22 October 2020, Calgary – Philippine Consul General to Calgary Zaldy Patron paid a courtesy call on The Honourable Salma Lakhani, the newly installed lieutenant governor of Alberta.

 

During their meeting on 20 October 2020, Consul General Patron conveyed his congratulations to Lt. Governor Lakhani on her installation as Alberta’s 19^th lieutenant governor on 26 August 2020.  The position makes her the representative of Her Majesty The Queen in Alberta. She holds the distinction of being the first Muslim lieutenant governor in Canadian history.

 

Consul General Patron discussed with Lt. Governor Lakhani, who was born in Uganda but comes from a family of South Asian origin, the Filipino migration in Alberta.

 

Lt. Governor Lakhani and her cardiologist husband, Dr. Zaheer Lakhani, who was also present during the courtesy call, expressed to Consul General Patron their appreciation for the Filipino healthcare workers in Alberta who are now serving as frontline workers in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Consul General Patron, likewise, pointed out the increasing number of Filipino entrepreneurs and Philippine companies putting up businesses in Alberta and creating employment and income for the province. 

 

Noting that Lt. Governor Lakhani and Dr. Lakhani were once were stateless persons after Ugandans of Asian origin were expelled by the Ugandan government in 1972, Consul General Patron informed them of the Philippines’ humanitarian act of giving refuge to the Jews from Europe in the late 1930s and to the Vietnamese refugees from 1970s to 1980s.

 

Consul General Patron sought the support of Lt. Governor Lakhani for some of the cultural projects of the Filipino community in Alberta.