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Inter-religious Multicultural Family Festival in Toronto
Written by Qamrul A. Khanson, Secretary, UPF-GTA, Canada
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Toronto, Canada - The Universal Peace Federation in Toronto celebrated an Inter-Religious Multicultural Family Festival (IMFF) on Sunday, April 17. Honourable Armand P. La Barge, Chief of Police (Retired) of York, and Honourable David Ryan, the Mayor of Pickering, were the chief guests. The event was made possible by the blessings of Dr. Chee Hae Lee, President of UPF-Canada. This is the occasion where more than 100 attended the gathering. Rev. Paul Tamale honoured IMFF as MC of the day.
Dr. Hoossen Auckberaullee noted that this is the fourth annual IMFF, which honours its ranks with the award of Ambassador for Peace, and mentioned the leaders like Hon. Armand La Barge, Hon. Jean Augustine, Hon. Alvin Curling, and other notables from Canada for their magnificent role as Ambassadors for Peace.
Rev. Mitch Dixon spoke upon the theme "Families That Create Peace." He said that unpleasant circumstances create unhappiness and such is a vital threat leading to conflicts all over the world. Within an individual family, what makes peace is good character and attitude towards our family members. He challenged people to be true parents to their own children. Rev. Mitch mentioned Rev. Sun Myung Moon as a role model promoting love and unity among humans. Rev. Mitch played a video, A Determined Man, showing who he sustained the challenges of life in order to uplift the legacy of love within and among human families.
Suzanne Mallet, Nora Cuenco, and "Heaven's Call" entertained the audience of more than 100 people of all cultures, religions, and ages with beautiful songs and music.
Honourable Police Chief Armand La Barge began his speech by greeting Good Morning, Shalom, Assalamo Alaikum and Namaste, signifying the importance of all cultures and religious traditions. He said we as Canadians love our Tim Horton, ice hockey, and red maple leaf and express Eh to assert our values. He praised John Peters Humphrey (April 30, 1905 – March 14, 1995) as a Canadian legal scholar, jurist, and human rights advocate who authored the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Chief Armand remembered Lester B. Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) who was the 14th Prime Minister of Canada, from 22 April 1963, until 20 April 1968, who earlier organized the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis. In 1957, for his role in defusing the Suez Crisis through the United Nations, Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Canada has so far contributed in more than 50 peace missions all over the world, which is in itself a shining example of inter-religious and multicultural peacebuilding. To educate and inculcate peace through love we need organizations like Universal Peace Federation, he said. He encouraged the audience to appreciate and cooperate with UPF and similar organizations, which are for peace.
At this four annual conference, UPF awarded Ambassador for Peace certificates to Honourable Mayor David Ryan from the City of Pickering and Police Officer Denise La Barge of the York Police. Honourable Mayor David Ryan expressed his thanks to UPF Chairman Dr. Lee, Dr. Hoossen Auckberaullee and mentioned that the city of Pickering was founded in 1811 and it has religiously grown unexpectedly.
Rev. Stoyan Tadin stressed that our religious obligations should not remain in rituals but be expressed in our dealings with fellow humans where respect, dignity, and rights are maintained irrespective of diversity. Mrs. Lily Tadin reminded the audience that on June 18 at the Don Valley Hotel we will celebrate a program calling for "Canada Stands for Good Families," which is a full-day event.
Rev. Paul Tamale invited all the guests to attend the lunch organized by UPF to commemorate Inter-Religious Multicultural Family Festival.
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