Poland in Canada

During the celebrations after the voting session in the Parliament Ambassador Witold Dzielski said:

“I would like to express my highest appreciation to the board of directors, regional directors, presidents of districts, members, former leaders and the entire Canadian Polish Congress’ vibrant community. I would especially thank the Canada-Poland Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group together with the author of the Motion, Member of Parliament, Mr. Peter Fonseca. On this occasion it gives me a great pleasure to join the chorus of congratulations on today’s success at the House of Commons proceedings.”

Chapeau bas to Member of Parliament Peter Fonseca who on December 7th 2022, submitted a Private Member’s Motion: “M-75 Polish Heritage Month”. On the first debate on November 7th 2023 MP Fonseca said:

“Motion No. 75 transcends mere acknowledgement of the historical bonds connecting Canada and Poland. It also serves as a heartfelt tribute to the flourishing Polish Canadian community, which is celebrated for its substantial contributions to our nation.

The historical roots of Polish immigration to Canada reach back to as early as 1752, when the first documented Polish immigrant set foot on Canadian soil. Today, the Polish Canadian community numbers over a million strong. Polish migration to Canada has a long history, with the earliest waves of immigrants arriving in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.”

Many thanks to the Canadian Polish Congress (CPC) - an organization that acts as a voice for the Polish-Canadian community, advocating for its rights and interests. CPC has shown great leadership in advocating for and championing this motion, especially president, John Tomczak and the first vice-president, Dominik Roszak. The Congress represents the Polish community's interests by providing a strong national voice in the decision-making around Canada government's policies and by promoting the rights of Polish Canadians to full and equal participation in all aspects of Canadian society. The motion was in large part due to CPC advocacy.

Merci beaucoup to all MP’s supporting the motion - the voting session concluded with 328 MPs voting in favor of the motion, and no one opposed it. Special thanks to those MPs who raised and spoke so well in debates in November 2023 and February 2024:

Irek Kusmierczyk (Liberal Party of Canada):

“There are 1.1 million Canadians of Polish descent living in Canada in communities in every corner of our country, including major centres such as Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg and Calgary, as well as my community of Windsor—Tecumseh. Polish Canadians are business leaders, teachers, nurses, engineers, electricians, artists and athletes. They drive trucks that deliver goods. They are as resilient and determined as they are generous and kind, and they have been a blessing to this country, just as Canada has been a blessing to us.

The story of Polish immigration to Canada is remarkable, and it provides insight into a community that prides itself on the values of service above self and that prioritizes family, community and faith. The first Polish immigrant, a fur trader, landed in Canada in 1752, but the first wave of Polish immigrants to Canada arrived in 1858 from the Kashub region of northern Poland. They made their home in Renfrew County in the Town of Wilno, the oldest Polish settlement in Canada. For two centuries, subsequent waves of Polish Canadians arrived in Canada, at times to flee conflict and persecution, and always to build a better future for themselves and for their children. The Polish-Canadian story is a quintessential Canadian story, and it is one I want to tell from the perspective of my family and our Polish community in Windsor.

Polish Canadians are incredibly industrious and entrepreneurial. In addition to shops and restaurants that brought color and flavour to Ottawa Street, there were Polish-owned factories that provided thousands of jobs for local residents for generations. Companies like Victoria Steel, White Eagle Press, Gorski Transport, and NARMCO started by the Bas, Polewski, Rodzik and Gorski families who gave back to the community in many ways. Just last week, I attended the reopening of the University of Windsor law school building that underwent generational renovations, funded in part by the generous contribution of the Rodzik family.”

Tom Kmiec (Conservative Party of Canada):

“Poland's greatest contributions are not institutions and organizations. They are its people; those people all over the world who have fought for freedom in the name of freedom, from the American Revolution to those who came to Canada and built a new life for themselves, but also many who then returned to Poland or to continental Europe and fought in the different wars of independence so that Poland could be free again.

