The ultimate celebration of Music, Food & Culture

WELCOME TO THE FUSION FESTIVAL! Surrey Fusion Festival takes place July 18 to 20, 2008 from Friday to Sunday at Holland Park located at King George Hwy and Old Yale Road Surrey. This will be the largest multicultural event in Surrey 's history as over 60,000 people are projected to attend this free outdoor festival. Surrey Fusion Festival will be Surrey 's largest 3-day multicultural celebration with 40 international pavilions celebrating music, food and culture. 5 stages of entertainment with headline performers on the World Music Stage and the Celebrations dance stage Festival brings together many distinct cultural heritages represented by ethnic and community groups hosting pavilions to present the music, food, costume and dance of their country of origin. Headliners include: Celtic legends The Chieftains – playing Saturday night with The Cottars, Stepcrew, Nathan and Wheat in the Barley – will be an amazing night for Celtic music fans. International Bhangra superstar Jazzy B will host a huge Bhangra party on Friday July 18, with KS Mahkan, African Guitar Summit, Kiran Ahluwalia, Elite Bhangra Dancers and many more. Juno Award Winner Universal recording artist Jully Black will headline Sunday night with a stellar line-up of contemporary artists including Alex Cuba (currently #1 on iTunes USA Latin music charts) with Hayley Sales, Pascale Picard, Delhi 2 Dublin and Ache Brasil. The “World Music Stage” will host internationally renowned headliners and local performers.

The “Celebration Dance Stage” will feature some of the world's best Irish dancers The Step Crew, entourages from Korea and China , Elite Bhangra and Hip-Hop crews, traditional oriental artistry, historical Persian performances, salsa, sambas, caporeia, calypso and modern tap.

Festival highlights include the Fusion Chinese Spectacular with a delegation of artists from China featuring actors, traditional dance and singers, cross talk artists, acrobats, and face change artists – beginning Saturday afternoon at 3 pm. Sunday at noon we all drum together in a performance featuring hundreds of drummers. Drum as One will be hosted by Bobby James of Destineak. Bring your own drums or make a hand drum onsite at the Drum Craft Teepee. Multicultural dancers and ethnic performers will provide living colour on three additional Pavilion Stages. Three full days of amazing music, food and culture will ensure this is a festival to remember.

The fusion festival will be one of a kind and Pakistan will be among the forty countries represented there. Pakistan Canada Association is organizing a Pavilion which will be representing Pakistan at its best. This event cannot be a success without your participation. We are being given a chance to showcase our best. Please attend this three day festival.

After 22 years public service Penny Priddy, Member of Parliament for Surrey North, informed the local Surrey media today that she would not be a candidate in the next federal election widely expected to be held in the spring of 2009.

Penny entered politics at the age of 42 following careers as a nurse, a college instructor, and a CEO of a non-profit organization in Nova Scotia . Penny has successfully been elected in every political campaign she has entered, 6 to be exact. Penny is the only woman in Canada to ever been elected to every political office available, including Surrey School Board, Surrey City Council, the BC Provincial Legislature (as Surrey Newton MLA and Provincial Cabinet Minister) and the House of Commons. Priddy said, “It has been a privilege to serve the citizens of Surrey for 22 years and I sincerely appreciate the love and support I have enjoyed from everyone over the past 2 decades.”

“My reasons are really very simple – it is time for me to be home and enjoy life to the fullest with my husband of 43 years, Robert, my children and grandchildren. As my family grows in new and different directions I want to be there to support them as they have supported me,” added Penny.

The Surrey North MP continued, “I have seen the polling and tracked my marks and am very confident that this is a winnable riding for the New Democrats. I have important work to complete both in my community and for Canadians across the country and I am committed to finishing this before the next election.” “For me this is a deeply personal decision; after 22 years family trumps politics; I believe I have chosen wisely,” concluded Priddy.

Penny Priddy will remain as the MP for Surrey North until the next federal election. Penny has always worked diligently for Surrey residents and commits that that will not changed.

