Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise in the House today in support of Motion M-155, a private member's motion recognizing Filipino heritage month brought forward by my good friend the member for Scarborough Centre.
As the member of Parliament for one of Canada's most diverse ridings, which includes a sizeable and vibrant Filipino Canadian community, it would bring me great joy to see the invaluable contributions of the Filipino Canadian community to our country, our economy and our society formally recognized in the chamber.
The richness of the Filipino Canadian community is on full display every day in Willowdale. Other communities across Canada are similarly blessed. According to the 2016 census, there are over 800,000 people of Filipino descent living in Canada. The Filipino community is the fastest growing community in Canada. Their population has grown by 27% since 2011. In short, we are truly blessed as a country.
The community is without a doubt an essential part of our uniquely Canadian mosaic and I am honoured to join my colleagues—