Another thing I want to draw the House's attention to is the Statute of Kalisz, signed in 1264 by another great Pole, Bolesław the Pious. The people of Poland were the first people to give legal rights to the Jewish people in continental Europe, so I want to draw the attention of the House to that as well.

(…) the previous member who spoke talked about the wave of immigration to Canada. Those waves were caused by events happening in Eastern Europe. From the first partition of Poland in 1772, the member spoke about the constitution, Trzeciego Maja, May 3, 1791. It is the second-oldest written constitution in the world. The constitution was then abolished by a future parliament of dubious distinction. The final partition of Poland was in 1795 when Poland disappeared.”

Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay (Bloc Québécois):

“I am pleased to rise in the House today with my colleagues from the Bloc Québécois to support Motion No. 75 to establish Polish Heritage Month. I am just as pleased that the first Polish person to sit in this Parliament where, in my opinion, we should no longer be sitting, was one of my predecessors. He was there when this Parliament was first created in 1867. The first Polish member of the House was Alexandre‑Édouard Kierzkowski, the member for Saint‑Hyacinthe in 1867. That makes me especially pleased to rise to speak today. Mr. Kierzkowski was once the MNA for Verchères in the National Assembly of Quebec with the Parti Rouge, a successor to the Parti Patriote. It is a movement that really resonates with my republican values.

It is interesting to note that the first Polish immigrant to settle in Canada arrived before the British conquest. He was a fur merchant from Gdansk named Dominik Barcz. I hope the Polish Quebeckers and Polish Canadians who are glued to their screens right now will forgive my occasional mispronunciation. Polish is not my first, second, or third language. I actually do not speak Polish, so I apologize for that. As I was saying, this gentleman settled in Montreal in 1752. He was joined there in 1757 by Charles Blaskowitz, a deputy surveyor-general of lands. New France was therefore the first home for Polish people in Canada.”

Blake Desjarlais (New Democratic Party):

“I grew up with many stories, and with many Ukrainian and Polish folks in the northeast part of rural of Alberta. We traded and discussed. Today, for example, in the indigenous communities in Alberta's northeast, there are still artifacts and stories of those times of first settlement, including the trading of textiles and goods. There is no question that Polish Canadians have done not only so much to ensure the future of the provinces that we enjoy today but also the very hard work it took to ensure that there could be places for all of us to enjoy.

In the city of Edmonton, for example, many Polish Canadians pray and worship at the Holy Rosary church, where many of my own constituents attend and pray in peace. It is by the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton. There is also The Canadian Polish Research Institute, an immense and extensive library of archives and history. It publishes excellent data that is driven by important research.

I encourage members of the House to look to some of these organizations, in particular the Canadian Polish Historical Society, to see how they have contributed in so many ways to the communities we all know and love, specifically the members' own communities. For Polish Canadians, however, there is much more work to be done to ensure the promotion of their unique language, heritage and culture here in Canada. We have to urge the federal government to not only recognize Polish Heritage Month but also make sure we go further by ensuring there are tangible resources that promote Polish culture, heritage and learning among all Canadians.”

Gabriel Ste-Marie (Bloc Québécois):

“I would like to thank my hon. Colleague (Peter Fonseca) and commend him for his initiative. We know that Polish culture is extremely important in our society. The same holds true in Quebec. Quebec is endowed with a strong Polish cultural component.”

Gerald Soroka (Conservative Party of Canada):

“I, like many other members of Parliament in the House, have a Polish history. My grandparents on my father's side were Ukrainian, but my great-grandparents on my mother's side were Polish. Jacko and Mary Zatorski came from Poland in 1906. It is quite a few years ago they came to Canada, and the main reason they came was to build a better life for themselves. It was a very challenging time to bring a family of four young adults with them, as well as the baby Mary was carrying. They did prosper in their life here in Canada, where they started on a quarter of land outside of Skaro, Alberta, which is northeast of Edmonton.

