 Good afternoon and welcome to BC's Multiculturalism and Anti-racism Awards. I'm Hannah Wildeyes, a member of the province's Multiculturalism Advisory Council, which provides advice to government on issues related to multiculturalism and anti-racism. I'm excited to be your MC. I'm joining you here today from Danceded, Ancestral and Traditional Territories of the Musqueam, Skamish and Swelettish Nations land. I'm honored to be a part of this event to recognize the inspiring and incredible work that's being done across BC to make this a more just, equitable and inclusive province. Joining us today is Premier John Horgan and Parliamentary Secretary for Anti-racism Initiative, Ro Chan Singh. Spoken word artist Julian Christmas will be performing for us and will be hearing from our five award recipients. To begin, I would like to introduce Kevin Kelly and his son, Michael Kelly Guerrero, from Quadland First Nations to welcome us to this event. Oh, Sam, I'll start with my traditional name, my traditional name, Salasulta. I'm originally from Swally First Nations up in Coltis Lake. I'm married to the hereditary chief of the Quadland First Nations. My wife's traditional name is Stackelson. I'm honored to be here today with my son. I think it's really important that we're all here, the people that they showed. My name is Pete Milan, and I thank the organizers, the recorders that are doing all the video. It takes everybody to make this successful. Anti-racism, racism, the awards, I'm glad you have this, but every day we get to stick together and make it better for my children, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren. This is why we're all here today. I thank the Premier for being here, John Horgan. We've done work with him numerous times, and they always respect our people as First Nations. I thank you for being here because to me it proves that you're here because you're here for yourself and you're here to support the people that are carrying out this work. And this shows to us the respect that you have for all colors, all races, who we are as human beings. We should do this every day. So with that, I'm going to let my son carry on, but I'm honored to be here. Thank you very much. Hey, C.M. Ciaia. I start today off by thanking our Cheetsle C.M. and our language that's our creator. Thanking our ancestors before us because without them we wouldn't be able to share this good medicine. Our elders that sit along with us, I've seen a couple of them in our local communities, and we're planting the seeds and paving the way for the next generation. Thanking the youth for making our community and our chief and council work hard in all the leadership, and the ones that are unborn yet. My name is Michael Kelly Gabriel. My mom is Horette Chief of Maryland, Gabriel. Her traditional name is StacroSan. With me I have my dad, Kevin Kelly, his traditional name is Lossleton. I'm so grateful to be here to honor you to ground you in the most beautiful way that we can with our prayer. I ask everybody to come here. There's lots of mud in our language. That's one mind, one heart. Ciaia is still working together. Lots of Xueli. We're all one spirit. In our communities and our cultures, you often see us sit around in circles in our lawn houses, or even when we get chairs and sit around because when you walk in, nobody's better than anyone else. Everybody's voices matter, you know. That's what our old ones share with us. The day you're born, the day you take your first breath, you're born as a gift and a purpose to bring to this world. And that's what we keep telling our children, and that's what we do in our communities, is when we, our chief and council sit at a table with our elders, they don't think of themselves, they think of the next seven generations. So we're here humbly here to raise our hands. Hi, thank you for acknowledging the traditional territory and this might be a little bit of you, a little bit of for you guys, but it means so much to our community because we've been here since time immemorial and you're recognizing the first people of the land. It's a big step and we want to honor you in the best way possible for all the gifts, all the people that are sitting with us that are going to receive these good awards for the good work that they do and share a song because there's an old one that shared with me when I was in Vancouver when there's no higher way of giving thanks in our traditional language and even in English language, you share a song. And these songs aren't, this is not a performance, this is our way of prayer. And I asked my uncle, Stephen, who used to be Lieutenant Governor, why are people so drawn to the drum? Doesn't matter what walk of life they are around the world. And he says, you remember when you're nine months being created in your mom's womb, what did you hear? Your heartbeat. It's a heartbeat of the people, but also the heartbeat of our ancestors. So we don't know what you're going through personally, you know, through this pandemic or through the journeys of life. These songs are meant to ground you so that you're here to enjoy this very moment while you're here. This is why you sit here. And we want to honor you, but also brush you off. The song that I'm going to share with you today, it's a song that came to me. It's called Ocean of Use. It came to me when I was in my partner's community to house it. I was looking out in the water and the sun was bouncing off the water and it was sparkling. It looked so beautiful. And we were surrounded by the House of People's Medicine, which is the spruce and our Stola People's Medicine, which is cedar, which is our hats. It cleanses us, it grounds us. And I remember the teachings of an old one shared with me. She shared, all water has shweli, all water has spirit. And if that's river, lake, or ocean, or even any body of water. And she says, whenever you're feeling down mentally, physically, emotionally, or spiritually, go dip your hand, go dip your foot, speak what's in your mind and your heart to that water and that water will take it away. So when this song came to me, I sang it and it made me feel really late. So whenever I share this