![](https://philcongencalgary.org/public/blogs/2024/01/ph-consul-general-calls-on-new-alberta-lieutenant-governor20240129205713.png)
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 19th 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.