Amid the rainy and cold weather on a Saturday afternoon, the first Dr. Jose Rizal Monument in Alberta, Canada, was unveiled in Nose Creek Regional Park in the City of Airdrie on Oct. 23, 2021.
A three-foot bust of Dr. Rizal on top of a seven-foot pedestal covered with granite now proudly stands on a 36 foot x 38 foot spot within Airdrie’s Nose Creek Regional Park, where most of the gatherings of the Filipino community in the city takes place.
Consul General Zaldy Patron of the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) in Calgary led the unveiling ceremony of the monument. The installation of the Dr. Jose Rizal Monument is the PCG’s biggest cultural diplomacy project to date.
In his remarks, the consul general emphasized that the monument, the first Rizal monument in Alberta province and Western Canada, was the PCG’s “humble way of honoring the Philippine national hero, paying tribute to the hard-working Filipinos in Alberta, and promoting Philippine heritage and culture.”
The PCG implemented the project in partnership with the Airdrie City Council, the Filipino Airdrie Association (FAA), and the seven-man Rizal Monument Project Team (RMPT), which Consul General Patron formed and headed.
Muhammad Yaseen, Alberta associate minister of immigration and multiculturalism, who represented the provincial government of Alberta, Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown, and FAA president Jun Martin joined Consul General Patron in the unveiling ceremony.
The first Rizal monument in Alberta province and Western Canada is ‘a humble way of honoring the Philippine national hero, paying tribute to the hard-working Filipinos in Alberta, and promoting Philippine heritage and culture.’
The PCG and FAA commissioned renowned Filipino sculptor Toym Imao to make the Rizal bust. The bust was shipped from Manila to Calgary, then brought to Airdrie.
About 400 attendees from Airdrie and other parts of Alberta braved the inclement weather to witness the historic unveiling of the Rizal Monument in Airdrie.
“I wish to invite the Filipinos in Alberta and their Canadian friends to come to Nose Creek Regional Park in Airdrie to visit and enjoy our community’s Rizal Monument,” Consul General Patron told the Filipinos in Alberta.
Photos from Calgary PCG