates, who shared their feelings about becom- ing Canadian citizens. GDHS vice-principal Jo- anna Anderson sat in on one of the sessions and was par- ticularly struck by a new cit- izen and recent arrival to Canada who said, "I finally feel like I'm protected." For Achraf Rifi, being able to obtain a Canadian passport isn't a big priority. Instead, he'd prefer to visit all of this country's provinc- es and territories, with five already checked off on the self-admitted "road-trip guy's" list. "We're really happy to be here and be granted this privilege to represent Cana- da and its values, so humbly, even the chance to experi- ence all of what this country has to offer us, cherish it and live with each other," said Ri- fi, who was a volleyball and handball team coach in Mo- rocco before becoming an in- surance adjuster here. "It's been a nice journey. You have to give before you take and in Canada we're so fortunate to share these things." Three Grade 10 civics classes from GDHS attended the ceremony and the new citizens were presented with a metal red maple leaf mag- net designed and produced by welding and art students. Canadian-themed treats were also made by the school for the reception held after- wards in the library. Wong, who immigrated to Canada in 1971 from Ma- laysia and joined the Armed Forces after graduating from high school, encour- aged the new citizens to vol- unteer their time in their lo- cal community. NEWS New citizens celebrate Canada at Georgetown ceremony EAMONN MAHER emaher@theifp.ca Georgetown family doctor Ibrahim Malik (centre) celebrates his newly received Certificate of Canadian Citizenship with brothers Ismail (left) and Ishaq at a reception in the Georgetown District High School library Thursday afternoon. Eamonn Maher photo