Photograph by: CHRIS WATTIE, REUTERS

In her new book Room for All of Us, former governor general Adrienne Clarkson profiles individuals who, like herself, “came out of cataclysm and catastrophe not out of our own making and found ourselves almost thrown into Canada.” She tells often harrowing stories of their journeys to this country and then recounts how they have enriched the Canadian fabric. The following excerpt was adapted from Clarkson’s profile of Ontario MP Rathika Sitsabaiesan.
The young woman with the brilliant white smile has an early memory of her grandfather’s house in the middle of a mango grove surrounded by the rich greenery of an equatorial landscape. I have searched her out because she has just accomplished something extraordinary: she became the first person of Tamil origin to be elected to the House of Commons, representing the Ontario riding of Scarborough–Rouge River.
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