'This is an honour': Plenty of Canada Day cheer at citizenship ceremony in Vancouver

Jonalld Collado and son Lance Jordan celebrate during the citizenship ceremony at Canada Place on Wednesday. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /10112075A

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Nobody cheered louder or waved their flag with more purpose at a July 1 citizenship ceremony in Vancouver than Lance Jordan Collado.

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The almost-three-year-old sported hair gelled like Elvis, a pair of tiny polished formal shoes, a blue three-piece suit, a single earring … and a grin that could melt hearts.

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Collado was cheering for his mother, Krystyn, one of 60 people who became the newest Canadian citizens during an event on Wednesday at Canada Place.

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Krystyn, a health support worker at Vancouver General Hospital in the ortho-trauma unit, came to Canada from the Philippines in 2017 to work as a caregiver. She arrived by herself, leaving behind her husband, Jonalld, and daughter Chlouie so she could look for, and work for, a better life in Canada.

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“It was so hard to be separated. We had to sacrifice everything to do this for the family,” said Krystyn.

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The pandemic extended their separation. “It took five years before we were together again,” said Jonalld.

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Krystyn said she could not have made it through those long years without the support of all her co-workers at VGH, to whom she expressed her gratitude. Her daughter Chlouie, now 15, has also received her citizenship certificate, and said being in Vancouver, after everything her mother did for the family, made this moment even more special.

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Amanda Albuquerque, 32, had her fingernails painted in the colours of the Brazilian flag, a nod to her country of birth, and wore a brilliant scarlet dress to celebrate the country that has now embraced her.

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“I am very proud today. This is an honour.

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“There were some very tough challenges coming here,” said Albuquerque, a digital marketing manager, “especially during COVID, when I couldn’t see my family for two years.”

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Amanda Albuquerque celebrates at the citizenship ceremony Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG

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Among those who took the oath of citizenship was Christie Jaensch, 32, a hair stylist in the film and television industry, who originally hails from Australia. Jaensch laughed as speakers sharing the stage at the event made quips about curling, beer and hockey, and more than one reference to Canada’s World Cup match on Saturday against Morocco.

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Jaensch said she was offered the opportunity to complete her citizenship ceremony via Zoom, but opted for an in-person event.

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“Zoom just didn’t feel right. This is amazing,” said Janesch.

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The event, one of dozens held across the country on July 1, showcased the diversity of the population, with a bagpiper, RCMP officers in red serge, representatives of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations, B.C.’s minister of state for community safety and integrated services Terry Yung, and Wade Grant, the parliamentary secretary to the minister of environment.