Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in support of Motion No. 126. I want to commend the member for Davenport for recognizing June as Portuguese heritage month and for her passion and commitment to the community.
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The story of the Portuguese presence in Canada dates back to the age of discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries. It is well documented that Portuguese explorer Gaspar Corte-Real landed in Newfoundland in 1501. His statue stands proudly in St. John's today.
Evidence of the Portuguese presence is manifest in the many places and names of Portuguese origin in Atlantic Canada. Most notably perhaps is the name Labrador, which is believed to be named after Joao Fernandes Lavrador.
Portuguese-born Mateus da Costa was Samuel de Champlain's interpreter with our indigenous peoples, and in the early 1600s might be considered the first Portuguese person to have lived in Canada.
Canada's first letter carrier was Pedro da Silva, “Le portugais”, here from 1647 to 1717. He paddled his canoe between Montreal and Quebec City delivering mail.
We have to jump 300 years to our modern day multicultural immigration system that turned a trickle of Portuguese immigrants into a veritable flood of people that would follow.
Sixty-nine men boarded the Saturnia which arrived at Pier 21 in Halifax on May 13, 1953. This marks the date that opened the doors to large-scale immigration from Portugal to Canada: 17,000 men and women of Portuguese heritage in the 50s; 60,000 in the 60s; and 80,000 in the 70s. Canadians of Portuguese heritage settled throughout our great country.
Today, 500,000 people of Portuguese birth or descent live in Canada, making it one of the largest ethnocultural communities, with the largest Portuguese communities being in the greater Toronto area and Montreal. They worked hard, with their hands, com as maos, in construction, farming, forestry, mining, and manufacturing.
My dad Joaquim “Jack” dos Santos Fonseca left Portugal for Canada a month after I was born in 1966 to escape a dictatorial government, and make a better life for his family. He had saudades, a longing, to have his family join him, and two years later my mom Maria Ernestina Fonseca and I arrived. My sister Nancy was born a year later here in Canada.
I grew up in the member for Davenport's riding in what is today called Little Portugal. My dad, who was an airline mechanic in Portugal, worked in Canada as a foreman at the Inglis plant near the CNE. My mom, who was an administrator, worked at the Toronto Western Hospital as a clerk. We found ourselves almost every weekend at Kensington Market buying fresh fish and produce for our traditional meals, enjoying an espresso coffee and reading the Portuguese papers. We belonged to the Portuguese Democratic Association and the First Portuguese Club in Toronto.
Portuguese Canadians have enriched our arts, sports, politics, business, science, cuisine, and much more. It can be said that Portuguese living here have put down their roots, and created a wonderfully unique Portuguese-Canadian culture. The community is one of the many gems that make up our great Canadian mosaic.
I want to thank the many Portuguese clubs, news outlets, specialty stores, settlement organizations, businesses, the first immigrants who, because of them and through their sacrifices, we can stand on their shoulders. These organizations allowed the community to survive and thrive in a land with a very different climate, when we get into the months of January, February, and March, with weather 10 or 20 below, and a very different culture and food. Through that community, they were able to provide all of that, and preserve that familiar culture again that they brought from the old country of Portugal that allowed them to thrive and survive.
The Portuguese community in Mississauga, and in my riding of Mississauga East—Cooksville, has contributed to the culture, heritage, faith, sports, social services, and business development of our community. Whenever the Canadian-Portuguese in Mississauga saw there was a need that needed to be addressed, they got it done. They rolled up their sleeves, raised the precious funds, and fulfilled the need. That happened when the community came together in the 1980s to build the Portuguese Catholic church, Cristo Rei, Christ the King, at Confederation and Central Parkway.
In the 1990s, they built the Portuguese Cultural Centre of Mississauga. The Portuguese club hosts functions every week of the year, where delicious caldo verde, bacalhau, and pastel de nata are served and Portuguese music, like fado, and traditional dance are performed. The club hosts the Carassauga Festival of Cultures. It is the biggest multicultural festival in all of Canada, sharing the Portuguese culture with all the communities in our great city of Mississauga.
It is with great pride that I announce the most recent project. Freshly opened this year is the Luso home for the disabled. This centre, run by the Portuguese community, is providing services to all citizens of Peel Region with disabilities.
These organizations are only viable through the lifeblood of our volunteers. They are people like Jack Prazeres, Joe Botelho, Lena Barretto, Armindo Silva, Frank Alvarez, and Tony de Sousa, and I could go on and on. I know it is a slippery slope, but there are so many unsung heros, and I would love to name them all.
Many of these worthy community initiatives take many resources to build and operate, and I want to take this opportunity to thank the many contributors. There are some organizations, like LiUNA 183 and 506 and their business manager, Jack Oliveira and his executive, that have been stellar in their support of the community.
The Federation of Portuguese-Canadian Business & Professionals and its members have also been instrumental in helping raise funds for many causes. Under the dynamic leadership of Michelle Jorge, the current president, her executive and the many past presidents and boards have come together. They understand that investing in our young people, that investing in scholarships for the community, will allow future generations to succeed and continue to keep the culture and heritage of Portugal alive in Canada.
There have been three Canadian parliamentarians who have had the opportunity to sit in this chamber: Mario Silva, who served the riding of Davenport from 2004 to 2011; the present member for Brossard—Saint-Lambert; and me. We all know it is because of the Portuguese community and its support that this has been possible. We are all very proud to be a voice here in Parliament for that community, for the many Portuguese, 500,000, across our great nation. We have ridings such as Davenport, Cambridge, Streetsville, the Brampton ridings, Kitchener, Sault Ste. Marie, London, and Hamilton. I am sure I could name every riding in the House and all would have at least a number of Portuguese who live within their communities.
It was a proud moment for all of us on the Canada-Portugal Parliamentary Friendship Group to hold the first ever Portugal Day on the Hill last year. We had another one this year, and I am sure that next year, with the proclamation of June as Portugal heritage month, it will be fantastic. We encourage everyone to come out for some really delicious food and festivity.
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I encourage all members in the House to come out and enjoy the festivities as we enrich our country. I congratulate the member for Davenport on Motion No. 126, which is long overdue.
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