Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Melanie Atcovitch and baby expelled from citizenship ceremony

Montreal resident Melanie Atcovitch is fuming after being asked to leave her husband’s citizenship ceremony because her infant child was babbling.

Atcovich attended her husband Peter George’s citizenship ceremony with her six-month-old infant.

When the baby started gurgling and babbling at the beginning of the citizenship ceremony, she was asked to leave by an official at the ceremony.

“I was a bit rash and said ‘no, I’m not leaving.”

But after the usher asked her again, and she did leave with her child. She ended up missing a large portion of the ceremony.

Atcovich said the baby was not being overly disruptive, nor was she crying.

“Children make noise. That’s what they do,” she said.

“I think if she was crying, I would’ve been more than happy to leave. But she was just making happy noise.”

At first, George didn’t notice his wife had been asked to leave. He didn't hear his daughter making any noise.

“I thought it was a bit off, given that it’s supposed to be a celebratory thing, it’s not like it’s a court of justice.”

Atcovitch said she found it ironic that the ceremony was about inviting people into the country, yet she was kicked out.

Citizenship and Immigration responded with the following statement:

“Citizenship ceremonies are a special moment for a lot of new Canadians. It’s important that it’s conducted in a calm and enjoyable manner for everyone involved."

Original Article
Source: CBC
Author: cbc

No comments:

Post a Comment