Opinion: We the El-Soueidis are proud Quebecers celebrating 'le fait français'

Article content material

I didn’t rejoice Mom’s Day this 12 months. My mom is in Portugal having fun with a while off with my father. They’ve been sending me footage from Madeira, a good looking island off the West African coast. For individuals who know something about soccer, that is the place Cristiano Ronaldo is from. (That will probably be my one and solely soccer reference on this column.)

Article content material

I’ve been pondering lots about my mother and father recently. They’ve been on my thoughts each day since I turned a author as I ask myself how I can honour their sacrifice. By sacrifice, I imply one thing greater than myself, greater than them. One thing that includes my complete household, the El-Soueidi and Abi-Hanna clan.

Article content material

My household story has its roots in immigration to a rustic removed from their war-torn Lebanon. My Tita (grandmother in Arabic) acquired a name in 1988 saying that her everlasting residency utility had been accepted and two weeks later, my father’s household left for Quebec. My dad wished to be a part of this new world whereas preserving the traditions he discovered in Lebanon near coronary heart. He went again to Lebanon in 1989 to marry my mom and by 1991, they’d me right here, in Montreal. They have been younger mother and father, at 22 years previous, in a brand new land.

Article content material

Article content material

If you happen to ask my mother and pa, they may let you know the next: they’ve lived longer in Quebec than in Lebanon. Quebec is their house now. My Jedo (grandfather in Arabic) says that “heaven is Quebec.” If you’ve lived by a struggle and needed to fear in your youngsters and your loved ones, this province can look like a promised land. I grew up in a house the place Jean-Pierre Ferland performed within the background at dinner whereas we ate kibbé. My dad and Jedo cheered in Arabic for the Canadiens whereas watching Hockey Evening in Canada. My mother liked to hearken to Marie-France Bazzo on la Première chaîne. I come from a powerful francophone family.

“Integrating with out forgetting the place we’re from” is my mother and father’ motto.

Le Journal de Montréal revealed a particular report Might 6 and seven that performed on id politics and patriotic fears of being “trapped” by immigration. On Might 10, Jean-François Lisée, ex-leader of the Parti Québécois, tweeted a distasteful cartoon linking immigration to a wave that can drown the province. Because the Québécoise daughter of immigrants who actively work to make this province higher, such actions make me cautious and distrustful of what’s to come back.

Article content material

After I go to my dad or mum’s house, I really feel satisfaction. They’re proof of the Québécois dream: embracing each the tradition of their adoptive nation and their house nation till it melds into one. Actively celebrating “le fait français.”

And they don’t seem to be the one ones. Immigration contributes to the panorama of recent Quebec. By associating immigration with drowning — a picture echoing a racist ideology often known as The Nice Substitute — some persons are actively selling the tip of a province as we all know it. A Quebec during which my mother and father are thriving and serving to different generations of immigrants combine.

Pour finir, quelques mots en français pour ma communauté francophone. L’immigration n’est pas une partie de plaisir, mais l’accueil et les liens qui s’y construisent favorisent l’intégration dans notre terre d’adoption. En tant que Libano-Québécoise, fière de parler trois langues, je veux faire honneur à mes mother and father. Leur histoire est une histoire québécoise et y contribuer aujourd’hui n’est que de rajouter de la richesse à un Québec foisonnant de diversité.

Article content material

Immigration is just not at all times a pleasure, however the hospitality and the connections developed with others foster integration within the adoptive land. As a Lebanese-Quebecer who’s proud to stay right here, I wish to honour my mother and father. Their story is a quintessential Québécois story that enriches a various province.

El-Soueidi, at this time, is a Québécois household title.

Yara El-Soueidi is a Montreal author.