On behalf of the residents of Barrie–Innisfil, I would like to extend our warmest wishes to everyone celebrating Nowruz. May this new year bring you and your loved ones happiness, health and prosperity.

As we welcome the spring season and the start of the Persian new year, I want to take a moment to remember all those who lost their lives fighting for freedom in Iran. I stand in solidarity with those who continue to fight for basic human rights for all Iranians.

As the Persian community celebrates Nowruz around the world, they continue to remember Mahsa Amini. As life and the new year go on, so does the struggle of the Iranian people to bring freedom and justice to Iran.

I look forward to gathering with the Barrie Persian Association—not only with the Barrie Persian Association, but we also gather at the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library this weekend with our Minister of Transportation to celebrate Nowruz and, of course, Persian Heritage Month.

I also want to thank our Associate Minister of Housing, who is one of the first elected Conservative Persian MPPs in this Legislature, and, of course, the member from Carleton, also the first Persian elected member of this Legislature, for everything they stand for to bring freedom to this province.

Mr. Speaker, it’s Persian Heritage Month in Ontario, and yesterday—Monday, March 20, 2023—was Nowruz, which means “new day.”

Nowruz is based on the Iranian solar Hijri calendar and the spring equinox and is celebrated by millions of people around the world. Nowruz has its origins in the Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism and is rooted in the traditions of the Iranian people. Nowruz has been celebrated by diverse communities for over 3,000 years. Presently, Nowruz is largely a secular holiday celebrated by Iranians around the world, regardless of ethnicity, language or religion, because Nowruz is part of our cultural heritage.

Nowruz is supposed to be a time of joy. Friends and family get together to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring. We eat traditional food, including a fish and rice dish called “sabzi polo ba mahi.” We give gifts—or “eydis,” as we call them—to children.

Nowruz is supposed to be a time of rebirth, renewal and hope. Unfortunately, this year Nowruz is a bit more solemn and sombre. But Iranians are still celebrating. For 44 years, the terrorist and illegitimate Islamic regime in Iran has held the people of Iran hostage and has tried to erase our culture, heritage and history. And that is exactly why Iranians, even though they have heavy hearts, are celebrating. We’re celebrating for Mahsa Amini, for Hadis Najafi, for Kian Pirfalak, for Mohsen Shekari, for Nika Shakarami, for Majid Reza Rahnavard, for Khodanoor, for our endangered—