song, when I pray in our ways, it's for each and every one of you, no matter what you're going through along your journey. If you need to be uplifted, if you need to feel a little bit better today to continue good work, this song is for you. It's meant to take off, but it's not supposed to be there and our ancestors are going to brush it away. So the song is called Ocean Views. And this is how we're going to start the day. If you ever came to our ceremonies, you would welcome me ashore if you came through canoes with the song to make sure that you came in a good way to welcome you to our territory. Or when you're at one of our ceremonies, that's what you'll hear in these communities. They'll open with the song. So Aitchka, when we raise our hands high, that means we have the utmost respect for each and every one of you. So just if you see us go like this or go like this, that's what it means. So the song is called Ocean Views. Aitchka Siam to the organizers. Thank you to Premier and John Horgan for joining us. And that's the teachings of our old ones shared with us. Your presence speaks loud even if you don't share any words. So thank you for being here, representing our local communities and the good people I do is good work. An opening of the highest honor. I would now like to welcome Premier John Horgan to say a few words about the importance of these awards. Thank you very much, Hannah, for that introduction. And I lift my hands and say Aitchka Siam to Kevin and Michael for getting us started in a good way. I'm coming to you this evening from my office on the unceded territory of the Lacongan speaking people, the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nation. And I know how important it is to hear the power of the drum, the power of the people before we start on what is an extraordinary evening after 12 months that none of us have ever expected we would live through. A global pandemic, COVID-19. It's changed how we look at each other. It's changed how we interact with each other. And regrettably, in many instances, it's brought forward actions of hate, actions of sorrow for the vast majority of us. But the good news is our resilience and our common goal of keeping each other safe, making this the most inclusive society we can possibly make it, has been our objective throughout this past 12 months. It's very important that we listen to the words that Michael said as a youth. He very much learned wisdom from his elders that we all need to look and focus on the water, how it can cleanse us, how the land, how it can nurture us. But it will not, it will not get us to where we want to go. Well, we still allow hate to take place in our community. Today's event is about celebrating those that have been standing up to racism, those that have been fighting for justice and tolerance and inclusion here in British Columbia. All of the nominees, all of the people that are here this evening have one common purpose, and that is to realize the best potential of everyone who has the blessing of living in this great place. The place of indigenous people since time immemorial, the place where many of us have come just recently. I'm the son of an Irish immigrant. I am very much focused on making sure that I make a contribution while I'm here in British Columbia to bringing people together. The diversity of nations who have sent people to British Columbia to put down roots and to make this a better place, a place of tolerance, a place of inclusion. That's what we're celebrating today. The multi-cultural, semantic racism wards are an opportunity to acknowledge those that have gone above and beyond the call to help us get to that place we all want to get to. I'm very excited to participate today. I know we're going to meet some extraordinary people. We're going to hear some extraordinary stories, and that is what it is like to be in a British Columbia that rejects hate, rejects intolerance, supports love, supports inclusion, and learns from the wisdom of the elders, as Kevin has shown us this evening, that if we focus on the best in each one of us, the best for all of us will be achieved. Thank you for letting me participate today. I look forward to an exciting evening. Thank you, Premier. It's great to have you here with us today. In November of last year, the province signaled a strong commitment to anti-racism when Premier Horgan introduced Seri Green-Tumber and Medley Rochon Singh as the first parliamentary secretary for anti-racism initiatives. Together we'll be announcing the award recipients today. I'd like to welcome Rochon Singh to say a few words about what the government is doing to tackle racism in BC. Good afternoon, and thank you, Hannah, for the introduction. I'm joining you today from the traditional territories of the Lekwangans, speaking peoples of the Eskimold and Songi's first nations. We are grateful for the history, traditions, perspectives, and ways of life that are foundation of this great territory and contribute to our strength and prosperity. Thank you, Kevin Kelly and Michael Kelly Gabriel, for your opening welcome to start our event in the right way with a welcome song. I'd like to acknowledge members of the BC Multicultural Advisory Council who are joining us virtually, including Hannah Woldeis, who is our emcee this evening. I would like to acknowledge former awards nominees and members of our Resilience BC Network. Thank you for all you do to offer support and advice on issues of diversity, inclusion, racial oppression, and discrimination. It is important to talk about why we are here today. Over the last 12 months, the increase of anti-Asian and anti-Indigenous racist incidents as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and global marches for Black Lives Matter have shown us that there's more to do to address hatred and individual and systemic racism in our province. Now, more than ever, we must celebrate diversity and shine a light on those who are working to make BC a safer, more inclusive province for everybody. This event is a chance to recognize and celebrate the people and organizations whose outstanding achievements and leadership strengthen and enhance