Friday, November 3rd was a wonderful day for #Polonia in Canada as MPs began debating Motion M-75 to establish Polish Heritage Month and May 3rd as Polish Constitution Day in Canada! The Canadian Polish Congress has been advocating for this initiative on behalf of our Members and all of Polonia for many years, and we were pleased to be a part of this momentous day for our community.
Sincere thanks to Peter Fonseca, MP (Mississauga East-Cooksville) for sponsoring this important motion, and for recognizing the Congress’ efforts:
“The Canadian Polish Congress is an organization that acts as a voice for the Polish-Canadian community, advocating for its rights and interests. It has shown great leadership in advocating for and championing this motion, and I thank the Congress.
The Congress represents the Polish community’s interests in the Government of Canada by providing a strong national voice in the decision-making around our government’s policies and by promoting the rights of Polish Canadians to full and equal participation in all aspects of Canadian society. The motion before us is in large part due to their advocacy.
The Canadian Polish Congress promotes awareness of and respect for Poland’s history and heritage and the contribution of Poles to the culture of Canada and the world. We thank them. The Congress is a unifying force, coordinating and supporting Polish-Canadian organizations, so those community organizations provide a wide range of programs, events and services to support the local Polish population. I want to commend the Congress for its focus on youth in particular and for hosting many youth leadership opportunities, such as the Young Polonia Leadership Summit we just had here two weeks ago on Parliament Hill.”
Thank you as well to Yvan Baker, MP (Etobicoke Centre) for co-sponsoring the Motion, and to Speakers Tom Kmieć (Calgary Shepard), Irek Kuśmierczyk, PhD (Windsor Tecumseh), Blake Desjarlais (Edmonton Griesbach), Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay (Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot), and Gerald Soroka (Yellowhead) for your wonderful remarks.
We look forward to the next hour of debate, and to the Motion’s swift passage, hopefully before the year is out, so that our community can officially celebrate the first Polish Heritage Month in Canada next year!