On July 16th, MP Penny Priddy surprised erveryone at the Miracle office with an unannounced visit. When asked by the Manging Editor about her recent announcment, Priddy said that she had come especially to ‘The Miracle's' office to thank all Muslim community through the paper.” My Message is gratitude from my heart to Muslim community … how much they taught me, and I also learned from Sikhism, Hinduism and Chinese cultures. In my riding of Surrey North there are many Muslim mosques. A number of Muslims are living here and they were my strong supporters. They were so kind to me and they are wonderful teachers and I hope we will continue to be friends”, said Priddy.

She added that personally she enjoyed and learned from attending Muslim events at different occasions. “And it's my promise to continue the support of Miracle and Muslim community wherever they need my services”, added Priddy. Priddy said she strongly believed that we should leave for the coming generation and we should train them to take these responsibilities.

The Miracle would also like to pay tribute to MP Pirddy for her excellent service for all communities, including the Muslim community during her 22 years political carrier. The Miracle thanks her for her kind visit in Miracle office and wishes her the best in her life.

International Muslim Academy of Canada (Fiji Islamic Center) organized a celebration of Laylat Al Isra Wa Al-Miraj (Night of Journey and Ascension) on July 13 at Crystal @York in Surrey . Mr. Irshad Mohammad was the MC for the event. The program began with the recitation of the Holy Quran by Omar Arshad. Naats were then presented by Ferhan Farouq and Mr. Mohammad Shareef . After that, Mr. Aseem Akhtar Khan President of IMAC addressed the guests and thanked everyone for coming, despite the number of events taking place in the city. He also reminded about fundraising for Fiji Islamic Centre held last Ramadan, after which due to uncertain circumstances, some people did not fulfill their pledges. That has caused shortage of $40,000 for Fiji Islamic Centre in paying off maintenance bills and other monthly expenditures. He then requested everyone in the audience to donate for the noble cause so the maximum amount can be paid off.

After the speech, the MC requested the chief English speaker Prof. Mohammad Ahmed Qadri to deliver a speech on Isra Wa Al- Miraj.

Prof. Ahmed Qadri quoted many verses of Quran along with Hadiths, Tafaseer and Fiqh books about this great challenging miracle, which took place on 27th Rajab on a Monday night. He added that Monday is an important day in the life of beloved Mohammad (SAW) as he (SAW) was born and died on the same Day.

Laylat Al Isra Wa Al-Miraj is translated as the night journey and ascension. It marks the journey made by the Holy Prophet Mohammad (S.W.) during the night to the seven skies and heavens. Abu baker Siddique (R.A) was the first person who attested this Miracle after which Abu Jahaal, a non-believer, questioned him, “Do you believe that Mohammad (PBUH) traveled from Madina to Mecca and then to Seven Skies and met Allah (S.A.T) in one night?” Abu Bakar (R.A) replied to Abu Jahal,“ If our Rasool said this then no doubt this Miracle happened on the earth.” Prof. A. Qadri described the individual Arabic words in the light of Quran, Hadiths and scientifically explained all the significant incidents that happened at different places, from departing to coming back on His (PBUH) bed. At the end, Prof. Qadri requested all to express their love with Mohammad (PBUH) through their actions and good deeds.

After Prof. Qadri's spiritual speech, the M/C requested MLA Surrey-Whalley, Mr. Bruce Ralston to say few words about what he had heard. Mr. B. Ralston thanked the IMAC committee who invited him to this type of spiritual gathering where he got more knowledge from Mr. Qadri about Islam and about this great travel event of Prophet Mohammad (S.A.W). “I love to attend many Muslims such type of gathering. I would also love to convey the other NDP MPs and MLAs messages to all of you at this great occasion”, said Mr. Ralston.

Now, it was time for Head Imam of Fiji Center , Imam Maulana Abdul Lateef Naumani. He recited few Quranic verses and references of Haidths about the great journey of last Messenger of God. Maulana Naumani described the event of Miraj with great

details in Urdu language that everyone found very informative. He explained that the Holy Prophet (S.W.) made his first journey from Masjid Nabvi in Madina to Masjid Aqsa in Jerusalem while his second journey was from Masjid Aqasa

to Sidra-tal Mantaha. Many companions have verified the account of this journey. He also mentioned the meeting of Holy Prophet (S.W.) with Musa (A.S.) and their discussion about the prayers, which were decreased from 50 per day to 5 times time. Maulana also added that although every Muslim knows about this Miracle but it is the duty of scholars to remind everyone every year about this great event. After his speech, Maulana Naumani urged everyone to help them achieve the target of $10,000 towards the goal of 40K needed as mentioned by President Aseem Akhtar earlier in the evening.

