The Victims of Communism memorial, a monument initially spearheaded by Canada’s previous conservative government and a community group of Canadians of Eastern European and Asian origins called Tribute to Liberty, will proceed after the selection of a design by architect Paul Raff. The Toronto-based architect’s central design element is a massive arch, running from east to west, and comprised of […]
A Canadian national monument dedicated to the victims of dictatorial communist regimes moved forward in an important way this week, with the publication of proposals submitted by the five finalist design teams. The new monument differs in a number of ways from original plans submitted by the Tribute to Liberty group and approved by the previous Conservative government. The monument […]
The Red Cross has been present in Hungary since 1881 and much like in Canada, it provides important educational programs on emergency care, as well as offers vaccines, organises blood drives and trains volunteer nurses. Yet after an encounter with the Canadian Red Cross last night, I left very disappointed with their deplorable fundraising and pressure tactics and wrote them […]
Hungarian, British, Filipino, Jamaican, German, Slovak, Indo-Caribbean, Syrian and Muslim–these are some of the peoples and cultures that you can explore on November 26th, 2016, at the International Day Festival hosted by St. Joseph’s Parish. The Roman Catholic community is celebrating its 160th anniversary this fall and while it was originally built on parishioners of primarily Irish and French background, […]
Hungarian Ambassador Bálint Ódor published a piece entitled “A Hungarian Tribute to Canada” in a publication called National Newswatch. In this piece, Ambassador Ódor writes: “Canada is a nation that understood the message of 1956 clearly, and also extended helping hands to a large number of Hungarians who were forced to flee their homeland…By its rare display of heroism and […]
Canada showed great solidarity to Hungarian refugees in 1956/57, after the suppression of the 1956 Revolution, so this is an especially apt place to hold this commemoration–observed Ian Bradbury, founder of The Stand 2016 on the sixtieth anniversary celebration of the uprising. The Hungarian Forum of Ottawa organized the modest commemoration on Parliament Hill, in Canada’s capital city, and participants […]
The Hungarian Forum of Ottawa is organizing an English-language talk with Ian Bradbury on Thursday, October 13th, 2016 at 6:30 PM on an international social justice initiative called The Stand. Those who follow the news closely in Canada will have come across Mr. Bradbury’s name in the media over the years. In 2015, both the Ottawa Citizen and the Toronto […]
“Don’t just take pictures, actually try some of our food!”–said a smiling representative of the Embassy of Moldova at the Ottawa Embassy Chef Challenge on November 5th, 2015. The Moldovan chef, Nata Albot, offered a traditional take on a classic meal in the region, namely: stuffed peppers. The Embassy of Moldova’s table was adorned with local wines–this small Eastern European […]
This is a lighter, although I think still meaningful, story for a Sunday. The Canadian capital is getting ready to hold its second Embassy Chef Challenge on November 5th, 2015 at Victoria Hall, where each year a handful of chefs employed by foreign missions in Ottawa compete and showcase their culinary art. All proceeds from the event go to the […]
Democracy is not a right. Democratic values must be fought for and protected every day, sometimes in seemingly small ways, and even in Canada. This was the overarching message of this past Sunday’s commemoration of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution in Ottawa’s Beechwood Cemetery, organized by the Ottawa Hungarian Forum. The Forum is a fledgling grassroots community group in the Canadian […]
