Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by congratulating the member of Parliament for Scarborough Centre for all her hard work and the dedication she has put forth to get this motion and, hopefully, this bill to this House.

I am blessed to come from a place called Steveston—East Richmond. One of the thriving communities in Steveston—East Richmond is the Filipino community. It is more than a community. It is made up of individuals who love their families and who, as has been stated, believe in faith, community and church.

I feel blessed to have gone to the birthday party of a granddaughter of one of my good friends, Willy Sinconegue. I saw the love and commitment to one another, but also the love and commitment to Canada and to the community. I was just chatting with my dear friend, Tony Rodriguez, who has just become the grand knight of the Knights of Columbus over at St. Paul's Church. When I asked him, “Why are you doing this? You're so busy”, he said, “Because I want to give back to the community”.

Members of the Filipino community are fiercely proud of their Filipino heritage or perhaps are even more fiercely Canadian. Every June 12th for the past 20 years or so, I have been over at city hall where we have a flag-raising ceremony where we are celebrating in Richmond, as I am sure is done all across the country, independence day for the Philippines. Beside that, we have the Canadian flag. We stand and we sing proudly. I do not sing that well but I do proudly sing both national anthems. That is a testament of a community that not only contributes here in Canada, but also acts as a bridge by deepening our links to the Philippines.

I mentioned earlier on the Knights of Columbus. The whole idea of giving back to the community is integral to the Filipino community. I had dinner a couple weeks back at Ed and Mercy's café and restaurant, Little Ongpin. When I go there, it is not just having a meal. It is sharing and talking to all folks in Richmond. It is not just folks of Filipino background who are there, but everyone. That is a testament that the Filipino community is not just celebrating Filipino culture but also Canadian culture.

I am sure we will officially recognize the month of June every year as a celebration for the Filipino culture and heritage. However, I would argue that it is also a recognition of Canadian culture because, as time goes on, 800,000 Canadians of Filipino background are moulding and shaping our culture. That is a wonderful thing. As our Prime Minister always says, diversity is a strength, not a weakness. It is an ongoing process where Canadians, wherever they come from, come to Canada and contribute not only to benefit their own families but also contribute to benefit Canada. They change, I would argue, for the better the nature and the culture of Canada. There is no better community to be an example of that than the Filipino community.

It has been my great honour to stand here today and to support our bill that will make June the month to celebrate the heritage of the Filipino community.

Joe Peschisolido

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