BK kitchen boss a new Canadian
Process took four years and help from MP
Robin Grant
Northern News Services
Friday, June 10, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
For the past four years, the head chef and kitchen manager at The Black Knight Pub has been battling the federal government for Canadian citizenship.
Reginald Drummond had been applying for Canadian citizenship for four years before getting it on May 27. - Robin Grant/NNSL photo |
After almost giving up, Reginald Drummond was finally successful last winter. Applying for citizenship was a feat, he said, that took a change in the federal government and help from the NWT MP.
On May 27, along with 87 new citizens from 23 different countries, Drummond took his oath and received a citizenship certificate.
"After four years, I was happy," he said. "It was a good ceremony."
Drummond moved to Canada from India in 1967 when he was seven-years old. At a young age, he knew he wanted to be a restaurant chef.
"I like to cook. It just keeps me busy. My mind is always going," he said.
After 41 years in the business, he said he's perfected curry and can pretty much make any kind of Greek food.
Before settling in Yellowknife, Drummond and his wife Patricia Hogh lived and worked in Shuswap, B.C., but had to leave to find better paying jobs. He said despite being "very cold," they like the city.
"You can get to know a lot of people compared to down south. As the saying goes, you only have one best friend and lots of acquaintances. And that's my best friend," he said, pointing to his wife, Hogh, in the chair beside him at The Black Knight Pub.
In his free time, Drummond plays pool. He is also president of the North of 60 Billiards Association. Under the Conservative government, Drummond said applying for citizenship was a constant struggle.
"They don't make it very easy to get it. I can definitely tell you that," he said. "They ask for certain things. You send it to them and they send it back, saying, 'No that's not enough.'"
These requests included the passport he had as a seven-year-old boy, proof he spoke English, where he went to high school and his specific places of residence over the years.
After all that, and living in Canada for close to 50 years, he was still denied.
But when Justin Trudeau became prime minister, things seemed to change, he said.
The citizenship process was moved along when he and his wife asked NWT MP
Michael McLeod for help.
"And that's how I got through faster, because there was a helping hand," he said.
His advice to others going through the citizenship process and facing difficulty.
"Don't give up ... Don't give up. And I was ready to more than once."
Yellowknifer contacted Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to find out why Drummond's application took four years to complete. It said the department could not speak to specific cases but stated that the "estimated processing time for grants of citizenship, including background checks, is currently less than 12 months for most applications. Processing times can vary, depending on how many applications IRCC receives."
