Honouring the late Mrs. Laila Bondugjie

My name is Harry Ziad Malawi. I am an Arab Canadian Citizen and a long time resident of the City of Mississauga. I am also a Community leader and a small business owner. Above all, I had the honour and pleasure of being a dear friend and colleague of the late Mrs. Laila Bondugjie for the past forty years. Mrs. Bondugjie was also an Arab Canadian outstanding Citizen and a long time resident of Mississauga, as well as a Community leader, an Organizer, an Activist, an Executive Director for the Arab Community Centre of Toronto (A refugee and newcomers settlement services) a champion for women rights, as well as a volunteer humanitarian worker and a kind gentle, generous, gracious and noble human being. Sadly and unexpectedly, Mrs. Bondugjie suffered an aneurysm on September 30th 2011 and was admitted to the Mississauga Hospital where she fell into a coma for over a week before she was officially declared deceased on Saturday October 8th 2011. Laila’s commitment and dedication to the Arabic community was highly commendable. In 1986, and in coordination with the Ontario Minister of Multiculturalism, Laila launched the Arab Heritage Day, a day to celebrate the contributions of Arabs to Canadian society. In 1989 Laila dedicated her time to fully concentrate on re-developing the Arab Community Centre. Here she gained the title of Executive Director of the Arab Community Centre of Toronto, Laila managed to expand and diversify the services provided by the Centre to thousands of Arab and Non-Arab Immigrants. Through hard work, devotion, and sound leadership, Laila contributed to increasing the funding by tapping into different sources and solidifying the relationship of the ACC with existing funders. She also managed to boost the programs and services offered by the Centre by enhancing the quantity and caliber of the staff. I thought deeply and I asked myself: How beautiful it would be, if we can have the City which she dearly loved, to name a Park or a street in Mississauga after her, to commemorate her outstanding legacy and long list of her distinguished careers and achievements, where our Community can live nearby her street or have a picnic in her park. To this end, I would like to humbly put forward this request to appear before the honourable City of Mississauga Council to make my deputation in this regard. Please join me in this noble cause by simply signing this petition.