加拿大150年国庆对华裔社区意味着什么

7月1日加拿大150周年国庆日的到来，让来自各阶层的，为加国的繁荣发展做出贡献的加国人士们热情高涨。做为一个多元文化国家，国庆日也成为各个族裔人士提供了与其移民国度建立文化感情的纽带的最好时机。

Enthusiasm runs high as Canada marks its 150 anniversary on July, 1st,  with people from all walks of life gathering together  to celebrate their contribution to the great country. As a country with a multicultural mosaic, the anniversary has also provided a perfect opportunity for ethnic communities to grow their connections with their adopted land.   

加拿大150周年国庆也给大陆移民提供了回顾历史的机会。它让我们缅怀亚裔先辈们对加拿大做出的贡献，也让我们反省在其种族主义猖獗之时期， 早期华裔移民加拿大所遭到的种种歧视和虐待。不过，今天的加拿大极力倡导反种族歧视的新政策，并向移民们敞开了大门。可以说，加拿大的现代社会对大陆移民们的生活起着举足轻重的影响。

The 150 anniversary has a brought a historical perspective to immigrants from China. It highlights the Asian ancestry’s contribution to Canada and reflects the discrimination that Chinese Canadian faced during its intense racism period. But Canada has reshaped lives of Chinese immigrants in modern era, as it widely opens its door to newcomers and eagerly embraces anti-racism policies. 

在加国的移民政策下，一批又一批华人来到这个国家，使得中国成为加拿大巨大移民人口的主要来源国之一。毫无疑问，加拿大为80年代逃离贫困与政治迫害的中国年轻人提供加拿大梦和致富途径, 也为那些躲避空气和食品污染的现代富裕精英们提供了某种退路和安全感。然而，中国移民的下一代才是加国社会的真正受益者。

Under its immigration policies, waves after waves of China immigrants have arrived in the country, leading China to become one of the major source country of Canada’s vast immigrant population. Undoubtedly, Canada paved a path for the prosperity and offered a Canadian dream for the Chinese youths fleeing poverty and political crackdown in the 1980s, and provided a sense of security to today’s wealthy elites who try to escape the air pollution and food unsafety in their hometown. But it is the second generation of immigrants that has benefited the most from what the country has to offer.

大量证据显示，加拿大为移民提供了最佳的社会流动性。根据加拿大统计局的资料，尽管第一代移民会面临种种艰难困苦，但他们深受加国教育和手持加拿大文凭的子女们大多在加国踏上了成功的旅程，生活状况与其父代相比得到巨大改善。与其父母们相比，他们的收入提升率极快，甚至快于许多当地加国人士。而他们的成功是对我们这一代艰辛移民之旅的最好回报，也让进一步促进了与这个多元文化政策下，和平而充满发展机会之国的感情联系。

 

Abundant evidence shows that Canada provides the best social mobility to the immigrants. According to StatsCan, despite the poverty and hardship that the first generation of immigrant face, their children, armed with Canadian education and credentials, are doing much better than their parents and enjoyed the great success in the country. They are rising from the lowest to the highest of income scale at a high rate – much higher than the most local Canadian demographic.  Their success is the best reward for our immigration journey and has only strengthened our connections to this ethnic diverse country – the land of peace, opportunity and growth. 

 

今年7月1日标志着加拿大150周岁，毫无疑问，这将是今年夏天的盛事。各地的加拿大人聚集在一起庆祝这个伟大国家提供给他们的生活和表达他们的感激之情，这个周年庆也让像我这样的第二代移民回顾起这个伟大的国家所提供给我的机会和我对它的感恩之心。

As Canada marks its 150th birthday on July 1st, no doubt it will be the event of the summer. As Canadians across the nation gather to celebrate their life and gratefulness to this great country, the anniversary shed some light for those like me, of a second generation of immigrants, on the opportunities given to us by this great country.

 

当我父母来到加拿大的时候，他们除了口袋里带的200美元，没有任何资产。他们怀揣着一个梦想，就是想在一个比当年的中国更美好的地方生活。如果不是他们，今天我和哥哥不可能接受到这个世界上顶尖学府的教育。听父母提起他们童年的故事，和他们曾经为了受教育所做的努力和牺牲，不禁让我想起了自己在这里的生活。我还记得一个朋友，他的父母为了给他支付大学学费而打三份工，工作许多小时。最后，他父母的辛勤工作得到了回报，他自己创立了两个公司。他偿还了所有的学费给他的父母，并且赠送给父母许多奢华的礼物来报答他们。当然，没有他在加拿大所受的教育，也就没有今天的他。

When my parents came to Canada, they had nothing with them but 200 dollars in the pockets, and a dream to live a better life than that in China. If it wasn’t for them, neither my brother or I today would have experienced one of the best education systems in the world. Hearing stories of my parent’s childhood, and their struggle and fight for education, it really had me thinking about my life here. I still remember that the parents of a friend of mine struggled to pay for his university tuition, working three jobs and countless hours. However, the hard work by his parents payed off as he started two businesses on his own. He paid his parents back for all the tuition, as well as being able to lavish them with gifts of appreciation, all thanks to the education he received in Canada.

 

当然，在我父母时代的中国教育制度与现在加拿大的教育制度是不同的。然而，与世界的一些地区相比，加拿大依然毫无疑问的拥有更好的教育体系。我曾有机会与来自非洲的交换学生交流，他和我分享了他在非洲接受教育之困境和艰难。他不得不步行几英里去上学，同时还要忍受贫困的折磨。还有那些为进大学之门而面临严酷的竞争的学生们，那些在为走进大学校门而被迫接受高考制度的中国学子们。相比之下，在加拿大，我们更担心的是能进入哪所大学，而不是能否进入大学。

Of course, the education system back then in China is comparatively different than what it is now in Canada. However, compared to some parts of the world, Canada still exponentially has a better system. I had a chance to meet with an exchange student from Africa, who shared his story on the struggle it was just to receive any kind of education. He had to walk miles just to attend school while struggling with poverty himself. And then there are those who face tough competitions just to get into any post secondary education. China for example with their gao kao, just to determine whether they can even get into any university, compared to here in Canada, where we’re more worried on which school to get into whether if we’ll get in at all. 

作为第二代移民，我们往往会对幸运视而不见。生长在多伦多，我无法想象所听到的发生在中国的故事。总而言之，对于我和哥哥来说，任何形式的成功，无论是作为班级里的尖子生，赢得钢琴奖项，还是获得工作的机会，都是与我父母当年移民加国的努力而分不开的。他们背井离乡远离祖国，是为给我们的发展和成功提供最好的环境和条件。他们的努力没有白费。如果当初我的父母没有移居加拿大，就没有我的今天，我也不会生活在这个屹立于北方的强大而自由的国家里。

It's easy to forget how lucky those of us who are second generation immigrants are. Born and raised in Toronto my whole life, hearing tales of life in China are ones I can’t even imagine living through. All in all, any form of success that comes to me or my brother, being the top of our class, our piano awards, getting jobs, we owe it in part to our parents’ effort to immigrate to this country. They left their home country in order to give us the best possible opportunities to grow, succeed and thrive, and their struggle proves to have been worth it.  I probably wouldn’t be where I am today if my parents didn’t reside to Canada. This country really is the true north, strong and free.