25 September 2017 – Consul General Julius D. Torres led a Consulate team on an outreach mission to Red Deer, Alberta from 23 to 24 September 2017, providing passport and consular services to more than 200 Filipinos in the town and surrounding areas.

 

The outreach mission, held at the Holiday Inn Express Red Deer North, was organized in cooperation with the Filipino-Canadian Association of Red Deer and District (FICARDD) and the Duterte Volunteers of Alberta headed by Mr. Benjamin Lindo.

 

During the two-day outreach, the Consulate was able to process 181 passport renewals, 12 notarial services, two civil registrations and nine dual citizenship applications.  Of these nine applicants for dual citizenship, six were able to join eight others who had submitted their Dual Citizenship applications prior to the outreach in taking the Oath of Allegiance.

 

Volunteers from the Duterte Volunteers and the local Filipino community assisted the Consulate team in the outreach mission by finding the appropriate venue for the outreach and publicizing the outreach mission through their community organizations and social circles.  They also acted as ushers during the outreach mission and ensured the orderly flow of people at the venue.

 

It was the Consulate’s first outreach mission to Red Deer, which is about 150 km. north of Calgary and midway between Calgary and Edmonton.  Red Deer is the province’s third largest city, and most Filipino nationals there are permanent residents who work either as skilled workers in local businesses or in the services sector (hotels and restaurants).

 

The Consulate team also attended a get-together hosted by the FICARDD at a local community center.  In his remarks, Consul General Torres said that the Consulate was pleased to undertake an outreach mission in Red Deer, which previously was merely a stop-off point for Post’s personnel on their way to outreach missions in Edmonton and areas in northern Alberta.  He also informed the Red Deer Filipino community of Consulate projects that sought to bring together the disparate Filipino communities in the different areas of Alberta and Saskatchewan, such as the first Philippine Independence Day picnic held in Wetaskiwin last June, with the goal of forging stronger networks between those communities.  He said that he looked forward to more Filipinos from Red Deer participating in future Consulate projects.