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67| O akville B eaver | T hursday,A ugust 2,2018 insidehalton.com .nationalbridalshow.com | @NationalBridal September 21-23, 2018September 21-23, 2018 InterInternational Centre DAILY FDAILY FDAIL ASHION SHOWSY FASHION SHOWSY F CUTTING-EDGE VENDORS ECO-FRIENDLY OPTIONSECO-FRIENDLY OPTIONSECO-FRIENDL RETAIL SHOPPINGRETAIL SHOPPINGRET his is an Adobe® Illustrator® File tha ed without PDF Content. lace or open this file in other applications, it should be re-saved from dobe Illustrator with the "Create PDF applica dobe Illustr ompatible F option is in the I Options dialog bo ving an Adobe Illustr e As command. www.nationalbridalshow.com | @NationalBridal TICKETS ON SALE! Use METROLAND to save $3 online September 21-23, 2018 International Centre DAILY FASHION SHOWS CUTTING-EDGE VENDORS ECO-FRIENDLY OPTIONS RETAIL SHOPPING Parliamentary Secretary for Canadian Heritage andfor Canadian Heritage andf Multiculturalism Arif Vira- ni joined Oakville North- Burlington MP Pam Damoff in seeing how the Halton community is welcoming newcomers to the area. The duo recently took a tour of the Halton Multicul- tural Centre in Oakville. The centre, operated by the Halton Multicultural Council, is a community- based settlement agency that provides a variety of programs and services to lo- cal immigrant and refugee groups. During his visit Virani stopped by two ESL (English as a second language) clas- ses taking place at the 380 Dundas St. E., facility, and met with students whose countries of origin included Japan, China, Russia, El Sal- vador, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and beyond. "As much as you are learning from your teacher, we are also learning from you. That is what we do inyou. That is what we do iny Canada. We learn about oth- er cultures whether it is Pa- kistan or El Salvador," said Virani.Virani.V Virani also heard fromVirani also heard fromV staff about the services the centre offers including the Career Accelerator pro- gram for Foreign-Trained Health Professionals, the employment supports pro- gram, the newcomer volun- teer program, the transi- tional housing for newcom- ers program (funded by Hal- ton Region), English training, the community connections program and the youth settlement pro- gram. Organizers also talked about the Halton Multicul- tural Council's Multicultur- alism Day Picnic, which oc- curs annually during the summer in Oakville and in- vites various cultural groups to attend and show- case the various aspects that make their culture special. Program manager Ba- bur Mobarak said the event attracts around 2,500 people. Virani talked about theVirani talked about theV importance of events like these that bring different people together. "Sometimes people have a misunderstanding about another culture that is based on ignorance or a lack of contact and we have had initiatives in my riding and other ridings where you just bring people together and they realize they eat the same food, have the same re- strictions, have the same world view," he said. "There is so much more that is in common than peo- ple realize and they just need to have that interac- tion." Mobarak said the vac- cine for ignorance is multi- culturalism. Virani also talked aboutVirani also talked aboutV the focus the Canadian gov- ernment is placing on pro- moting multiculturalism. He said some of these ac- tions are symbolic, such as the placing the image of hu- man rights activist Viola Desmond on Canada's new $10 bill. Desmond is the first black person/non-royal woman to appear on a regu- larly circulating Canadian bill. He said the Government of Canada has also pledge $50 million toward fighting racism and discrimination and promoting diversity. Of that money $6 million will be invested in data col- lection, which Virani said will allow the federal gov- ernment to better under- stand the challenges facing certain communities so those challenges can be ad- dress through new policy. Another $23 million will be put toward promoting multiculturalism through the funding of special events, housing projects, youth mentorship pro-youth mentorship pro-y grams and more. Another $10 million will go toward helping black youth dealing with mentalyouth dealing with mentaly health challenges while a further $9 million is being al-further $9 million is being al-f located toward empowering Canada's black youth. "When you mention the things you are already doing - mentorship, leadership training, youth exchanges - that is exactly the kind of stuff that we want to fund," said Virani. During the meeting, Da- moff and Virani also provid- ed tips on how the Halton Multicultural Centre could apply for some of this fund- ing for their projects, as well as discussed the importance of the organization sharing the success stories of local newcomers with the com- munity. PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR CANADIAN HERITAGE/MULTICULTURALISM VISITS HALTON CENTRE Parliamentary Secretary for Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism Arif Virani and Oakville North-Burlington MP Pam Damoff visit with members of the Halton Multicultural Council. Virani discussed funding, promoting success stories and more during a tour on July 18. David Lea/Metroland photo DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com NEWS 3136 Dundas Street West, Oakville, ON (Bronte Rd & Dundas St.) verveseniorliving.com CALL TODAY FOR YOUR PERSONAL TOUR! 905-582-0395 Balcon ies onmos t suites!