Initiatives such as the Cultural Week of the House of the Azores of Winnipeg, which celebrates its tenth edition this year, “acknowledge the value of the Azorean community in Canada” paying “a tribute to our traditions and asserting the importance of the Portuguese community settled in this country,” said the Regional Secretary for the Economy on Sunday.
Vasco Cordeiro spoke during the opening ceremony of the 10th Cultural Week of the House of the Azores of Winnipeg, which started on Sunday and runs until next weekend, and stressed the fact that this initiative demonstrates “the growing importance of the Portuguese communities, particularly of the Azorean, which have earned a relevant place in their host communities.”
For the Regional Secretary for the Economy, this type of initiatives is, therefore, “a demonstration of the existence of a fully integration, whether of the generations who have departed from the Azores to Canada, whether of the second and third generations of Luso-descendants who continue to show a great pride in their roots.”
 “This cultural week, being of the entire community, will always be a celebration of Azorean traditions, and a moment of affirmation for those who left to live here as well as for those who were already born here and continue to respect and live the traditions of our Region,” said the Regional Secretary for the Economy.
Therefore, Vasco Cordeiro urged, “the Azorean communities to develop their action in order to achieve an ever greater integration into Canadian society” as an in-depth integration, “will bring greater representation and participation in Canadian public life without forgetting their roots.”
According to the Regional Secretary, this initiative demonstrates precisely that Winnipeg “is also the Azores,” and this fact “should be regarded with pride as when show what is truly ours during these days, we can say, in fact, that we find ourselves on another Azores island.”
For the Regional Secretary for the Economy, the way how he was welcomed by Azorean community living in Canada clearly demonstrates that the Azorean feelings still endure, “even those who left several decades ago cannot hide their emotions whenever the Azores are mentioned.”
“This is a feeling that should always be remembered by all those carrying out public functions in the Region, who should always take into account the love for the Azores as guiding principle, which expressed so profoundly is here,” stated the Regional Secretary.
During the opening ceremony of the 10th Cultural Week, Vasco Cordeiro was awarded with the prize “Azorean Politician of the Year,” a distinction awarded by the House of the Azores of Winnipeg that recognises “the work that has been developed at a time when the Azores are facing serious challenges to their economic development.”
According to the House of the Azores of Winnipeg, the awarding of this prize also “acknowledges the work that has been carried out by the Regional Secretary for the Economy in favour of the Azorean communities abroad.”
An estimated 25,000 Portuguese emigrants live in Winnipeg, of whom 17,000 are Azoreans.