The President of the Government stressed in Toronto the contribution of Azorean emigrant communities to the development of the host societies over the last decades, stressing that such involvement is a source of pride that demonstrates a successful integration in the society.

"If Canada is what it is today, this is also due to the efforts of Azorean emigrant communities," Vasco Cordeiro said, stressing that "Azorean emigrants have also contributed to the success, progress and development” of this country.

Speaking before two-hundred Azoreans and Luso-Canadians of Azorean descent at the House of the Azores of Ontario, Vasco Cordeiro also called for the participation of emigrant communities and institutions to help overcoming the challenges the Region currently faces so that the forthcoming generations may take pride in the Azores.

"We should all find the best way, within the knowledge and the contributions provided by each one, to help the communities overcoming challenges and make future generations feel pride in the Azores," said the President of the Government in the meeting with the Azorean community in Ontario.

Vasco Cordeiro stressed that his visit to the Azorean communities in Canada was made with the purpose of "honouring this very strong feeling that unites us and makes us all proud of our history and our ancestry. The government official highlighted "the tie that unites the Azorean people around the feeling of 'Azoreanity' and the love to the Azores, wherever they are."

For the President of the Government, the Houses of the Azores and other institutions from emigrant communities "play a fundamental role in preserving Azorean culture as well as in overcoming the major challenge" to maintain the link between the communities and the Azores, especial with regard to the second and third generations that have lost the feeling of nostalgia.

"This is a major challenge. Indeed, this is one of the main challenges that the Azores and the communities currently face and our ability to fully seize the potentialities brought by Azorean communities depends on it," Vasco Cordeiro said, defending the need to create the conditions to disseminate the Azores of today to younger generations.

"The Azores of today are a gateway to the European Union that has an institution of global reference in the study of the sea: our new frontier. It was elected by the European Space Agency as a privileged site for the installation of certain equipment under the European space programme. The Azores are a region that wants to conquer the future with ambition and determination," said Vasco Cordeiro.

 According to the President of the Government, a Region was built over nearly four decades of Autonomy should be a "source of pride" to emigrant communities. In this context, he considered that "despite being separated by thousands of miles of sea, it should not be felt with less intensity, quite the contrary."
Before this meeting with the Azorean community of Ontario, Vasco Cordeiro visited the company GlobeStar Systems, owned by Azorean entrepreneur David Tavares who emigrated to Canada in 1966.