multiculturalism and anti-racism across BC. It's particularly fitting that we come together for this event on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination because there's no place for hate in BC. Everyone in this province deserves to live free from fear and oppression and to feel safe and welcomed regardless of their race, culture, faith, gender, or sexual orientation. Our government has made a commitment to tackle racism and we are working on some key initiatives. We will be introducing legislation for race-based data collection to modernize sectors like policing, healthcare, and education. We will create BC's first ever anti-racism act to reinforce our commitment to combat racism across the province. Just this week, we launched a province-wide and anti-racism awareness campaign as part of recent 1.9 million investment to make BC safer and more inclusive for everyone. And we have struck a special committee to reform the police act to address systemic racism. The issue of racism will not be resolved by these actions alone. We need everyone in BC to stand together in this fight and to show that discrimination in any form will not be tolerated. Now, without further ado, let's celebrate the people of our province who are standing up to racism and making our province an even better place to live, work, and play. I'll hand things back to Hannah to begin our awards show. Thank you, Parliamentary Secretary. As a member of the province's Multiculturalism Advisory Council, I look forward to working with you in the upcoming years. We share your vision of BC. A true, a truly, truly works. Sorry. We share your vision of a BC that truly works for everyone and stand beside junior commitment to tackle racism and discrimination in all its forms. Now it's time for the awards. I'll begin by outlining the three categories and then Parliamentary Secretary, we share our honorable mentions before announcing our award recipients. Our first award of the evening is Intercultural Trust. There are two recipients of this award, which is provided to an outstanding organization or individual for their work and building intercultural trust and understanding and reducing racism and hate between communities. Thank you, Hannah. For the Intercultural Trust Award, our two honorable mentions are Yvonne Olson from Wild Rock for her use of music to bring together youth from different backgrounds to send the message of respecting each other and lifting each other up instead of tearing others down. And Herpuginsing Atwal from New Westminster for his work to unite people of different cultures and religions and his commitment to volunteering and learning to encourage further unity. Thank you both for the incredible work you are doing in your communities. Now it's time to announce our first award recipient of the day. Khasum Satliya Osal, Elder Rose Henry from Victoria. Elder Rose Henry is recognized for her work in breaking down barriers and standing up for the rights of the most marginalized, racialized and dispossessed communities in DC and beyond. Congratulations, Elder Rose. Please tell us a little bit about what drives your work and how you are tackling racism. Okay. Oh, right. That's a really good attempt at pronouncing my traditional name. I come from the Telalum people, which in the English translation of Islam, and it's the nation that is the furthest north of all the Coast Salish territory. And I'm currently residing here in Matulia, a.k.a. Victoria. I came here originally back in the 1980s to go to school, because I see education as a very important tool to help lift not only my family, but my nation out of poverty. And so what I found was that there's a whole new area that we need to address. You know, I learned a lot about racism based on my own experience. And I saw that there was glitches in the system that needed to be corrected. And so over the years, I have worked with many different nonprofit agencies regarding homelessness, poverty, First Nations community agencies to, you know, traveling to Durban, South Africa in 2001, where it was the first time that I ever felt comfortable speaking about racism. And so when I came back, when I came back to this land, it's a very uncomfortable subject to be talking about. It's not really appealing to people, but we have to correct it. We have to correct it if we're going to grow as a community and as a nation where people can, you know, be proud of who they are and, you know, not have to worry about, you know, if they're going to be safe, you know, with the things that are going around with the growing number of missing and murdered Indigenous people or, you know, the growing number of homeless people. And so the last 18 months, I began to do some work for social change at the local level by, you know, taking my experiences of all these different nonprofit agencies. And I started working with other cultures, other nations, and I worked, you know, with the Black community with SNEWAP, you know, and I began working with, you know, the missing and murdered men, women, and children in Cowichin, and we started, you know, addressing a lot of things about 18 months ago, and then along came a pandemic. And I thought, what do we need the most? Do we need people who have our heart? Our seeklia. Our seeklia, we need to follow that. And I thought, how are we going to do this in the middle of a pandemic when everybody's supposed to be staying in a small bubble? And I'm like, people are going to need food. They're going to need to be reassured that we're going to be okay when we come out of, you know, this pandemic. They're going to be, you know, needing a lot of PLC. And that was something that I thought I could really offer, you know, and letting people know that, you know, I have a growing number of homeless people that I've become accustomed to working with. And I thought, this is what we can do, feed the people. So about 15 months ago, I started giving out sandwiches and fresh fruits to people on the streets. And it's just snowballed. It's just snowballed from that point where all of a sudden, you know, the people from, you know, from the First Nations to the Black community came