TWENTY-SECOND  ANNUAL CANADA DAY CELEBRATIONS.

The 22ND annual celebrations were  held again in Toronto at the Woodbine Banquet & Convention Centre Hall, 30 Vice Regent Boulevard, on June 30, 2022.                                   

It was again a joint celebration of Canada Day and US Independence Day.  At Midnight, Canada's National Anthem was played followed by the US National Anthem. Cakes were cut for both countries.

Ms. Yumna Siddiqi was the Master of Ceremonies and also welcomed the guests. 

Hon. Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Government of Canada attended with two members of her staff.  Ms. Susan Crystal, Consul General of USA attended along with Audrey Hsieh -Vice Consul - US Consulate Toronto and Diane Del Rosario, Public Affairs Officer - US Consulate Toronto.  Ms. Dyah Lestari Asmarani, Consul General – Republic of Indonesia,  Mr. Budi K-Supangat - Consul of Protocol and Mr. Syafruddin Marzuki - Consular - Indonesian Consulate Toronto. and Mr. Cihan Yalcinkaya - Religious Attaché - Turkish Consulate Toronto also attended. 

Some other noteworthy  guests were Isa Lee -Councillor City of Markham,  Hon. Paul Chiang - MP Markham Unionville,  Imam Faisal Abdur-Razak -APMC Advisor of Religious Affairs, Sandra Yeung Racco - Councillor City of Vaughan and her husband Mario Racco.

As Mayor Frank Scarpitti could not attend, he sent a video message. 

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of this year's award to the late Emily Ng who passed away in February 2022.  She was remembered for her enthusiasm and involvement in all multi-cultural events especially the Taste of Asia Festival as she was the driving force behind it since its inception in 2003. She was remembered by MP Paul Chiang, Councilor Isa Lee, and Mansur Kanchwala.  

Mobeen Khaja and Susan Crystal presented the APMC Canada Day 2022 Award for Emily Ng to Dr. Ken Ng, Virginia Ng, Dr. Gilbert Ng & Andrew Ng .  APMC Board Members who attended were also on the stage for the presentation.  Dr. Ken Ng thanked APMC for the honour given to Emily and his family.

The script on the award was that the award was presented to the late Emily Ng "IN GRATEFUL APPRECIATION FOR HER STRONG LEADERSHIP, UNWAVERING SUPPORT, AND DEDICATION TO THE ASSOCIATION OF PROGRESSIVE MUSLIMS OF CANADA.  WE ARE BETTER BECAUSE OF HER EFFORTS."

A new feature this year was that Shazia Hassan, Imam Ibrahim Hussain, Nancy Siew reflected on "Being Canadian".  Another interesting item was a Slide Show of Past APMC Canada Day Dinners prepared by Arsalan Syed.                                                            

 We are also grateful to all those who sponsored tables. PLATINUM TABLES were sponsored by MR. ALI SIDDIQI & MRS. HUMA SIDDIQI. TD BANK GROUP, DAWOODI BOHRA JAMAAT OF CANADA, RBC WEALTH MANAGEMENT, FORTUNE METALS INC.

GOLD TABLES were sponsored by PHONETEK INC. and ISLAMIC CENTRE OF MARKHAM. 

SILVER TABLE was sponsored by DR. DILKHUSH PANJWANI, O.ONT.

REGULAR TABLES were sponsored by: MR. RIZWAN HASSAN AND FAMILY,CANADIAN ISLAMIC UNION, MR. SADRUDDIN USMAN AND MS. SARAH,

USMAN, TRANSGLOBAL SYSTEMS OF CANADA, KAYANI LAW FIRM, MASJID DARUL IMAN, Markham, Ontario, MR. MAQSOOD KHAN,  ICARE PHARMACY.

We also acknowledge and thank all our youth volunteers especially Ammar Sikander who worked hard to make this event a memorable one.

Here are some photos from the event:                 

All smiles before the cake cutting ceremony - the diplomats, MPs,  APMC Board Members and notable guests, including Madinah, Yumna's daughter and the youngest attendee	Diane Del Rosario, Susan Crystal, Audrey Hsieh and Mobeen Khaja cutting the US cake.
Huma Siddiqi, Susan Crystal, Mobeen Khajam Ehsan Siddiqi and Ammar Sikander	Mobeen Khaja, Ammar Sikander, Imam Faisal Abdur Razak, Susan Crystal, Yumna Siddiqi holding daughter Madinah, Imran Hasan and Diane Del Rosario
Mobeen Khaja, Ammar Sikander, Imam Faisal Abdur Razak, Susan Crystal, Yumna Siddiqi holding daughter Madinah, Imran Hasan, Diane Del Rosario and Audrey Hsieh	Ali, Ehsan and Huma Siddiqi, Hon. Mary Ng, Susan Crystal, Yumna Siddiqi , Diane Del Rosario and Audrey Hsieh
Award presentation to Dr. Ken Ng and children	Another award presentation picture
Another award presentation picture	Imran Hasan Mobeen Khaja, Susan Crystal and Dr. Ken Ng
Mobeen Khaja and Hon. Mary Ng	Hon. Mary Ng and Yumna Siddiqi