“Welcome home.”
That was the last line on the congratulatory letter from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau handed to all new Canadian citizens.
On Thursday, I raised my right hand, swore an oath of loyalty to Queen Elizabeth II and finally came home.
I am now a Canadian.
And I still remember the day I truly fell in love with this beautiful land.
It was Thanksgiving weekend 2004. I was an exchange student from England spending four months at the University of Windsor.
I day-tripped down to Niagara-on-the-Lake with my aunt, uncle and grandparents – who surprised me as I stepped in through the door – a present in time for my 20th birthday.
We walked past the old redbrick storefronts and thick-trunked maple trees, warm dappled sunlight streaming beneath their branches.
I looked out across a sea of fall colours, waves of red, orange and yellow crashing against the edge of Lake Ontario.
In that moment I knew Canada was home.
Thirteen years later, I filed into a ceremony hall at the Immigration Canada office in Halifax.
My uncle Kershaw – the same one who drove us down to Niagara-on-the-Lake all those years ago – was there. Two of my friends also came to see my swearing-in.
I joined nearly 50 other people from all over the world who like me chose to make Canada their home.
We rose as Haligonian Bill Black, a local business leader and Order of Canada winner, entered the room to preside over the ceremony.
He made an introductory speech in which he said some nice things, but after so many years of waiting and working towards this I felt a little impatient.
I’ve waited 13 years and I’m now just two minutes away from swearing the oath and becoming a Canadian. Hurry up already! Let’s get ‘er done!!
Just before we rose for our oath, an immigration official said that “if there is any doubt that you took the oath, you won’t be a citizen.”
No problem, I thought. I’ve always had a loud voice and I’m not shy to use it. Yeah, I’m a typical journo.
We rose as one. We raised our right hands.
"I swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfil my duties as a Canadian citizen."
From that second onwards, we were Canadians.