Celebration Canada is to return to Hakka Cultural Park in Taipei on July 1 after years of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, Canadian representatives said on Thursday.
This year’s event is special, as Canada Day falls on a Saturday, allowing people to more easily celebrate with Canadians, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan told a news conference in Taipei.
Taiwanese and members of the international community can join Canadians for the national day festivities, with food and drink, live music and activities for kids, Canadian Chamber of Commerce chairman Brandon Thompson said, adding that admission is free.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The outdoor party would have poutine — French fries with gravy and cheese curds — maple syrup snacks and other Canadian food, along with Moosehead beer and international food items, Thompson said.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has abated, there would be a return to the full program of activities, including sharing a Canada birthday cake, live music, a raffle, mini-hockey, a poutine eating contest, and face painting and other children’s activities, including a bouncy castle, he said.
Air Canada is providing two economy-class tickets to Canada and vouchers for hotel accommodation as the top prizes in the raffle, as well as Canadian-made shirts and other items of clothing, he said.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is the event’s main organizer, with sponsors including Air Canada, EVA Airways, Northland Power, Bank of Montreal, Moosehead Beer, TCS Experimental Education, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office and others, Thompson said.
Canadian Trade Office in Taipei Trade and Investment Director Ed Jager said he looks forward to a large crowd at the event enjoying the party and the booths, while learning about the important relationship between Taiwan and Canada, which share many commercial links.
Trade and business links are expected to increase this year as the global economy recovers from the pandemic, boosting tourism and air travel between Taiwan and Canada, so it is likely that the number of Canadian tourists to Taiwan would rise, while young people might be drawn to visit Taiwan on school exchanges, or to teach English or find other work, Jager said.
Air Canada is working to restore direct flights between Taiwan and major Canadian cities and airline officials are making adjustments as demand for flights changes, Holiday Tours sales manager Jennifer Shi said, speaking on behalf of Air Canada.
For the summer travel season, Air Canada hopes that bookings would return to 90 percent of what they were before the pandemic, Shi said.
Before direct flights are restored, people traveling on Air Canada routes can check in their baggage at the international airports in Taoyuan or Kaohsiung and collect them in Canada after a stopover in Japan, South Korea or Hong Kong, she said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as