The President of the Republic spoke Saturday evening with Portuguese emigrants and Portuguese descendants in Toronto, telling them that they are “the pride of Portugal” for keeping the Portuguese identity alive on Canadian soil for decades.
“They showed what we are: of course we are fado, we are cod, we are caldo verde, we are Portuguese stew, we are the vira and the corridinho and the fandango. We are all these, we have a soul. We are his Cristiano Ronaldo,” said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on the penultimate day of his official visit to Canada, dedicated to Portuguese expatriate communities.
These words provoked applause and some shouts that imitated the celebration of Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal among the audience of about 400 people – according to the organization – spread throughout the huge hall of the Workers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) in Toronto.
“We are so many champions in so many areas. But the greatest champions of Portugal are you, the Portuguese people. Each of you is a champion. Sometimes you don’t know it, but you are champions, for what you have done over the past seventy years. years,” he regarded the head of state, who spoke in English.
According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, if “the president represents all Portuguese”, every Portuguese abroad represents “the whole country”, and everyone who is an emigrant in Canada “is also Canadian, Portuguese-Canadian, but above all Portuguese, and represents Portugal”.
“Portugal is made inside and out every day – and more often outside than inside,” he argued.
“You are the pride of Portugal. And I am happy to be President of the Republic of such a people, of such a diaspora, of such a community,” he added, now in Portuguese.
The President of the Republic said that the first Portuguese who emigrated to Canada came from the Azores and Madeira and a little from the whole continent, and were “generally very poor”, because “Portugal was a poor country in 1953” .
“You started your life with almost nothing. Then you brought your family here, or formed your family,” he continued, concluding: “It was a long and difficult past, but a prestigious past.”
On stage, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa called an eight-year-old boy, the youngest Portuguese member he found among those present, a symbol of the “great future” he foresees for this Portuguese emigrant community.
As he usually does at these meetings, the Head of State praised the Portuguese and proclaimed them “the best”, and Portugal, as an ancient nation with global reach, “with the strength of almost nine centuries” and “the fifth language in the world is spoken’. the world”.
“We respect everyone, but we are the best,” he declared.
This meeting, which included folkloric performances and a dinner after the speeches, was attended by the Canadian Minister of International Development, Ahmed Hussen.
Jack Oliveira, Portuguese expatriate and executive president of the Toronto union LIUNA Local 183, was the first to speak about the history of this union chapter, founded in 1952, the largest in the construction industry in North America, with approximately 70,000 affiliated members. employees and families, most of whom are of Portuguese descent.
The LIUNA Local 183 union organized this meeting in collaboration with the Alliance of Portuguese Clubs and Associations of Ontario.
Some attendees had their entries paid for by their union or association, while others paid 75 Canadian dollars (about 52 euros) to attend this “tribute to President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa”.
The President of the Republic thanked the Canadian authorities for the way they “welcomed the first Portuguese” and for “70 years of friendship”.
Earlier, the head of state visited the Gallery of Portuguese Pioneers in Toronto, opened in 2000, which tells the stories of the first Portuguese emigrants who arrived in Canada from 1953, after the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries. in 1952.
Source: DN
