Several faces from television, a soccer icon, a standup comedian, as well as community champions were honoured Wednesday at the 18th annual Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards.
The award winners, chosen after an extensive nomination and judging process, celebrate immigrant success stories from coast to coast to coast, shining a spotlight on immigrants who contribute to Canada’s economy, innovation, arts and communities.
Among the recipients is TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey, who recalled that since coming to Canada from Barbados at the age of seven, he has never stopped feeling like an immigrant.
“I think that’s a strength,” he tells OMNI News. “I didn’t always think that. For a long time I felt like an outsider, I felt like I had to learn this new place like many immigrants do. There were some things I didn’t understand and I was subject to some discrimination. But now I’ve come to see that being from somewhere else, that having multiple cultures that I feel a part of, that feeling of being at home in the whole world and being able to do that in Canada is a real power.”
Shivani Dhamija was honoured with this year’s Entrepreneur Award. She came from India and settled in Halifax in 2011, and built Shivani’s Kitchen, a food manufacturing business from scratch that now totals more than $1.5 million in sales, earning her the title as the “Spice Queen of Atlantic Canada.” She pointed out the many challenges she faced as a newcomer and she urged young people questioning their wisdom about coming to a new country to face those challenges head on.
“You’ve already solved one problem by coming to a different country,” she explained. “When we come from a different country, we have a lot of questions within us because it’s a different environment, we’re not sure, we don’t want to offend other people, so I always tell other people that you need to give up that shyness and go and ask the questions …no questions is a silly question.”
Rogers Sportsnet broadcaster and fashion designer Hazel Mae, who immigrated from the Philippines, was also among those honoured along with former professional soccer player and coach Carl Valentine.
