how i came to canada

they are running a wee contest at work. every word of this submission is true. except the bit about the cheap wine.

with my folks, it was likely a case of colt 45.

With Canada Day around the corner, we thought it would be interesting to learn more about our co-workers, and their connection with Canada.

The contest is called How I came to Canada!
The story would be an anecdote around the circumstances of how you came to Canada. The committee will collect the stories and use them to devise a quiz for the contest. We want to hear stories about your origin, your family's origin, and any other interesting tidbits about how you came to live in Canada.


my father immigrated to canada from england and became a citizen in the late fifties. in 1953, he was paid $200.00 to travel to czechoslovakia and marry my mother, bring her to canada legally and then divorce her (actually, 28 years later, death did them part). and so she arrived in canada on canada day, 1964, not speaking a word of english, married to a man she'd known for only 6 days (and they tell us internet relationships are weird??)


one night, after a cheap bottle of wine, my father looked at my mother and said "hey, are you thinking what i'm thinking?"


my mother, not speaking a word of english, simply smiled and nodded.


and so it was that i was born in east york general hospital. and as a symbol of how happy my parents were to have me, they named me after a shipwreck (the andrea doria, 1956)


did i mention my mother didn't speak english?