I look at the benefit of the heritage of the Polish community and how much it has contributed to Canada. My family, or part of my family, was very much part of the building foundation of this great country. We all pretty much became part of Canada around the late 1800s or early 1900s when we started to expand the West. Immigrants came earlier in the years, but it was quite the thing for my family to come to this country in 1906.”

Maxime Blanchette-Joncas (Bloc Québécois):

“I would like to make it clear from the outset that I will be voting in favor of the motion. The Bloc Québécois is delighted to join the mover of the motion in acknowledging the exceptional contribution that Quebeckers of Polish origin have made to our society and culture. I would like to take this opportunity to pay special tribute to Quebeckers of Polish origin living in my riding and in the Lower St. Lawrence region. Some 79,000 Quebeckers identify themselves as being of Polish origin. Of all these people, 23,550 are first-generation immigrants and more than 55,000 are from subsequent generations.

Polish people's contribution over the course of their long and tumultuous history is well established. In science, the first modern thinker to theorize the heliocentric model, in which the Earth revolves around the Sun, not vice versa, was none other than Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer. Marie Curie was a Polish woman held up time and time again the world over as a symbol representative of women's significant contribution to science and dedication to a scientific career.

I do not have much time left, so I just want to add a few more. What would music be without Frédéric Chopin? What would Romantic painting of the 19th century be without Piotr Michalowski? What would 20th-century poetry be without Krzysztof Baczynski? What would television series as a powerful art form be without Krzysztof Kieslowski's paradigmatic Dekalog?

Poland has a northern climate. Ice hockey is almost as popular there as it is in Montreal, the city where it was invented. No doubt that is why Quebec has always been a welcoming place for the Polish community. Canada's first Polish immigrant, Dominik Barcz, was a fur trader from Gdansk. In 1752, he settled in New France, specifically in Montreal, before the British conquest. He was later joined by his compatriot Charles Blaskowitz in 1757.

One more example is the work of Wanda Stachiewicz, who founded the Polish Institute of Arts and Science in Canada in 1943. She arrived in Montreal on a Polish ship from London on July 13, 1940. She was a former member of the Polish resistance against the German invaders, a role she played while protecting her three children. She was instrumental in founding the Association of Polish Women War Refugees, which later became the Society of Poles in Exile.”

Heather McPherson (New Democratic Party):

“(…), today allows us to take an opportunity to recognize the Polish people and the Polish diaspora for their resilience and determination. It was the resilience of the Polish people that got them through wars and occupations, including that of the Third Reich, which led many average Polish people to join the underground resistance. It was the organization of workers striking in the Gdansk shipyards that led to the emergence of the Solidarity trade union, a group that would later participate in talks that led to the fall of communism in Poland.

It is these hardy qualities that Polish Canadians bring to Canada, along with their kindness and their sense of community, things that I think all Canadians should embrace. I wanted to take today as an opportunity to thank the Polish people both here in Canada and in Poland for the kindness and generosity that they have shown over the past two years.

After Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, millions of Ukrainians sought safety and comfort from their neighbours. I was in Poland, in March both last year and the previous year, and saw immediately after the invasion how Polish people opened their arms and welcomed Ukrainians into their community. We saw welcome centers where displaced Ukrainian women, mothers and children, and the elderly, were welcomed into those communities. We saw the support that was given by the community, how difficult it was for people in Poland to do that, and how they did it anyway.

Canada will always stand with Poland. Poland is our NATO partner. We will continue to fight to make sure that there is an end to Putin's illegal and unjustified war because we know that this is happening on Poland's doorstep.”

James Maloney (Liberal Party of Canada):

“To designate May 3 as Polish Constitution Day and dedicate the entire month of May to Polish heritage goes beyond symbolism. It recognizes and captures that importance. I want to thank every Polish Canadian for the contributions they have made to this great country. I look forward to supporting this motion. I know I do not have to ask, but I am going to do it anyway. I want every member in this House to join us in doing just that.

The ties between our two countries are strong and they run deep. The profound impact of our Polish Canadian community on Canada's social, cultural, political, and economic landscape cannot be overstated. Polish immigration to Canada reaches back to as early as 1752, over 100 years before Confederation, when the first documented Polish immigrants set foot on Canadian soil in Montreal.

