Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

Dear Friends,

I warmly greet all my fellow countrymen and Luso-descendants who are attending this meeting. I thank you for being here, since I consider your presence as a clear sign of the deep affection that you keep for Portugal. I am grateful to you all and, in particular, to those who came from afar.

It gives me great pleasure to observe the commitment I took since the first day of my mandates as President of the Republic, to regularly visit the Portuguese Communities residing abroad.

The Portuguese presence in this geographic location is, as you are well aware, prior to Canada’s existence, such as we know it today. There are chronicles that record the presence of Portuguese in this region since the 16th century. Gaspar Côrte-Real was one of the first Europeans to explore the area of Newfoundland. And, still today, to help us recall the Portuguese pioneering presence, we find places baptized as “Conception Bay”, “Portugal Cove” or “Labrador”, the latter arising out of the name of another Portuguese explorer João Fernandes Lavrador.

But it was in the Fifties of the 20th century that the Portuguese emigration to Canada – in its majority from the Azores Archipelago – was officially recognized. The Portuguese then came looking for better living condition, to find, in this land of opportunities, what their own Homeland could not provide them with.

Distance was never a real barrier for the Portuguese, neither a reason for them to give up. Their will led them to the most distant corners of the planet, in an adventure that opened the world’s gates to the first globalization.

It is thus not surprising that many of those who ventured overseas chose these whereabouts: Canada is an immense country, with its rich landscapes, vast resources and a welcoming people.

The Portuguese Community is nowadays one of the most important in Canada. The Portuguese enjoy great and justified prestige and are the example of a perfect integration. They are distinguished by their dynamism, by their application to work, by their capacity for innovation, by their disposition for risk and by their ambition when facing new challenges.

Keeping themselves loyal to their own origins, the Portuguese and Luso-descendants of Canada have been fundamental players in the relations between both countries, although the levels of civic participation and representation are short of the potential of this Community and of its degree of integration. The defence of its interests would advise a greater effort in the increase of its participation in political activity.

We are proud of this Community. The appreciation that, as President of the Republic, I have shown for the innumerable examples that the Portuguese Diaspora offers our fellow citizens is widely known.

I have insisted that it is fundamental that we change the way in which, in Portugal, we consider the communities of the Diaspora. The rhetoric of nostalgia must give way to material acts, to palpable gestures that show the respect and the gratefulness of Portugal for its offspring spread over the world and which, at the same time, involve the emigrant communities in a common project. This project of all the Portuguese, wherever they reside, be it on the continent, the Azores, Madeira or in any other region of the World, dear friends and fellow citizens, has a name: this is Portugal.

This is a crucial year for Portugal. In May, we reach the end of the Programme of Financial Aid negotiated in 2011 with the international institutions. The Country will become dependant upon the markets to obtain the external financial means it requires. The strengthening of the climate of confidence and the consolidation of the signs of economic recovery we have been experiencing are a national priority.

The growth of the economy is crucial to contain the restrictions to which the Country has been subject, to combat unemployment and ensure a sustainable path for public finance. Confidence and credibility are the key to success.

We look upon you, with your example and your contribution, to consolidate Portugal’s image as a credible, dynamic and welcoming country. We hope that your voices join those of our diplomats to positively project Portugal, emphasizing the quality of our products and the potentials for investment. The success of your careers and of your integration is an ample proof that your contribution can make a change for the better.

In the Message I addressed to the Portuguese Communities, on the National Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities, on the past 10th of June, I recalled that the Portuguese and their descendants that live and work abroad represent, either individually or as a community, a precious legacy of Portugal in the World.

The Portuguese Diaspora, in addition to being a real strategic asset, must be a Portuguese embassy in the countries where it is established. As such I am convinced of the relevance of the role of the Communities of the Diaspora as active agents of the Portuguese identity, making the World aware of the reality of today’s Portugal.

The Council of the Portuguese Diaspora was constituted under my sponsorship in December 2012; its main objective is to bring together the Portuguese that live abroad and to contribute towards the increase of our Country’s external credibility. It is our duty to bring innovation to the way in which the Portuguese connect with their fellow citizens that live away from their Homeland.

Dear Fellow Citizens,

Taking advantage of this visit to the Portuguese Community in Canada, I took the decision to decorate two institutions of the Portuguese Community and five members of the Community which, in one way or another, stood out in this mission of maintaining Portugal’s presence. Portugal needs everybody. Portugal needs all of you. Nobody is exempt from helping their Country, especially at such a crucial time as that we are going through. Do so with the same determination and courage with which our predecessors explored these whereabouts, so many thousands of kilometres away from home.

I thank you once more for your presence here, today. It is a clear sign of your drive in the strengthening of the bonds that link you with Portugal, a link that must be valued and deepened.

Allow me to thank you again – all of you, without exception – the much you have done to honour your origins and to exalt the name of Portugal in Canadian lands.

Certain that you will enjoy the concert that António Zambujo and Nelly Furtado will perform for us tonight, I wish you and all your families the best of personal and professional success. I know that the success you have in Canada will in itself be a success for Portugal.

Thank you very much.