Advisories & News
Press Release
Consul General Orontes V. Castro Meets Virtually MPP Doly Begum who Sponsored Bill 217 “Filipino Heritage Month Act”
2021-05-27
PR-2021-17
Toronto, 26 May 2021 – A one-on-one virtual meeting was held today between Consul General Orontes Castro and Member of Provincial Parliament Doly Begum. The purpose of the meeting is for Consul General Castro to express his and the Filipino community’s appreciation officially and personally for MPP Begum’s sponsorship of Bill 217, otherwise known as the “Filipino Heritage Month Act” of the Province of Ontario.
The Bill was first introduced by MPP Begum on 20 October 2020. She fought for its passage from the First Reading, onto the Second Reading and Third Reading on 13 May 2021 when it was carried out, until it received Royal Assent and came into effect on 20 May 2021.
The Filipino Heritage Month Act of the Province of Ontario, as in the earlier Filipino Heritage Month Motions passed by the City of Toronto in November 2017 and by the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada in October 2018, “recognizes the positive impact that the Filipino Canadian community has made and continues to make in Ontario and throughout the rest of Canada and the world, as well as the countless economic contributions the Filipino community has made to Ontario for generations.”
MPP Begum is among the young generation of Canadians elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario during the 2018 provincial election and was recently appointed to a new critic role for Citizenship, Foreign Credentials, and Immigration Services, which comes as the NDP warns of a dire shortage of healthcare professionals during the pandemic. It is a new portfolio that looks into foreign credentials held by many new Canadians seeking employment for which they are qualified, instead of taking on underemployed work. As a Bangladeshi Canadian immigrant, MPP Begum values that Ontario provides equal and equitable opportunities for those who are newcomers and immigrants. She expressed continued support to the Filipino community. – END
Member of Provincial Parliament Doly Begum.