forward with food and said, let's work together on this. And this is what we did. And this is what we've continued to do. And now, you know, we've been able to provide food to families that were in lockdown. We've been able to continue to provide food for the people out on the streets. And, you know, I'm like, what's life going to be like at the end of this pandemic? I want to give everybody a great big hug and say, yes, we did it. I want to continue to share, you know, and tell everybody, I miss, you know, being able to give them hugs. I miss so much. But, you know, during this pandemic, I've also heard the sad stories, you know, like, you know, I've lost two of my nephews during this pandemic and, you know, not being able to put closures there. And I'm like, okay, I just, I just want to just reassure everybody that we're going to get through this together one step at a time. And remember, Natsuma, we're one. So I say hi to you. Thank you. I'd like to give special acknowledgement to thank the people who put my name forward for this award because I've never received anything like this, because what I do with bringing back, you know, homeless people and people from other nationalities, it's just an everyday part of my life as to who I am. So I say hi to Kaseyam and I thank you to everybody for the work that you're doing. Thank you, Elder Rose, for, thank you so much for sharing your story and your commitment to give voice to the underrepresented in our province. Our second recipient is Harman Singh Pandey from Burmese. Harman is being recognized for using his position on several boards and as co-founder of two nonprofit organizations to bring together youth and courage, anti-racist action and engage the community in intercultural conversation. It's great to have you here, Harman. Please tell us more about what motivates your work. Good afternoon, Premier John Horgan, Parliamentary Secretary Ratna Singh, MC Hannah Waldez, respected elders and speakers, and my fellow nominees. I come to you today from my home in Burnaby on the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples. The Scottish writer George McDonald said, to be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved. And when I certainly do feel the love that comes along with this award, I'm humbled by the tremendous trust that the BC Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Awards panel has placed in me and my fellow 2021 recipients. Accepting this award today is a privilege and responsibility that I do not take lightly. The Intercultural Trust Award is about building and uniting community. That's what I'm most passionate about, and that's what I've tried to do over the better part of my life. I've built a united community through my arts mentorship work with youth from different backgrounds in song creative mentorship association of Greater Vancouver, through my mental health advocacy with the South Asian Youth Mental Health Ambassadors program, and through my co-founding of such community hub, which seeks to eliminate cultural, linguistic, and racial barriers to accessing social services and healthcare for vulnerable and underserved communities in British Columbia. The values of multiculturalism and anti-racism are inseparable from my work as a teacher in the Surrey School District. Racism and hatred are learned and they can be unlearned. In their place, we must proactively teach our children to trust, love, understand, accept, and appreciate one another. I'm fiercely proud to be part of a vibrant community of anti-racist educators that's making these intentional instructional choices in classrooms across BC every day. I'm also proud of another community I belong to. The literary community. I recently published GERPREAD GOES TO GERDWANA understanding the sick place of worship, a children's picture book. In literature, as in life, representation matters profoundly. As the saying goes, we cannot be what we cannot see. I'm so hard to see that this little book is having such a big impact on building bridges between people and building confidence within sick children. I began my remarks by speaking of trust, and that's how I'll close. It's a spelling lesson, actually. I am an elementary school teacher, after all. There is no I in trust, but there is us. And it's up to us, all of us, in this beautifully diverse province to pledge on this the International Day for the elimination of racial discrimination, to earn each other's trust, to nurture it, to strengthen it, and then most importantly, to do the tough anti-racist work together so our trust endures and builds a more inclusive, equitable, and just British Columbia for everyone. Thank you. Thank you for your commitment to diversity, Herman, and congratulations on your award. I would like to welcome Hannah back to introduce our performer for the event. It's time for a special performance. Julian Christmas is a Vancouver-based activist, educator, community organizer, and award-winning poet. Her work has been featured in numerous online publications and collections, including The Havington Post and The Great Black North. CBC Books named her as 2020 writer to watch. Her first book, The Gospel for Breaking, a poetry collection, draws up on her family history, Quailenage, and political landscape of racialized life to create a rich collection of poems. Please join me in welcoming Julian Christmas. Thank you for that introduction. I join you today from the unceded and unsurrendered territories of the Musqueam, Slewa Tooth, and Squamish nations. It's an honor to work and learn on these territories, and it is a responsibility to stand in solidarity. It is also an incredible gift to be in community with so many wonderful humans and to be called to speak in this moment. Thank you. Today we gather in celebration and we gather in sadness. We gather across vast distance, and yet we draw each other near again. We call on one another to witness, to be witnessed, to offer care, and to be cared for. We gather. May my words be a prayer to whatever deity lifts you through the darkness, whatever strength you have collected to carry you forward. I honor and am deeply honored by the work you continue