The First Five Years

About the Book

The First Five Years is the story of what Andreas Hossmann, an immigrant from Switzerland, experienced and learned during the five-year period he was requested by the Immigration Authorities to reside within Canada before becoming eligible to apply for Canadian Citizenship. It is an autobiographical novel in which the author tells what requirements existed for a person who wanted to immigrate to Canada a few decades ago and had to be fulfilled by that person before the Immigration Authorities granted permission to do so; how immigrants fought for acceptance into the Canadian society, were discriminated against and exploited for not having 'Canadian Experience', as the majority of employers maintained; how immigrants persevered against all odds, accepted or rejected or modified the prevailing customs to their own liking without, however, becoming a nuisance or liability to society; how most immigrants cherished the new way of life, found employment and their place in the Canadian society, and became useful and law-abiding citizens, while a few could not cope with it and returned to their homeland or left to settle in the United States of America.

About the Author

Siegfried Bucher, a Swiss-born Canadian, was educated in Switzerland where he received, in 1951, the degree of Engineer. His preference for geophysical science led him to Canada where he was active in exploration for oil and gas, primarily in the Arctic regions of Canada. He was instrumental in developing seismic data gathering on ice. He pioneered the small-equipment Arctic exploration crew and the heli-portable mountain seismic crew, concepts for minimizing damage to the environment by using space age technology together with the re-introduction of man as the key figure. An experienced mountaineer, he made several successful first ascents on previously unclimbed peaks in the Rocky Mountains and Baffin Island.

Also by Siegfried Bucher:

Dangerous Encounters North of the Arctic Circle The Calling and the Spell A Pocketful of Stories