Dear Editor:
As a first-generation Canadian, I’d like to applaud Gerhard Winkler for recounting his experience as a newcomer to this country in his letter Newcomers Not Always Warmly Welcomed, Dec. 27.
My parents and grandparents were also legal immigrants to Canada, pre- and post-Second World War.
They sacrificed plenty just to earn their passage to Canada and then be separated from their immediate families for many years, before having the financial opportunity to sponsor spouses, children or siblings.
Nothing was offered to them by the government or any other institution at that time. In fact, they were mocked and ridiculed because they didn’t speak the language, dress in a similar fashion, eat or drink the same foods.
Racism was rampant and their only defence was silence, for fear of making the situation even worse. I am not advocating that the current scenario should be the same as so many years ago, but the pendulum has swung too much in the opposite direction.
Gisella Bossio
Vancouver
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