who emigrated from the Chinese Province of
Canton in 1992, became a Canadian citizen
on July 1 at the ceremony in Iqaluit.
(PHOTO BY VALERIE G. CONNELL)
July 7, 2000
VALERIE G. CONNELL
Nunatsiaq News
|
IQALUIT — Liu Zi (Jenny) Chen, an immigrant from Canton, China, is one of four people who were sworn in as Canadian citizens during this year’s Canada Day celebrations in Iqaluit.
Chen said she is happy to be a new Canadian. She had applied before, but didn’t have enough time off from work to do the studying needed to complete the citizenship process, but "it’s a bit slower right now," she said.
Chen said she was given 200 questions about Canada, "like
how many provinces and territories, when Canada became a country"
to study, and was tested on 20 of the questions before being interviewed
by Judge Beverly Brown.
"I love this country," Chen said. "I want to stay
here. I feel very happy, excited really, to be a Canadian on that
day."
Chen and her husband, along with their business partner, Simon Lee, lease a restaurant and coffee shop in Iqaluit’s Navigator Inn.
"[I] work seven days and meet new people," Chen said, "lots of new faces a day. I love to work this kind of job, serve people, enjoy it," she said.
There is more freedom in Canada and it’s easier to find
a job here, Chen said.
She said that at first she missed her parents and the warmer weather
in China, but she has gotten used to being in Canada.
"In China I never saw snow," Chen said. "Here it’s always like winter, [I] miss little bit of China because it’s always summer."
Her parents and sister came to Canada three years ago and live in Calgary, Chen said.
She said keeping in touch with family and friends is one of the ways she spends her spare time, and she takes advantage of cheaper telephone rates on Saturdays.
"On Saturday night we go straight home," she said. "The phone is always busy on Saturday."
Chen said she and her husband Wai like to travel and meet new people. Since coming to Canada from Taisang in Canton province in 1992, Chen and her husband have lived and worked in many different parts of Canada.
This is not Chen’s first experience of the North. She and her husband ran a restaurant in Dawson City, Yukon before coming to Iqaluit. The restaurant was only open in the summer months and they wanted a business that they could operate all year round.
Chen met her husband, Wai, in China when he returned from Canada for a visit. She came to Calgary in 1992 to marry Wai.
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