Kamala Harris Went To High School In Canada & Now She's A Vice Presidential Candidate
History was made yesterday as United States presidential candidate Joe Biden named a woman of colour as his running mate, a first in the nation's history. While that is amazing in itself, most people might not be aware of Kamala Harris's Canada connection. She actually attended a Quebec high school.
The former California Attorney General went to Westmount High School in Montreal.
According to a report from CBC News, Harris's mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, moved Kamala and her sister to Quebec in the 1970s after getting a job teaching at McGill University.
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Harris attended Westmount from the seventh to eleventh grade and graduated in 1981.
"She got along with everybody," Dean Smith, a former classmate of Harris told CBC, "It was a lot of rich kids from Westmount mixed in with kids from the lower area of Montreal. She popped up from California. She could blend with both."
Anu Chopra Sharma, another Westmount student who attended with Harris, said she believes the VP candidate will make universal health care a priority.
"I think it has to do with the fact that she’s…lived in Montreal and seen what [public health care] can be," Sharma told CTV News. "She got to see the other side of the coin, growing up."
Westmount High School shared a message of encouragement for Harris on its Twitter.
"We couldn’t be more proud of WHS graduate @KamalaHarris - future Vice President of the United States!" the tweet, which also quotes Joe Biden's announcement, reads. It is now pinned on the school's page.
The English Montreal School Board also congratulated the VP candidate on its Facebook page.
"Our alumni have done some incredible things, but thanks to Joe Biden 2020, we can ☑️ #VicePresidentialNominee off the list!" it reads.
"Congratulations to Westmount High School alumna Kamala Harris (Class of '81) on being chosen as #JoeBiden's running mate - the first Black woman and Asian-American on a major presidential ticket. Good luck! #WeAreEnglishMTL."
Harris previously ran for the Democratic nomination during the primaries but eventually dropped out of the race.