August 17th, 2009

LUNCH IN HONOUR OF HIS WORSHIP
MAYOR EDDIE FRANCIS
OF WINDSOR

On Monday the 17th of August, the Ambassador of Lebanon Mr. Massoud Maalouf hosted a lunch in the embassy in honour of His Worship the Mayor of the city of Windsor Mr. Eddie Francis.

The guests were prominent members of the Lebanese community in Ottawa and Montreal, including the Honourable Senator Pierre DeBané, City Councillor Eli El-Chantiri, the Presidents of the Lebanese-Canadian Chambers of Commerce and industry in Montreal and Ottawa Bachir Azzi and Mel Sater, former Ambassador of Lebanon to Canada HE Mr. Makram Oueidat, as well as numerous professionals and members of the business community. The Honourable Senator Mac Harb, who was not able to attend, sent the Mayor a nice message on the occasion of his visit to Ottawa. Mayor Francis was accompanied by Ms. Helga Ridel, the General Manager of Corporate Services in the city of Windsor.

In his welcoming speech, Ambassador Maalouf praised the Mayor for his achievements in Windsor, underlying the records that were set by His Worship, first as the youngest elected Councillor in the history of the city (24 years old) and then as the youngest Mayor (28 years old) and expressed his pride as well as the pride of the whole Lebanese community at seeing a member of the community achieve such a great success. The Ambassador also mentioned the recent trip of the Mayor to Lebanon where he was received by the President of the Republic General Michel Sleiman and the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador William Habib.

Senator Pierre DeBané also made some remarks underlining the achievements of the Mayor, especially in reducing the deficit of the city and successfully solving the strike that lasted a few weeks. The Senator also foresaw for the Mayor a major role at the national level.

In his reply, Mayor Francis thanked Ambassador Maalouf for hosting this lunch in his honour and spoke about his commitment to the city of Windsor and the importance of that city through which 28% of the trade with the US is channelled. His Worship also spoke about his pride in his Lebanese roots and spoke briefly about his parents who emigrated to Canada from Lebanon in the early 70s and he mentioned his latest trip to Lebanon in early July where he visited the famous Cedars of Lebanon and saw the tree planted for his two year old daughter whose middle name is Cedar. Then the Mayor offered the Ambassador the Key of the City of Windsor as a token of friendship and appreciation and as a souvenir before the Ambassador's retirement by the end of this year.