Veronica Johnson: A Life Built on Education, Service and the Courage to Keep Going
ROSIE AWORI – MONTREAL COMMUNITY CONTACT – LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE
When Veronica Johnson was recently honoured at the Jamaican Pavilion, the recognition represented more than another award in a long career of public service.
It offered an opportunity to look again at the woman behind the accolades: a young immigrant who arrived in Montreal in 1968 determined to become the first person in her family, as far as she knew, to earn a university degree, and who would go on to spend decades as an educator, community advocate, federal appointee and, eventually, a Citizenship Judge welcoming other newcomers into Canada.
Johnson arrived in Canada the year after Expo 67, at a moment she remembers as particularly significant. Montreal was still carrying the excitement of the exposition, while south of the border the civil rights movement was transforming American society.
“It was a very interesting time in the country,” she recalled in an interview with the CONTACT. “To my knowledge, there was nobody in my family who had gone to university.”
Before emigrating, Johnson had worked briefly with Barclays Bank in Jamaica. She had also applied to the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce before leaving the island and, within weeks of arriving in Montreal, secured a position with CIBC.
Johnson remembers arriving without realizing how important French would be in Quebec. Then the woman assigned to train her at the bank turned out to be Francophone and spoke no English. With the help of a colleague, Johnson enrolled in French classes.
At roughly the same time, she was admitted to Sir George Williams University, now part of Concordia University. She worked full-time at CIBC during the day and attended university at night. There were evenings when she would grab a sandwich or some soup and hurry to classes beginning around 6:30 p.m. On nights with consecutive classes, she would wind up around 10:30 p.m.
“It was not easy,” she said. “But because that was what I said to myself I’m going to do; I continued to do it.”
Johnson got married while studying. Then, in May 1973, with one summer course remaining, she gave birth to her first daughter, Natasha. With help from her husband and extended family, she completed the course.
That accomplishment attracted the attention of the Montreal Star. In November 1973, the newspaper published a story under the headline “Mother beats the stork to gain her BA degree.” A photograph showed Veronica and her husband, Errol, in their graduation gowns with baby Natasha between them. Both husband and wife had pursued their studies while working.
More than 50 years later, the photograph feels almost prophetic. Education, family, determination and perseverance seem to be what has influenced her life.
After university, Johnson remained in banking and progressed into an administrative role. Soon after she had her second child and soon started asking herself how she could continue balancing such demanding hours with two small children. A friend suggested that her background would help her transition into teaching.
Because she already held a bachelor’s degree, she was able to enter a one-year teacher-training program at McGill University. It began a second career that would last approximately 25 years. Her qualifications eventually included a B.A. with distinction in Economics and Political Science from Concordia University, a Diploma in Education from McGill University, a Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language from McGill, and a Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership from McGill.
Johnson taught briefly at the elementary level when teaching positions were scarce, but she quickly discovered that teenagers were where she felt most effective.
“I actually liked working with high school students,” she said. They could be difficult, she acknowledged, but they could also debate, reason and engage.
“When you’re able to reach them, you can have an impact.”
It reminded her of her own Jamaican schooling, where students could speak with teachers, discuss ideas and debate them. It is perhaps unsurprising, then, that one of Johnson’s favourite quotations is Malcolm X’s observation that education is a passport to the future because tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.
Before her Citizenship Judge appointment, the federal government noted Johnson’s extensive experience in education, Black history and community development, as well as her service as Chair of the West Island Black Community Association and on the board of West Island Community Shares. From helping refugees to welcoming citizens
Johnson’s public service also took her into the federal immigration system. For approximately five years, she served with the refugee determination system, interviewing refugee claimants and participating in decisions about whether applicants met the criteria for refugee protection under the Geneva Convention.
And almost serendipitously, in 2011, Veronica Mae Johnson, the young Jamaican woman who had arrived in Canada as an immigrant 43 years earlier, was appointed a Citizenship Judge for Montreal. The federal government announced her first appointment on June 29, 2011, for a three-year, full-time term. She would ultimately serve two terms.
As a Citizenship Judge, she presided over ceremonies, administered the citizenship oath and participated in the process through which immigrants formally became Canadians.
Her service continued through 2017. That October, Johnson presided over a special McGill University citizenship ceremony commemorating Canada’s 150th anniversary, where approximately 40 people became Canadian citizens.
And behind all those titles remains the woman who once raced from a full day at the bank to an evening university classroom because she had decided she was going to earn a degree.
Looking back on her journey, she reflects on the young woman who first arrived in Montreal and would remind herself to hold fast to her dreams, drawing strength from Langston Hughes’ words: “If dreams die / Life is a broken-winged bird / That cannot fly.”
Today, that woman might look back at all she has accomplished and say to her younger self: “You held on to your dreams. You achieved more than you ever dreamed possible. Well done!”