to do, no matter the obstacles laid in your path, because you know, as Angela Davis reminds us, that freedom is a constant struggle and our love made action in community is the salve that makes it possible. We have lost so much already, and yet again we mourn. We stand with our beloved communities who see in their own mirrors reflections of the faces that were stolen from the streets, from the barricades, from massage parlors, and their own beds. This is a prayer to whoever is listening. A prayer for grace, for gentleness, for justice, for fortitude, and wisdom. More than enough to move us forward again into the light of day. This is a prayer for the hands that hold us in our most vulnerable moments. The hands that heal us in profound ways. A prayer for those who recognize the humanity in every patient, client, student, child. For the hands who hold the protest signs, unwilling to relinquish or diminish the value inherent in every human being. The whole spectrum of ability, disability, neurodivergence, and capacity, beloved. A prayer for those who hold sacred our stories, our languages, our medicines, our knowledge. Your work is blessed. Your work is seen. You whose skin spans a thousand shades, kissed by the sun. You are blessed and highly favored. You who face uncertainty and regardless of fear or persecution, step clear-eyed into the future of possibility. I come here to honor your deep knowing. Your fight for a just society that is not one with tear gas or artillery, but instead one that thrives on the nurturance and resourcing of our communities. You in service of transformative and restorative justice, you in practice and in search of new modalities beyond the mere survival we have been handed, I come here to honor you, who stand on the front lines, defending bodily autonomy and choice, protecting the lifeblood of this planet, putting your bodies between the waters and the poisons that would threaten them. You who remind us that we are on stolen land and what the hell are we going to do about it. I honor you, who society too often ignores and devalues at its own peril. I witness your enduring love for community members missing and murdered. For those street involved and underserved, I will stand by your side as long as I am able. May we gather together again. This is a prayer to the ancestors. May they continue to stand with us in this unceasing work. May we feel them at our backs always so that we may know that we are only a small part of a continuum of love so enduring it brought us here together across oceans, across land, through wars, oppression, and illness. In spite of all the odds, this is a prayer for the front lines, for those swallowing hate crimes with their morning news. Carrying a funeral procession between their shoulder blades, it is not an answer. It is not a convenient lie. It is a prayer, a wish. A spell of protection may be an offering of gratitude for sure. A reminder of your tenacity if you need it. A reflection of your undeniable conviction. It is an acknowledgement of all you do. All you have done. All you will do, we see you. We see you. May your phenomenal love be witnessed. May you receive all that you need. And may your cup overflow. May you release what you are holding. May you be held when you need it. And may we keep going. And may we rest when we need to. And may we keep going. And may we find love in abundance. And may we keep going. And defy any force or system that would seek to divide us. May we gather together in celebration once more. I shake. Thank you. Thank you so much, Julian, for that wonderful performance. Next is our Breaking Barriers Award. This is given to individuals or organizations who are tackling systemic or institutional racism and reducing barriers for marginalized communities. There are two awards presented for this category. For our Breaking Barriers Award, we have two honorable mentions. Sharanjit Kaur Sandra and Ian Rocksboro-Smith from Abbotsworld for the work with the race and anti-racism network at the University of the Fraser Valley, which is encouraging students on and off government posts to come together as allies and advocates standing against racism. And Uqar Singh Tartley from CERI is working to address systemic racism, including gaps for BIPOC communities, particularly around the health and education systems. He has also developed a free overdose intervention amp available in multiple languages to help individuals identify and respond to an opioid overdose. Thank you both for all you are doing to break down barriers and support communities that are impacted by racism. And for our awards recipients, first we have Stephanie Allen from Vancouver. Stephanie is nominated for her advocacy for Indigenous and Black communities to address systemic racism and her work as a founding member of Hogan's Alley Society to provide supportive housing to those most at risk of homelessness. Welcome, Stephanie. Please tell us more about your work and what the award means to you. Thank you, Premier Hogan, Parliamentary Secretary Singh, those who nominated me and selection committee members. I want to acknowledge that today I'm speaking from the ancestral and unceded lands of the Musqueam Squamish and Slewa Tooth Peoples. As a descendant of enslaved people brought to this hemisphere, I stand in solidarity with Indigenous peoples and commit myself to working in good relations. I accept this on behalf of the colleagues and community members I work alongside who are dedicated to building a society where all members are afforded the same access, opportunity and resources to live up to their highest potential, free from exclusion of any kind. Race is a construct that was invented to justify the hoarding of power, resources and land by a few while subjugating many. It was an easy classification because people can be quickly sorted by the presence of melanin in their skin. Over centuries of doing this sorting and excluding all over the world and right here in BC, systems have been instituted that maintain a racial hierarchy that put white people at the top and racialized people at the bottom. To maintain this structure, state violence, miseducation, social