Each of us knows at least one newcomer family either at work, in our neighbourhoods or at our places of worship. What have we done lately to reach out to them?
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Many years ago, I read in this newspaper a story about a man who had died in his home under what were reported as unnatural causes. The Citizen reporter interviewed folks on the street, but nobody knew him. He had apparently lived on the street for many years, and yet, nobody knew who he was or anything about his family.
As a newcomer then, I told myself: that is very sad. Why did his neighbours have no clue about him? Why did they not care?
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That episode was instructive in my immigrant journey in this city. I arrived not knowing anybody, and therefore made it my business to walk up to folks and introduce myself. My standard line: “My name is George Abraham. I am an immigrant … and I need help.” I’m happy to say that I have known every one of my immediate neighbours in the 14 homes I have lived in across five countries: India, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Qatar and now three places in Ottawa.
The biblical teaching to “love thy neighbour as thyself” came to mind as I heard Mayor Mark Sutcliffe speak at the annual Ottawa Civic Prayer Breakfast last week. Guest speaker Kim Sabourin of Safe Families Canada spoke on the theme “Who is my neighbour?” a question that is particularly relevant to the thousands of newcomers in this city.
For a country that receives, per capita, the highest number of immigrants in the world, I’m sorry to say that we are less than friendly when it comes to integrating these newcomers into our midst. Simply put, we keep our distance and let these “totally lost” folks figure out our neighbourhoods, our city, our municipal government and the rest. We crow that we are “welcoming” by alluding to government programs that offer pamphlets to newcomers.
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One doesn’t have to look very far to see how dramatically this country has changed over the 20 years that I have called Ottawa home. Even so, I was surprised to read a statistic in an Ottawa public health report saying that 44 per cent of Ottawa’s million-plus population are immigrants or the children of immigrants. And it has also been demonstrably shown that newcomers — both men and women — experience loneliness at far higher rates than the native-born.
One last statistic: Ottawa-Gatineau now ranks number seven in the list of cities receiving immigrants, according to the latest census (2021), confirming a trend of newcomers moving away from the “magnet cities” of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Ottawa’s share rose from 3.1 per cent in 2016 to 4.4 per cent in 2021.
One doesn’t have to look very far to see how dramatically this country has changed over the 20 years that I have called Ottawa home.
Having lived in mega-cities such as Mumbai (described by one author as a “Maximum City”), Dubai and Boston, we chose to live in a smaller city that promised not to hold us up in bumper-to-bumper traffic all day long. That didn’t prove entirely true — the O-Train made things worse — but we did find great neighbours: Freddy and Olly, Kris and Atsuko, and, finally, André and Ann. Each one taught my family and me the basics of living in Canada: how to assemble a lawnmower, do a barbecue, maintain a house, undertake home upgrades, build a deck — and the best time to shovel your driveway (right after the city plow goes by).
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They were our SOS partners, always ready to help us deal with the unexpected, and listed on school records as emergency contacts. We walked over with a laundry basket when our washer-dryer conked out, exchanged notes on raising our children, and invited each other for occasional suppers. They looked out their windows for us and texted us if we forgetfully left our garage door open. That’s what good neighbours do.
I’ve had the privilege of travelling to most of Canada’s cities (most recently to Whitehorse). My sense is that Ottawa has a few advantages over many of them: not just its modest population size (although Sutcliffe pointed out at the civic breakfast that the city’s geographic spread is larger than several other Canadian cities put together) and less frenetic pace. I don’t see the big difference between the rich and middle class and less-well-off folks in Ottawa: less income disparity, I guess, largely because this is a government town.
Combined with our civic amenities, walking trails and wide open spaces, I suggest this milieu gives us the perfect opportunity to become the most neighbourly city in Canada. Each of us knows at least one newcomer family either at work, our neighbourhoods or our places of worship. What have we done lately to reach out a hand, say hello and sincerely ask how we might help make their new lives in Canada be a bit easier?
The youngest of my three children graduates from uOttawa this winter and will, hopefully, fly the coop if she can afford the rent. I like to think they are as “Canadian” as the kids next door, but I couldn’t have done this without the help of our neighbourhood village.
George Abraham is an Ottawa-based columnist who writes mainly on foreign policy and immigration.
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