Pakistan Post

I wanted to thank everyone on the committee for electing me as their Vice-Chair. My Conservative colleagues and I look forward to working with the members of th...e other parties to push for and creates more fair, sound and compassionate immigration policy. I also had a great meeting with the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. We discussed our shared interests in pushing for positive, efficient and compassionate immigration policy and I look forward to working with him in accomplishing this. I look forward to pushing for policy that helps family reunification and parent & grandparent sponsorship. #StrongerTogether #yyc #yyCFL

Day 4 of IWD countdown and here is another story of courage and strength. Moraig McCabe is a community developer (who prefers to be called a "community imaginis...t - like an activist, but with sprinkles!"). She lives in Coventry Hills with her husband, Lee. Moraig initially came to Canada as a toddler with her parents from Scotland many years ago and lived in Northern AB. Her family later moved back to the UK where she completed her education and met her husband at University. She has a BSc in Biomedical Sciences and a PhD in Molecular Reproduction & Development. They took a vacation train trip across Canada, where her husband fell in love with Alberta. They decided to immigrate here in 2009 and eventually chose to live in Coventry Hills. They love the diversity and friendliness of the neighborhood they live in. Like many immigrants that struggle to get their education equivalency in order to work in that field, she was recommended to go back to school and do some upgrading. It is difficult to not have years of research and education recognized and start all over again. Her husband found work in the mean time and instead of pursuing upgrading, she decided to get involved in volunteer work with her Community Association and other local initiatives. Moraig has over the years put in thousands of hours in volunteer work for her community! The Creating Coventry YYC project is the heart child of Moraig - as she fondly refers to it. This project looks at all the recreational spaces in the community and co-creates them to make them better. While working on this as a volunteer in collaboration with the Northern Hills Community Association and Vivo, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She continued her volunteer work while undergoing treatment and successfully overcame this! She currently works at VIVO for Healthier Generations as an Innovation Designer on the @Vivo Play Project. Her years of community work manifested into a paying job that she has been doing all this time as a volunteer. Moraig also has helped out with the Coventry Little Free Pantry and other community building initiatives. To her, community is not a physical space but a feeling of belonging where everyone is helping each other. Her advice to other women: 1. Start small! Find something you love to do and grow from there. 2. Don’t take no for an answer. You have to fail many times to finally get it just right. She hopes to get Creating Coventry eventually registered as a non-profit so the knowledge accumulated over the years can be shared with other communities as well. Thank you Moraig for allowing me to share your story. Community happens when volunteers like you bring everyone together to build better neighborhoods. The picture below is taken at the Coventry Sport Court & Rink that Creating Coventry fundraised for and built. #IWD2021 #ableg #yyc #SeeHer #youare #womenare #neyyc #celebrating #womensday #work #family #support #inspire #thankyou #community

On Wednesday, February 10th, Premier Kenney and the Minister of Labour and Immigration announced the Critical Worker Benefit. This benefit will recognize hundre...ds of thousands of critical workers in the health care, social services, education and private sectors who continue to support and provide services to Albertans during this pandemic. It offers an one-time payment of $1,200 to approximately 380,000 eligible workers which will distribute up to a total of $465 million, including $118 million through provincial funds. To read more, please visit: Alberta.ca/CriticalWorkerBenefit.

Today we acknowledge the beginning of the Catholic and Christian observation of Lent, a forty day fast leading up to the Easter weekend. Wishing all those participating, a renewed sense of hope and faith as they spend this season in fasting and prayer.