norms have all been used to reinforce it. Meanwhile, people relegated to the bottom have never stopped fighting against this unfair and unjust subjugation. This is really how white supremacy became embedded in all aspects of our society. Now, where privilege exists, there resides the most power to make change. That's why the antidote to this system must include white folks doing this work alongside us. Our destinies are very much bound to one another because we all live in the same home and what befalls one befalls us all. Racism is just one arm of the monster of oppression in our society, one that is threatening to harm everyone when we consider how greed threatens our entire ecosystem, how poverty is driving more people into homelessness, how accumulated trauma is driving more people into addictions and mental illness. We must all work together to beat back this monster of oppression. As my mother says, many hands make light work. I thank her for teaching me to be proud of who I am and for teaching me to stand up for justice. And what is justice if not love and humanity taking bold and courageous action? Thank you again. Thank you, Stephanie, and congratulations on your award today. Our second award goes to the IBEW Local 993, represented by Glenn Hilton, Molly Rutledge and Angie Camel. They are being recognized for their work to get more women into the trades and break down construction culture, especially for Indigenous and immigrant women. Thank you for joining us. And please tell us about what motivates your work for a more inclusive construction sector. Hello. Thank you. I'm extremely honored to be here today, especially even more so since we started this awards program today. To be included with so many people that go out of their way every day to make this province better, make this world better. And our organization is getting an award for just doing the right thing. We have to represent the demographics and the reflection of our community. We have to include more women in our efforts. And if we are Northern British Columbia, Central and Northern British Columbia, not including the Indigenous peoples to build the province, then we're doing them a great disservice and we're doing ourselves a great disservice. So I thank you again for this award and I'll pass it over to you next to Molly. And I forgot to include that we are on the Sequipnik Wulu, unceded territories outside of Kalimps B.C. Thank you, Gunn. I am speaking to you from the unceded territories of Sequipnik. This is an honor to have I BW-993 receive the breaking barriers award Thank you to our nominator, Corey Anderson-Fennel from the building trades. I have been with I BW-993 working as a Red Sea electrician. I have seen an amazing amount of change in the workplace and in society on views of women working in the trades, multiculturalism and racism. It has been fantastic to be part of an organization that has policies and training opportunities in place that worked toward promotion of women in the trade, multiculturalism and elimination of racism. Because of I BW-993's efforts to break barriers, I have gone from being the only woman on a job site to one of the women on the job site. I'd like to introduce Angeline Camille. We can wait when it's close. I just wanted to say thank you for and that I am so grateful for being a part of a team that works very hard every day to break down barriers. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That works very hard every day to break down barriers for the women and people of color in our trade industry. I look forward to the future, to our future endeavors in the I BW cooks gem. Thank you. Thank you all for your dedication to making BC more inclusive and welcoming for all British Columbians. Before we introduce our last finalist, And I will take a moment to tell us about the award. And congratulations to all of the recipients. Our last category is Emerging Leader Award. This is given to an outstanding youth or young adult, 15 to 30 years of age, for their work in building intercultural trust, tackling racism, or reducing barriers for marginalized communities. Let's start with our honorable mentions for our last category. First, we have Kiranjeet Shokar from Vancouver, nominated for Empowering Student Voices and Building Their Leadership Skills, as well as supporting migrant communities throughout her volunteer work. And Erin Belondo from Lake Colchon is working within the Colchon First Nation to build intercultural trust and address racism through the Resilience BC Anti-Racism Network. Thank you both for your incredible work to challenge racism and make our communities more inclusive. And our final award recipient is Wang Mangdia from Burnaby. Mangdia is being recognized for working to address anti-Chinese racism, breaking stigmas for international students, and supporting people facing homelessness through her volunteer work in the community. Mangdia, congratulations. Please tell us a little bit more about what motivates your work in the community. Good afternoon, everyone. I am Wang Mangdia. Thank you, Premier John Hogan, Parliamentary Secretary Richnathy and the community for honoring me this award. I'm super happy to be the emergent leader. And I have to say that I cannot do it just by myself. It is a team honor. I'm extremely thankful for people from Tianjin Temple, many of whom have inspired, encouraged, and supported me alongside. Tianjin Temple is a place that provides me with the platform to be the youth leader in the past five years and help me and my peers to break down the stereotype between different ethnic groups and populations. At the beginning, I got involved in the Vancouver Outreach Project because I wanted to know the community better and those volunteer hours are very useful when it comes to my schooling. But then, the more I got involved, I realized that we are all the same people. We are all contributing to the community and we should not treat people differently because of the color of the skin, the clothes they wear, their socionomical status, or whether they're located on Vancouver downtown east side or not. There was once a less fortunate people come and