Daily BrewMalala Yousafzai joins three Nobel Peace Prize winners on list of honourary Canadian citizens
A 16-year-old girl who survived an assassination attempt in Pakistan is expected to receive a rare Canadian honour on Wednesday. Malala Yousafzai will become only the sixth person to receive honourary Canadian citizenship, joining the elite company of Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.
Recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, Yousafzai will now join a short list of exceptional world leaders to be handed the key to Canada – a list that includes three Nobel Peace Prize winners.
Yousafzai's journey has been an emotional and inspiring tale of survival. The young girl was shot in the head by the Taliban in October of last year while riding on a bus home from school. She received several operations followed by months of recovery, which culminated in an appearance at the United Nations and a powerful speech opposing the atrocities of her homeland and the value of education.
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Her message struck a chord. She has been celebrated internationally, including in an appearance on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. In Canada, Ontario high school students have launched a bid to have their school renamed in her honour.
Prime Minister met personally with Yousafzai and left moved by her courage.
“It is truly inspiring that someone so young has the courage and conviction to risk her life advocating for access to education for young women and girls in her country," Harper said of their meeting.
"Her actions are an important reminder of the need to continue promoting the rights and freedoms of women and girls on the world stage – values that we enjoy in our own country – and help to defend those values from organizations like the Taliban who seek to undermine them."
The young woman was a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize last week, although that honour ultimately remained out of her grasp. For now.
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The Canadian government is expected today to confer onto Yousafzai the honour of Canadian citizenship, a rare honour given to foreigners of exceptional merit. It has only been given out five times in its history, first posthumously to Holocaust hero Raoul Wallenberg in 1985 and most recently to His Highness the Aga Khan in 2011.
Also receiving the honour are three recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize:
Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid activist and former South African president, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and was bestowed honourary Canadian citizenship in 2001
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and Canadian citizenship in 2006
Aung San Suu Kyi, an opponent of Burma's oppressive government, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and became an honourary Canadian citizen in 2007.
Perhaps Yousafzai will take a similar path as these shining examples of humanity, except in reverse. Perhaps for once, honourary citizenship will come before the Nobel Prize.
Great things are expected of Malala Yousafzai. At the age of 16, she has time to do them all.
Canadians are lucky to count her her among our numbers.
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