Our friendship and companionship have grown over the years. Polish soldiers trained in southern Ontario for the First World War. We fought together at Dieppe.

Canada was the first country to approve Poland joining NATO in 1998 and our military cooperation continues as we work together to secure Eastern Europe against Russian aggression. Our soldiers train together in Latvia, and we both share a vision for a democratic, unified, and independent Ukraine.

We are both adherents of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Together we fight and continue to work against tyranny. Economically, we are strong partners. In 2022, there was over $4 billion worth of trade between our two countries, up from $2.85 billion in 2018. The partnership is growing. The Polish people's dedication and perseverance have left an enduring mark on our nation and continue to do so. Our history books are filled with the names of many people of Polish descent in every occupation.

Since the beginning of our Parliament, Polish Canadians have been in this House. I think of Alexandre-Édouard Kierzkowski, an MP from 1867 to 1870. I think of the Hon. Don Mazankowski, who served with distinction and honour as our deputy prime minister.

Today, we have a number of Polish MPs or descendants of Polish families in our chamber, including four of my colleagues, one of whom sits just over there, from Windsor—Tecumseh and also the member for Calgary Shepard across the way.

Who did not grow up listening to Peter Gzowski on CBC? However, he was not the only famous Canadian Gzowski. His paternal great-grandfather was Sir Casimir Gzowski, of Polish nobility, who was a prominent engineer in Canada and who worked on the Grand Trunk Railway and the Welland Canal. Sir Casimir Gzowski was knighted by Queen Victoria.”

Yves Perron (Bloc Québécois):

“It is only right for us to adopt this motion. There is just one question we should be asking ourselves. Given how long the Polish people and Polish culture have been contributing strength and vitality to our societies, and given that they originated many of the institutions that exist in our society, why has this not been done before? It is never too late to do the right thing, so let us get to it. We will vote in favor of the motion to recognize the outstanding contributions the Polish nation has made to the Canadian and Quebec nations.

As members know, a lot of people in Poland speak French, which creates a special bond between Quebeckers and the Polish people. It draws us closer together. A total of 79,000 people in Quebec, 55,000 of whom were born there, claim Polish ancestry. That is a lot of people, and we share a history, because they have been here for a long time.

The people of Poland are such a big part of Quebec culture that they are also part of our literature. I want to mention a famous novel by Arlette Cousture, Ces enfants d'ailleurs, which tells the story of a family who flee their homeland to come live here, near a wide river, in the colourful and inviting city of Montreal. Some of that colour is supplied by the Polish community. At the end of the day, it makes for a beautiful mosaic.

I am very happy to contribute to making May 3 “Polish Constitution Day” and the month of May every year “Polish Heritage Month.

I willingly promise to participate in the celebrations, and I invite everyone to join in. Obviously, they will commemorate May 3, 1791, the date on which the Polish constitution was adopted, some 20 years after the disgraceful partition of the Polish territory by Russia and Germany. The Polish constitution was inspired by the French Revolution and the Enlightenment, which is based on the values of reason, freedom and the rule of law. I mentioned it earlier, but I want to reiterate that these people really know the meaning of independence.

With the bit of time I have left, I am going to take a risk. I hope, if people can hear me, that they will excuse my accent. Dobry wieczór, pozdrawiam i dziękuję.”

Brian Masse (New Democratic Party):

“Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise here to speak to Motion No. 75, Polish Heritage Month. I am going to read the motion so that we have it in the record. This is important not only for the Polish community but also for the country of Canada and the multiculturalism that we have. We also have a country that is being built by people coming here and contributing in many different ways, not only in terms of a heritage aspect but also in terms of the economy and civil society. That has been the experience of the Polish community in Windsor, which has done so much for so many years. This also reflects one of the reasons that we have heritage months and the recognition of different weeks. In Ontario, there is already a Polish Heritage Month.”

 

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