Hong Kong Watch launches HongKonger Community Centre and Youth Initiative Programme in Toronto

The launch of the HongKonger Community Centre (HKCC) and the Youth Initiative Programme, co-hosted by Hong Kong Watch Canada and HongKonger Station and supported by Hong Kong Professional Network, was successfully held in Toronto on Saturday, 5 November 2022. Over a hundred Hong Kongers attended the event.

Hong Kong Watch’s Patrons Senator Leo Housakos and Garnett Genuis MP flew to Toronto especially for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The Centre was teeming with guests, including Paul Chiang MP, Markham City Councillor Ritch Lau, York Region District School Board Trustees Ron Lynn and Allan Tam, current affairs commentators and Hong Kong community leaders in Toronto.

The parliamentarians and city councillors expressed their support for the Youth Initiative Programme, saying young Hong Kong immigrants should integrate themselves into society and participate in political life in Canada. Some of them even promised to take on Hong Kongers from the Programme as interns. Jenny Kwan MP and James Bezan MP, a Patron of Hong Kong Watch, made speeches online, endorsing HKCC and the Programme.

In their opening speeches, HongKonger Station’s founder Joe Tay and Hong Kong Watch’s co-founder and Trustee Aileen Calverley welcomed Hong Kongers who have just moved to Canada. They wished HKCC could serve to keep the Hongkonger identity alive and promote Hong Kong culture and values in a multicultural society like Canada through holding a variety of activities every month. Participants enjoyed Hong Kong milk tea demonstrations and singing performances by young Canadians together, filling the Centre with multicultural vibes.