high five with me when I was distributing sandwiches and the care packages on downtown east side. He told me that he saw me two weeks ago and was really glad to meet me again. He has been helping on his neighbor's garden for a while to exchange for meals. He told me that he doesn't want to solely rely on government subsidy, but rather being a use for men and showcasing his value for the community. He said foreigners and warm smile kept reminding me why I am here and motivated me to promote this initiative deeper and further. The next thing I know is that I have met so many wonderful friends from diverse backgrounds also believing that everyone should deserve the same love and care. Once again, I'm extremely thankful to receive this award and I'm receiving this award on behalf of everyone that worked together with me in this project over the past five years. So shout out to Jeffrey, Masa, Cheryl, and all the volunteers from Tianjin Temple from the local universities, local high school. Thank you all you guys for all the support and I hope by receiving this award I can inspire more young people to come out and to take actions for what they believe in and to make our community a better place. Thank you, everyone. I am Juan Mundia, I'm the Emerging Leader. Thank you, Mundia, you're doing so much to help lift others in your community. Congratulations on your award. The recipient of the Emerging Leader Award also receives a $5,000 grant to be donated to a non-profit of their choice. This year, Mundia has decided to donate to the Chinese Toism Guan-Kang Association in Canada. This year, we received more than 70 nominees. Each one inspirational in their own right. Every nominee is deserving of recognition for their commitment to support those impacted by racism and to foster diversity and inclusivity in our province. The depth of your work is not only inspiring but motivating as your commitment has no limit. Thank you all for what you do. Your work is making a difference in every way. You are an inspiration to so many across the province and we are stronger in our fight against racism with you standing alongside us. Now I would like to welcome Hannah for our closing. Congratulations to all of our recipients. My thanks to everyone who joined us today, to Premier, Parliamentary Secretary, Kevin and Michael, Jillian and our award recipients. Your work is an inspiration to so many and you are making a lasting difference in this province. To everyone watching at home, let's all do our part to stamp out racism. Whether it means calling it out when you see it, educating yourself or others, putting yourself in someone else's shoe to try and understand what their experience is like and a person of color at a different culture. We're all different and that's what makes us so interesting and unique. Let's celebrate our diversity and go to the extra steps to make a difference in lives of others. As we say goodbye, I would like to welcome Kevin and Michael back for some final remarks before we close. Thank you for joining us. Hello everybody. Hello C.M. In closing, I just really wanted to thank Melon for the call. I really want to thank you for the respect that she had for us as Quampland, my wife's territory. And I really want to thank the ones that got awards, the ones that support the ones that get awards. It's in that I really hold my hands up regardless of where you come from. I never did this before respecting the land you're on. We're just numerous times where you live, whether you're on an island, whether you're a couch, whether you're a hideer, whether you're a high slope, get them out, slam and stallow. This is how our people are. And listening to some of the speakers or our culture is very basic and very easy, but the biggest part of it is respect. My wife, stock was on as a chief, but as a mother, I always said to my each children, each one of them, she says to them, treat people the way you want to be treated. This is what she said as a mother, not as a chief. If we all live this way, life would be easy. Sometimes if you forget who we are, like the young lady said, we have different colors skin. We all play drums, a little bit different, but the only thing is you gotta respect other people's cultures too. I thank John Horgan for being there to bring this back to his government and how important this is. If we all stick together, this circle is only gonna grow. Once again, I thank you, Milan, for the honor of our honor to be here for you and all the ones that wanted it. This is only gonna grow and it's only gonna get bigger and better. It's gotta take it one day at a time. So here's my son, Michael. A swell CIO, once again, I wanna hold my hand side to all the people that are doing the good work that they do. It's not work in their eyes, it's a passion that they have inside their mind and their heart. And when you have that passion, your spirit carries you. And you know what, when you lead with your, that's what my mom shares with me, no matter what we do with our lives, is that if you do it with a clear heart and a good mind, clear heart and a good mind, there's no doing bad. If you do it, kill people with kindness is also another thing that my grandma shares. And don't point at people, because she shared with me, if you point at someone, there's always three fingers pointing back at you. Now once again, treat people the way you wanna be treated. You know, people forget that every day. You don't know what anybody's going through behind closed doors. I just wanna share one story. And we were doing a ceremony this one day, I was sharing this with my dear friend over the phone. And we're at a high school and this principal had such a deep impact on my older sister's generation. We respected our community, respected our culture, who we are as a people. And we developed a good relationship. And that's just taken a step forward in our culture. If you wanna get to know us, get to sit down and break bread, share a meal together. No time, no time. Sit there and listen with an open mind and open heart. And I remember it was an elementary school and also high school combined. And we were sharing about the times, where