The moment Suzanne Bitye was handed her citizenship certificate Friday, she pulled it toward her heart and held it there for a moment with a broad smile on her face.
The ceremony in which Bitye pledged her allegiance to Canada was held in a windowless room in the bowels of a government building in Ottawa, with grey walls and a grey carpet.
But there were plenty of bright spots. The small paper flags. The red and white formal clothes of 96 people from 20 countries who stood shoulder to shoulder to sing the national anthem as Canadians for the first time. The smiles….