Allhumdullila the small number of people at the gathering reached in their big hearts and donated $11,050 including a gold ring from one of the sisters in attendance. The administration would like to thank everyone who contributed and hopes to reach this target in coming month of Ramadan Inshallah. The event ended with a dua by Maulana Naumani.

After the Maghrib prayer, guests were served with a delicious dinner that was prepared by Mr. and Mrs. Shahid Choudhry of Crystal at York with the help of assisting staff.

On July 13, Mr. Sarfraz Khan, Founder & President of ‘Friends of Pakistan, USA ' visited in British Columbia , and Mr. Liaqat Bajwa, co-coordinator of FOP in Canada , arranged a meeting with Pakistani Community in Pakistan House, Surrey .

Mr. Afzal Bajwa was the master of ceremony. Following the recitation of Holy Quran by Mohammad Naseer Pirzada, Farrukh Alam, President of Pakistan Canada Association was invited to say few words. Mr. Farrukh Alam said in his speech that any activities or steps which will be taken for the betterment of Pakistan by this associated will be supported by PCA.

Mr. Afzal Bajwa briefly described the efforts of Mr. Sarfraz Khan and then called him at podium. Mr. Khan said, “I am grateful to God Almighty who gave me the wisdom and strength to initiate the challenging task of launching a grassroots level organization that could serve all segments of the Pakistani-American community. We opened almost 40 chapters in all over the World and keep continue to open more. You will readily agree that in the post-9/11 period Pakistani Americans have felt the pressing need of having a representative and vibrant community organization that could air their views on various social, economic, and political issues impacting their life. Such an organization could consistently work to dispel misperceptions about community members, their faith, and their country of origin. The organization could thus serve as a bridge between Pakistani Americans and various ethnic groups and mainstream of the world. Friends of Pakistan have been set up with this explicit purpose in mind. It is the voice of the community. It is the voice of every Pakistani”. Mr. Khan gave statistics about politics, agriculture, education, biofuels, economy of Pakistan and outlined the organization's planned line of actions for these areas.

‘Friends of Pakistan ' mission is not affiliated with any government or political party. It operates as a non-profit community based grassroots organization and aims to provide a platform to Overseas Pakistanis at the grassroots level to strengthen ties between Pakistan and other countries, also serves as a bridge between Pakistani-Americans and Overseas Pakistanis.

Its Objectives are:

• Educate the community on political, social and economic issues and raise awareness of their rights and responsibilities;
• Promote goodwill, understanding and friendship among Pakistani-Americans, Overseas Pakistanis & communities at large.
• Organize national, cultural and social events to promote art, music, literature and other cultural aspects of Pakistani life.
• Organize trade shows, food festivals and traditional shows and create a network to locate business opportunities for community members.
• Coordinate efforts to represent the Pakistani community's perspective on various issues and general welfare of community and communities at large.

Membership is completely free and can be obtained at www.fopglobal.com.

Mr. Khan also announced the executive board of BC chapter in which Mr. Sabir Ali Pannun was named President, Mr. Irfan Malik as Vice President Mr. Afzal B. Bajwa as General Secretary, Mr Ihsan Malik as Public Relations Director, and Mr. Liaqat A.Bajwa was chosen as coordinator in Canada.

The community showed their interest for the bright future of Pakistan and Q &A session was held in which stability, security of projects, law and order issues of Pakistan were discussed.

After Mr Khan's announcment, newly appointed President Mr. Sabir Ali Pannun said that he joined the FOP due to extreme love for the betterment of Pakistan and Pakistani Community throughout his life. Mr. Liaqat Bajwa spoke at the event and thanked Mr. Khan of his visit in BC as well as the Pakistani community who came today to support him at this great mission.

