It is an honour to stand in the House today to mark an important anniversary that Romanians all around the world celebrate. Every year, on December 1, Romanians come together to celebrate Great Union Day, also known as Romania’s National Day—the unification of the Romanian provinces into one country, which took place at the end of the First World War, in 1918.

Romanian Canadians make up an essential part of our national character. In fact, Canada is home to over 250,000 Romanian Canadians.

Mississauga is home to close to 4,500 Romanian Canadians, who continue to contribute to the cultural, social and economic fabric of Mississauga and of Ontario.

Canada would not be the same without athletes like Bianca Andreescu or politicians like Andrew Scheer.

Mississauga’s own Bianca Andreescu, who is a proud Romanian Canadian, is the highest-ranked Canadian in the history of the Women’s Tennis Association.

Speaker, Romania today is a historically mature country whose binder has passed the test of time.

Canada has excellent relations with Romania, as evidenced by the strong political ties highlighted by shared memberships in NATO and la Francophonie.

Today, I am very happy to welcome Ms. Oana-Raluca Gherge, the consul general of Romania; Mr. Florentin Titov Gherghe, consul; and my dear friend Raul Dudnic from OMNI TV to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. I would like to take a moment to wish them and all of our Romanian Canadian friends a happy Romania National Day here in Ontario as well as worldwide. Merci.