Though I have ancestors who have immigrated to multiple different countries, the country I am most connected to is England. My mother’s parents were both born in London, England in the 1930’s. They immigrated to Canada in 1965. A year after immigration my mother was born in Oakville, Ontario. I had always wanted to know why my grandparents decided to immigrate. Through an interview with my grandpa over the phone. I found out many new things about my family, that I never knew before. Overall I learned that my life would not have changed too much if my grandparents never immigrated.
According to my grandpa, who currently lives in a small town of Meaford, Ontario. He and my grandma decided to immigrate because of the fact that they did not have much money and my grandmother wanted to get away from her real mother due to the fact that that she was abused as a little kid then abandoned as a 14 year old. Where she then got taken in by my grandpa and his family. She did not have a father as her father passed away when she was a baby. My grandpa was offered 4 very good jobs in Scotland, New Zealand, South Africa, and of course Canada. The best job was in South Africa but they chose not to immigrate to South Africa due to the reason that he would have to have a black servant but my grandparents did not want my mom and her brother and sister to grow up racist. I was not told the reason for not choosing Scotland. The job that New Zealand offered did not generate the income that he ended up getting in Canada as a Police Officer. My grandpa always wanted to immigrate to Canada as well. Once my grandparents arrived in Canada on March 31st, 1965. He proceeded to tell me,”There was many reasons that led us to make the decision to immigrate to Canada. We chose to leave because we were not generating enough money to support marjorie(My Grandma) and the kids in England, and Marj’s personal reasons. I had always wanted to come to Canada. Me and your grandmother have both agreed on Canada as we felt it would provide us with a better lifestyle”(Bryn). My grandpa also supplied with his and my grandmother’s passport
Through the interview with my grandpa, I found out that my life would not be too much different if I was to have been born England opposed to Canada. Although one significant change in my life would be that I would not have been hockey my entire life, instead I would be playing soccer or rugby or even both. Other than that my lifestyle would be the same. I would not have been able to get my driver's license until I turn 17. In England. Although, I would have enjoy some added benefits. At the age of 14, I would legally be able to get a job and go into a bar and order a soft drink. At the age of 16, I could get a beer, wine, or cider in a restaurant when accompanied by an adult. I would also have the ability to choose my own doctor, and I would also legally be able to get married. At the age of 18 I legally can buy alcohol by myself. The quality of life in England is ranked higher than Canada(Numbeo). England is ranked as one of the safest countries as well. Overall in England it is much more expensive to live comfortably compared to in Canada (UK News). The price of post-secondary is more expensive in England. The price cap is $9000 for university per year, which is about $3000 more than in Canada. Teenagers in the Uk have more freedom in their lifestyle opposed to Canada. I feel it is better to grow up with more freedom as most teenagers will end up doing the same thing anyways. I feel that due to this it makes teens to have more respect for their parents, as they won't have to always be going behind their parents back and overall will be less rebellious.
Overall, I feel that I would enjoy all the benefits of living in England that I don't have in Canada. I would enjoy my added freedom. I would have loved to grow up in England. To conclude, I am grateful that my grandparents decided to immigrate to Canada because if they hadn't my mother might not have been born and if even if she was still born, she definitely would have not have met my dad. Resulting in me never being born.
Works Cited
Barron, Mandy. “Teenagers Life in England.” Project Britain, 11 July 2014, projectbritain.com/teenagediary.htm. Accessed 16 Jan. 2017.
Evans, Bryn. Interview. 16 Jan. 2017.
“What Age Can I.” The Mix, 29 Sept. 2015, www.themix.org.uk/crime-and-safety/your-rights/what-age-can-i-9102.html. Accessed 16 Jan. 2017.
Evan, you have done a very good job sharing your grandfather's story, and explaining the differences between being a teen in England as opposed to Canada. The freedom that you admire in their culture is something that is fairly common in Europe. It's strange that for a country founded on people who took risks to come here, in Canada we carefully shelter our children and do not allow them to participate fully in adult life until they are older. Do you think that this freedom would drastically, or only somewhat change the type of person you are?
ReplyDeleteI also have family in England and their main reason for leaving was it was too expensive to live and Canada was a much cheaper place. Other then the money they said England was a better overall quality of life and they would like to go back one day. I wonder if you'd family also wishes they could have went back to England.
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