20th National Diwali celebration at Parliament Hill (Virtual)

20th National Diwali at Parliament Hill (virtual) hosted by Overseas Friends of India Canada, Todd Doherty, M.P. Cariboo-Prince George, Deepak Obhrai Foundation and Canada India Foundation was celebrated on Nov 12, 2020 via Zoom. Pandit Ravindra Narayan Pandey ji of Durga temple performed the Diwali pooja. BollywoodancePro group led by Shefali Adhikari presented a beautiful dance performance.

Keynote speakers on this special occasion were Hon. Erin O’Toole, Leader of the official opposition and His Excellency Ajay Bisaria High commissioner of India in Canada. The other notable speakers were Chandra Arya MP Nepean, Todd Doherty MP Cariboo-Prince George, Ms Jag Sahota from Calgary and Elizabeth May MP Green Party. Priti Obhrai-Martin of the Deepak Obhrai Foundation presented a slide show depicting 20 years of Diwali celebrations at Parliament Hill.

Shiv Bhasker President OFIC and Sujata Raisinghani were the MCs for this event. The technical team included Mr Michel Bailey and Puneet Aggarwal. Mr Mohan Samarasinghe, Office of Todd Doherty, M.P. did most of the planning. This one-hour event concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr Narinder Garg.

About 135 people joined in this online Diwali celebration.