Focus on strong government and clean oil

By Ray Hudson, Surrey Board of Trade

The Surrey Board of Trade luncheon audience belonged to the short stocky man from Alberta who played pivotal roles in shaping his province and country, from the time he was a journalist, Mayor of Calgary, Member of the Alberta Legislature and from 1992 to 2006, Premier of Alberta. Ralph Klein was a leader with an agenda and a sense of independence and drive that successfully hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics and reformed the provincial government to one focused on business run by business instead of, in large part, the government itself.

His presentation to a sold out audience focused on his style of leadership, his philosophies and experiences in government, and finally his participation with the Fraser Institute in working with another political heavy-weight, Brian Toban from Newfoundland , to develop an extensive Continental Energy Study.

Leading up to his comments on oil and energy, the stuff of Alberta , he reviewed his time as Mayor of Calgary, where he was front and centre in facilitating the 1988 Winter Olympics. His approach was

• To make the greatest Olympic legacy a human one, in that if they showed the visitors a good enough time, they will return, and because the games are seen around the world, draw many more to visit later. He dubbed that a success;

• To dispel rumour and discord by holding Olympic meetings open to the public. After the third meeting, he said ironically, no public attended anyway;

The success of the games was enormous, dispelling the bad taste left by the funding boondoggle which plagued the games in Montreal in 1976.

Shortly after that, Klein turned his attention to Provincial politics, getting himself elected in a Calgary riding. Three years into this career, he'd risen to take the leadership of the Conservative party, following Getty, both as leader and premier, which he held until his retirement in 2006.

He outlined his approach to reorganizing Alberta under the slogan of “let's get out of the business in being in business.” Not without considerable public angst, he reduced consolidated and plain cut, government functions. He described his three-fold winning philosophy as:

• Get the province's financial house in order

• Stop spending too much

• Get out of the business of being in business.

“At that time, we (the Alberta Government) owned everything. We owned cookie factories, restaurants, telephone companies. We even owned an airline. You name it we owned it.”

The upshot was that they divested themselves of virtually all business holdings except the Alberta Treasury Branch, their bank, and privatized many of their service and licensing functions. They reduced the number of School boards to from 169 to 60, hospital boards from 200 to 17 and now to just one.

Klein's commentary then focused on the province as the major producer and supplier of oil from the Oil Sands in the north of Alberta . This project, producing 1 million barrels per day (b/d), goes to supply 12% of the U.S. daily needs of 20 million b/d and is the largest single supplier of oil to the U.S. ahead of countries such as Saudi Arabia and Venezuela . He expects that the Oil Sands will step up production to 3 million b/d “soon” and by 2050 be producing 5 million b/d.

Klein commented that despite the Oil Sands being labeled a producer of “dirty oil” in fact, the process of extraction is producing sweet synthetic crude “as good as any you can find.” He said that the industry in Alberta is populated by “many bright people” who are doing the R&D to find ways to meet environmental concerns including better ways to generate electricity to make the steam to separate the sand and the oil, to find cleaner technologies to use coal, coal gasification, hydro, wind, solar and so on other than natural gas.

Following his retirement from politics, he has taken on the project, along with Brian Toban (as Senior Fellows of the Fraser Institute, of compiling a Continental Energy Study.

“Toban's expertise is in off-shore oil exploration and production, while mine is with land-based production. And the both of us bring political insights to the issues,” Klein said.

He said the report would detail such issues as, harmonizing oil regulations across Canada the United States and Mexico; deal with pipelines for transmission of oil and gas across the continent; explore the issue of First Nations and their claims to traditional lands, and spend significant time dealing with the environmental issues, articulating better ways of electrical generation, and using other forms of energy besides natural gas.

Ralph Klein is not through making his mark on Alberta and the North American continent, however, as Surrey Board of Trade Past President, Gary Hollick noted in thanking the speaker, it's no surprise because “all the important people in the world come from Surrey .” Indeed, Ralph Klein's father worked for the railroad in Port Moody and he grew up and went to Queen Elizabeth High School in Whalley. Just another Surrey Boy.