Canadian PM salutes Polish independence
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
17.09.2018 09:00
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has saluted the centennial of Poland recovering its independence and attended a Polish festival in Toronto, according to reports.
![Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Photo: Women Deliver [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://external.polskieradio.pl/files/4d1ee253-baad-4e77-a451-fa4963b2f7c6.file "Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Photo: Women Deliver [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons")
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Photo: Women Deliver [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Speaking at the opening of the two-day Roncesvalles Polish Festival, Trudeau on Saturday referred to Poland celebrating 100 years of national independence and said there was no conflict of identity between someone being proud of their Polish roots and at the same time being a proud Canadian, Poland’s PAP news agency has reported.
Ahead of the event, in a special message, Trudeau extended greetings to everyone attending the festival and said the event offered “a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Poland’s National Independence Day, the 40th anniversary of the election of His Holiness Pope John Paul II, and to highlight the outstanding contributions that Canadians of Polish descent make to our nation’s success in all fields of endeavor.”
He also said in his message that the Roncesvalles Polish Festival, which was held on Saturday and Sunday in Roncesvalles Village, Toronto, offered “a wonderful opportunity for participants to experience Polish arts, food and culture” and a “chance to learn more about the Polish-Canadian community’s rich heritage.”
After attending the event, Trudeau tweeted: "Our different perspectives, our different backgrounds, and our different stories are all part of what make our communities and our country strong."
The mayor of Toronto, John Tory, also spoke at the opening of the festival, alongside the Polish consul-general in Toronto, Krzysztof Grzelczyk, and visiting Polish presidential aide Andrzej Dera, PAP reported.
The Polish community in Canada numbers about 1.1 million, according to a census taken in 2016, the PAP news agency reported.
Toronto alone is home to around 114,500 Poles, the Polish state news agency said.
(gs/pk)
Source: PAP, Twitter