Mr. Chair, it is good to be here this evening, and obviously the thoughts of the House tonight are on our friends in the Philippines. Those of us who are praying people have been praying for them over the last few days, and our prayers continue for those who have been affected by the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan.
It is truly staggering. I do not think we can really understand how many lives have been impacted by this disaster. We are hearing that an estimated 13 million people have been affected across the Philippines, with the passing of a single storm, with over 4 million people put out of their homes and more than 4,000 people who lost their lives. For us who are at a distance, it is a very difficult thing to even be able to comprehend those numbers.
Many other people have been impacted as well. There are people across Canada who have had to wait days to find out about their friends and families.
I want to quickly tell members about my area. It has only been 100 years since my area was settled, and that in itself is a remarkable story about how settlers came from around the world. They settled in western Canada. They lived together and built a society that has become a successful model and has become the heartland of the nation of Canada.
We have always relied on immigration in our province. Over the last decade, in particular, as the economy has really grown and bloomed, we have turned to other nations to send us their best, and we have relied on people coming in from other countries to expand our economy.
The Philippines has been one of those nations that has provided us with some of the best, great new Canadians. In my own small community of only 350 people, we now have 17 Filipino families. We have a manufacturing plant, and it has turned to these families and relied on them to come to our country. These are families who have chosen to live here, and they are invaluable in our community.
Throughout southwestern Saskatchewan, throughout the riding of Cypress Hills—Grasslands, we now have members from the Filipino community in virtually every community in the riding, and they bring a spirit that has been a great asset to our communities. They focus on family and friends and have a strong focus on their faith and hard work. They have become extremely valued members and contributors to so many of our communities.
While our government has been quick to respond—we have heard about that tonight and heard about the various ways we have responded—the real story of compassion is found in various communities across this country.
I would like to take a couple of minutes to talk about what has happened in southwestern Saskatchewan. We have an active local Filipino association that is under the leadership of a young man named Emilio Completo. They decided to hold a fundraiser for their folks back home. They had volunteers from communities such as the Latin American community, the local Swift Current community and communities around my riding. The response from my area of southwestern Saskatchewan was actually amazing. The local area donated $21,458, which is going to be matched by federal government contributions.
The local association has been very active over the past few years. It intends to target this money to solve some of those short-term problems that we talked about tonight and then to actually deal with some of the longer term problems as well. They want to try to take care of immediate needs in the areas that have been most devastated, and they look forward to having a good discussion in their community about how they then might move on to share in some of the things like rebuilding schools, perhaps, and other projects that will be important.
When I talked to Emilio last night about this successful fundraiser, he made the point that he really wanted to pass on his and his community's sincere thanks to the people of Swift Current and the people of all of southwestern Saskatchewan for the generosity they have shown to the Filipino people.
He also made the point that he thanked our government for the quick and generous response it has had. The minister mentioned that she was in Winnipeg last week meeting with leaders in the Filipino community, and the Prime Minister has met a number of times with leaders of the Filipino community, and that has led to good communication with them and then the type of response we have seen.
I understand my time is already wrapping up, but I too want to acknowledge the great generosity of the people of southwestern Saskatchewan and the incredible leadership of Emilio and the Filipino association in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, in bringing the community together to support people who are so far away but who need our help so much.