SATURDAY, October 14 will be remembered and cherished forever by the 127,000-plus Fijian diaspora in Canada as a historical day that the Fiji flag was hoisted with pride at the Canadian Parliament building to commemorate Fiji’s independence day.

Never in Fijian history has the flag of Fiji been raised at any other country’s Parliament building. “It was not easy to do that. There was a lot of effort involved – a lot of lobbying. But this all happened with the blessings of the Canadian Government and the Official Opposition,” says Sam Basra of the Fijian Association of Ontario.

A large Fiji contingent drove to Ottawa. Some flew in from BC and Alberta. It was indeed a very solemn and emotional ceremony when the Fijian flag was raised slowly to the singing of the Fiji national anthem . The Parliament building premises were filled with cheers, applause and the hula dance when the Fiji flag reached the top of the flag pole.

Senior representatives of the Government of Canada and the Official Opposition read their congratulatory messages and praised the Fijian diaspora as a progressive, industrious and law-abiding community which has contributed enormously towards the development of Canada.
The local Ottawa dignitaries from the Indian community played a major role in assisting us in organizing the event. Chandra Arya, MP for Nepean (Ontario), Nagmani Sharma, President of the Kanata-Carleton Indo-Canadian Association, and Peter Maharaj, President of the Canadian Indo Caribbean Organization of Ottawa, took the lead in this.