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Immigrants face discrimination in Canada: Senator
Immigrants to Canada still face some discrimination, the country's first Muslim woman Senator Mobina Jaffer has said.
Immigrants to Canada still face some discrimination, the country's first Muslim woman Senator Mobina Jaffer has said.
"I stand in front of you as a South Asian lawyer - a Muslim woman senator. But if you ask me if I have arrived, well I have not," said Jaffer, speaking at a reception organised to celebrate the achievements of South Asian Canadians in the legal profession.
"I will have arrived only when all in this great country are treated equally," she said, calling upon those in the legal profession to work hard to that end.
Jaffer, who represents British Columbia in the Canadian Senate, also holds the distinction as the first female lawyer of South Asian origin in the province.
She came to Canada as a refugee, fleeing from Uganda due to persecution under the rule of dictator Idi Amin.
Her father had served as a member of the Ugandan parliament for 30 years before the entire family was forced to leave the country for being Asians, she said.
More than 100 guests, a majority of whom were South Asian lawyers and legal aides, joined last week's cultural reception, which coincided with South Asian Arrival in the Americas Day.
