These newcomers call Canada Day both 'painful' and 'important,' after learning Indigenous history

Becoming a Canadian citizen was a moment of pride and relief for Sergio Luna.

He and his family came to Canada from Colombia in 2008. The family experienced many benefits in Canada, he said, including having Luna's 2010 appendectomy covered by health insurance. 

The University of Toronto student, 29, said feeling like he was in a country that treated people with dignity made him want to become a citizen. The ceremony itself, in 2018, also brought to a close an "era of uncertainty," he said.

"I had always been impressed with how Canada treated me as a refugee, and now I had the privilege of officially adopting Canada as our permanent home."

But despite feeling proud of his Canadian citizenship, Luna said he is still learning about Canada's history and relationship with Indigenous people — and that journey is changing the way he sees the country and how he feels on Canada Day.  

"The first couple [Canada Days], I was excited but now I don't know what to think," Luna said. "It's a painful day. You want to look at where we're headed… I don't really see the idea that things are mended."

Some newcomers like Luna are coming to terms with the country's history after arriving in Canada — and especially since the announcements of potential unmarked burials of Indigenous children in 2021. 

Luna said news coverage of the burials and reactions to it on social media helped him understand why some chose not to celebrate on July 1.  

"The recent attention on [the burials]... gave the idea of passing on the celebrations a real foothold," Luna said. "The argument to boycott the day due to a lack of justice was compelling."

'A celebration of colonization'

Juanita Rodriguez came to Canada with her mother in 2019, also from Colombia, moving to Hamilton's Mountain area. 

In the lead up to Canada Day last year, the Mohawk College graphic design student took the college's Indigenous Peoples Evolving Media & Artistic Images course as an elective.

Rodriguez, 23, said the course gave her a more thorough understanding of Indigenous people's history in Canada. Before this, she had only some basic knowledge from a high school 20th century Canadian history course, she said. 

Our responsibility as immigrants is to learn and be aware of this reality.- Gregorio Sanchez, who came to Canada in 2020

For Rodriguez, learning more about Indigenous history has made her less enthusiastic for Canada Day compared to her first one in 2019.

"I don't feel like posting things about Canada Day or wearing a maple leaf shirt because there's nothing to celebrate here," Rodriguez said. "Yes, this is the country that's given me opportunities and let me move forward. But I feel it's a celebration of colonization and the erasure Indigenous culture."

Gregorio Sanchez, 27, came to Canada from Colombia in February 2020.

Colombia is no stranger to a complicated history with Indigenous people and colonialism. For Sanchez, the two countries share unfortunate similarities in that regard. 

He said learning more about Indigenous history in Canada has been difficult, since it's still being written, but is something newcomers need to do.

"[Colonialism] comes from a long process of oppression that is structural and won't be solved overnight," Sanchez said. "Our responsibility as immigrants is to learn and be aware of this reality. Once we're aware and have a critical look at the situation we're living through, one can identify the oppressive processes still at play today."

Canada Day 'important' and should prompt discussion

Sandra Velasquez, 46, came to Canada in December 2019 from Colombia and works with The Career Foundation in Hamilton.

For her, Canada Day holds value as a day to commemorate the country's national identity. The error lies in assuming days like Canada Day honour a perfect country, she said.

"Those important days should be taken as moments to maintain that discourse of unity but not to feed illusions of perfection," Velasquez said.

"Instead, they are for discussing what the problems are and taking action."

For Rodriguez, Canada still has a long way to go in accepting and learning from its past.

"Let's look at current problems, like whether [Indigenous people] have access to clean water in the areas they live in," Rodriguez said. "This isn't given enough attention."

Rodriguez also said coming to terms with her privilege in Canada is another recent lesson for her. "It's a little difficult to see that, even an immigrant, you might be treated better than someone who is a native of this land," Rodriguez said.

Sanchez said Canada Day should be spent in joy while commemorating every Canadian's story and recognizing its difficult history. 

Luna said remembering and understanding the oppression of Indigenous people is an important part of making Canada the ideal country immigrants like him thought it was when they first arrived.

"I would like to see some sort of justice," Luna said. That would make me proud but so far, I haven't seen anything close to that."