Mr. Chair, June is Italian Heritage Month. The situation is special this year, since Italy has been hard hit by COVID-19, with more than 30,000 deaths.
Like me, many Italian Canadians still have family and friends in Italy, and the news has sometimes been very difficult to take, yet that has not detracted from the great co-operation that exists between Canada and Italy.
Today I would like to highlight the solidarietà italiana in our community. During the pandemic, Canadians of Italian descent have been united to support anziani, our famiglie and our amici in Italy by participating in the fundraising campaign COVID-19 AiutiAMO l’Italia to support the Italian Red Cross response activities.
I send a special salute to to my cugino Giuseppe, who is still on the road to recovery from COVID-19.
[Member spoke in Italian]