Mr. Speaker, last month was the best month of the year, not because it was the Super Bowl but because it was lunar new year. Asian communities across my riding of Scarborough–Agincourt had the opportunity to celebrate the Year of the Dragon together with their families.

Mr. Speaker, lunar new year is a time when we remove the bad and the old and welcome the new and the good. It is an opportunity for quality family time, and to show gratitude and love towards those who are close to you. It is a time when families and cultural organizations come together to show unique and beautiful cultural performances and have feasts together.

I have to say that, this year, the celebrations were fantastic and marvellous. I had the opportunity to attend over 35 different lunar new year celebrations. I would like to thank the various cultural, seniors and business associations for organizing these jaw-dropping celebrations full of food, performances and games. It is events like these that make Ontario a truly multicultural and vibrant province.

I also had the opportunity to organize my first lunar new year celebration in my riding, where over 400 people attended. It was truly heartwarming for me to see the community come together and people from different cultures come to celebrate the lunar new year together as one big family.

I would like to thank the member for Humber River–Black Creek for sponsoring Bill 167, and thank the member from Brampton North for leading our discussion on Bill 167, Orthodox Christian Week Act.

As a government, we take pride in demonstrating our commitment to celebrating these important initiatives by passing a number of bills similar to this one for the other communities that have also done so much for our province. As Ontario is home to Canada’s largest Orthodox Christian community, it seems only fitting that we now move to designate a time to reflect and celebrate all the ways in which Orthodox Christians have helped shape our province.

It is my honour to stand up and support a bill which has a profound impact on a large number of Ontarians. I personally have a great affinity to the Orthodox Church. I am proud that my family roots are in two segments of the Orthodox Church: Armenian Orthodox as well as Greek Orthodox. My maternal grandmother is Greek Orthodox, and my grandfather is Armenian Orthodox. They are survivors of two genocides: the Armenian and the Greek genocides. My ancestors paid the ultimate price to preserve their Orthodox faith and then pass it to my generation.

My riding of Scarborough–Agincourt has the vibrant churches of St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church and St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. The two Armenian Orthodox churches are not far away from my riding. In addition, a large number of the congregation of the above-mentioned three churches reside in Scarborough–Agincourt. It is always spiritually fulfilling to attend Christmas, Easter and other masses in all three churches.

Madam Speaker, the Armenian Orthodox Church is part of the Oriental Orthodox Church. It is one of the most ancient Christian institutions. In 301 AD, the kingdom of Armenia was the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion. According to tradition, the church originated in the missions of Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus of Edessa in the first century. St. Gregory the Illuminator is the patron saint of the church.

The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem was established in the seventh century. The presence of Armenians in the Holy Land extends back to the earliest period of the church. According to historians, the Armenian Orthodox Church was the first Christian church to initiate the tradition of pilgrimage to Jerusalem.