our culture was not accepted. If we were doing this back in the day, a long time ago, we would be arrested. We'd be thrown in jails. There are certain stories about people painted masks to the color of the land, the landscape, if that's brown, green or black. So if police officers in the coming, they're very, so they sort of be hidden easier. Those are real stories of our people. There's sacred places where our people used to potlatch, used to hold ceremonies in secret so that they could still practice their culture. And now the beautiful thing is, everything flipped. And that's the good work of all the people, like Rose and all the elders before us, our chief and council now, and people bringing this conversation to the table. Everybody's equal. Everybody's no different than anybody. That's one of the things that my dad says, if you cut us open, we all bleed red. We all bleed red. We're no different. And I remember we spoke a little bit like that about how it was hard for his generation growing up. And I remember we finished and they were walking out in a single line file, grade 12 all the way down to grade one. And I remember these two to three little boys came up and they said they were from grade two and they shook all of our hands and they said, sir, I'm so sorry for what your people had to go through. I'll make sure to take that home and be the witness that I am because that's what we are, witnesses to our culture and share it with my mom and dad and my grandparents and this will never happen. It is their next generation, the youth, the youth that sit with us, you can hear all the stories that they have. They're gonna make the change and be the role models that our community needs to guide us in the good journey that we are. There's gonna be a day we're gonna live in harmony and we're gonna be accepted, all of us, all our cultures, because all our cultures have beautiful things to take away from them. It doesn't matter where we are. There was a program from Fine Arts where my cousin used to go to school. They had a butterfly, it's called the butterfly program where they funded and they put wifi towers into a local community that couldn't afford it so that they could learn about our urban culture but also they can learn about what they learn about in their culture in Africa. And at a chance, they had a chance of four representatives to come down and they went into our sacred place to our long house. And I sat with one of the guys and his dream, his only dream that he wanted to do is he wanted to become a cook. And he was all the way from Africa and I was sharing about like how we're talking right now about our teachings of how we walk in life. And the beautiful thing is he looked at me and says, your teachings sound like the teachings that my grandpa shared with me. He says, the only difference is mine has a line of why culture with it. You know, we're no different than everyone else. We share a beautiful culture, we grow, we learn and it's because of you people, all the ones that we heard today, you know, you made my heart and my spirit strong through the good things that you do. Continue to do the good things. You deserve to be recognized. Take the words from Premier Horgan and the ones that organize this. Take it to heart when you're feeling down and you're feeling like you don't have that much energy. Remember this day, you know, we'll pick your spirits up. Share what you learned today. Share with all your family. But I just want to honor you and thank you for all the good things that you do. And once again, we start with a song and we end with a song. You know, we started the song to brush off any of that heaviness that was there and so that you're fully here to just join us today online. Even though we're not all together physically, we're there spiritually through this song. I ask our ancestors to come down once again because I don't know where you are if you're at home or you're in your office to give you that prayer to be with you if you need to travel home because we don't know how far you have to travel. And this is what we do in our culture. We start with a song and end with a song to add that prayer so you make it home safe to your wife, your husband, you know, your son, daughter, your dog or your cat, you know. And just overall, love people you think that needed the least. So with that, I want to raise my hands high. This is a thank you song. It came to me during our salmon ceremony. My grandpa Herb, he's one of our people that share a lot about our culture, brought our culture back to our community and we asked him after our ceremony was everything good. And he said, everything was good, but you forgot one thing. You need a song for when your men, children or women come out and they hold their hands up to the guests or to your family, thanking them for taking the time out of their day and sharing their gift and sharing their time with you and being a witness. So this song is like a journey song to end the day, but also when we hold our hands high, hands high, it's the thank you for all the gifts that you bring to Canada because Canada is one of the most, Canada is the most beautiful place in my eyes because we have so much diversity and everyone's accepted. You know, we go to America as native people, you know, we deal with racism, just being who we are, you know, because of our skin color. But when we come here, you see people from everywhere. You go to a class, you see a classroom full of kids, they don't look at each other and they don't think anything's any different than anybody else. And that's what we have to take from what they, they're doing even as a younger generation. Now, as we are adults and elders, re-change and re-learn and educate the older generation and then the cycle will be broken. You know, then it's a cycle of healing. But I wanna send a song for you guys. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your gifts to give you strength for your prayer, give you prayer for your safe travels home. Once again, thank you for the organizers, Premier Horgan and all the recipients and congratulations on the good work that you do. All right, check us out. Oh, oh.