1-minute read

I love lingering over a Sunday paper, but the newspapers here in Canada are full weekend editions printed on Saturdays.  Luckily, there's enough content to have two Sunday morning-type sit-downs so I save half the paper for Sunday.

This morning I was inspired by one of the things the Globe & Mail does best:   in-depth profiles of Canadian personalities.  Last summer, I was inspired by that of Canadian Supreme Court justice and Polish immigrant  Rosalie Abella.  In it, a tale was recounted of Eleanor Roosevelt visiting the refugee camp where Rosalie was born, where Rosalie's father gave the official welcome, saying,  “We are not in a position of showing you many assets.  The best we are able to produce are these few children. They alone are our fortune and our sole hope for the future.”

This morning was another incredibly moving profile, this one of Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s new immigration minister, who also emigrated to Canada at a young age, and who also overcame the challenges of being from a culture and religion different from (and, as a result, sometimes distrusted by) many his new community.  Strange as it sounds, and as G&M columnist Marsha Lederman points out, the formation that comes from overcoming these challenges is a great asset to a country.  In fact, it’s what has made America what it is today.  I hope we Americans do not lose sight of that.  As Hussen contends, “History will judge that countries that are open will be more successful at the end of the day.”