Karen Mackenzie
Northern News Services
Monday, July 9, 2007

IQALUIT - July 1 reached way beyond the barbecues and parades for a handful of brand new Canadian citizens in Iqaluit.

Sebastian Spencer (from left), brother Santiago Spencer, and mother Lucia Spencer stand with Judge Beverley Browne after receiving their Canadian citizenship in Iqaluit on June 15. - photo courtesy of Lucia Spencer

"It's wonderful to finally say that I'm a Canadian, and not just feel it," said Francis Wooby, who was one of five residents who recently received their Canadian citizenship at the Nunavut Court of Justice. "I can feel it and know it, and now I can actually say it."

Wooby, Maria Ines Matos De Barbosa Monter, and Lucia, Sebastian and Santiago Spencer were all sworn in as Canadians on June 15.

The group was also given an extra welcome by the city with a short civic ceremony during the Canada Day festivities on Nakasuk field.

"It really worked out so happily that I could do it right in Iqaluit," Wooby said.

Originally from the United States, Wooby followed his Canadian wife Katie McDonald north when she moved first to Whale Cove, then Iqaluit, to teach.

"Iqaluit is very unlike any other place in Canada," he said. "This is a place where you can find everything from drum dancing to Spanish classes."

The Spencers landed in Canada four years ago, straight from Colombia, when Lucia's Canadian husband Ken got a job with Northwestel.

"When my husband first called with the job contract in front of him, I said, 'Wait a minute, where's Iqaluit?'" she recounted with a laugh. "And he said, 'Do you remember when I married you, you said you would follow me to the ends of the earth? Well, Iqaluit is at the end of the earth!'"

Everything was new for Lucia and her sons, who left behind 32 C weather when they arrived in Iqaluit in September. But while their Northern home did take a bit of getting used to, Lucia said the community made all the difference.

"We had to learn everything - the language, to wear boots and gloves and heavy clothes," she said. "But it was no problem, very easy, because the people here are very friendly."

"I loved my country very much, but this is so beautiful," she said. "For us, it opened the doors to freedom. I just cried when I finally got my citizenship."