Dear editor,

When my grandparents came over from the old country, they were so grateful to have a chance to live a normal life. 

They had to buy their way out of the Ukraine. They had to learn the language and they did.

They found land in Manitoba, after barely making it in a big eastern city.

They cleared land, built a sod house and, after years of hard work, built a little wooden house. It later had to have rooms added on, as my grandmother had 18 children.

They were pioneers of Canada and were so proud to be Canadian. As soon as they could speak English, they applied for their Canadian citizenship.

Grampa told me a true Canadian is a person who calls Canada home, even if he comes from a different part of the world.

Grampa said, if you don’t like the rules of Canada, then move back to the country you came from. I agree with my Grampa, we welcome the immigrant with open arms, we give them so much to start off with.

Our thanks, from some of them, is political uprising -- screaming discrimination and trying to change our customs.

I want the Christmas in Merry Christmas. (I have a big dinner on Ukrainian Christmas, which makes me stop and think how grateful we are to be born and raised in Canada, and what our ancestors had to give up and do so we could all live free.)

I want the Bible back in school. When I was a kid, we had students who did not believe in the Bible, but they stepped out into the hallway or just stood or sat there until we were finished. We sang O Canada and God Save the Queen.

Today Canada is turning into a free-for-all country because we don’t have the guts to tell people to live by our rules when outside their home.

People should be able to do whatever they like inside their home, as long as it doesn’t have anything to do with trying to take Canada down. 

No one wants newcomers to give up their beliefs, so why should we be asked to give up ours? No one is asking newcomers to give up their religion, so why are we being asked to do that?

Newcomers are allowed to build their holy places and to march on their holy days. 

Newcomers are allowed to march on their holy days. Why should we have to give up ours?     

They’re in Canada by choice. So they should stop whining, learn the language, become Canadian Citizens and life will be happy because they will only have to worry about one country. Canada.

Just so you know some of my best friends come  from other countries.

My grandparents  are just looking down on us and asking what is the matter with those people today?

I don’t want anymore political correctness. I want our country back.

Audrey Clark 

Port Alice