The hall was packed. The cultural dresses were outright glamorous. The food was good, so good. The speeches were rich in substance, and the cultural performances exciting, and entertaining enough to warm up the hundreds who came out to celebrate Diwali in Edmonton, amidst the freezing weather outside.

…A tired looking Premier Notley, in the spirit of Diwali, took Alberta Government actions from darkness to light towards multicultural, newcomer, and minority communities – Happy Diwali to you all…!

“A very happy Diwali to you all,” was the message from the active Indian community in Edmonton who celebrated Diwali on November 9, 2018, at the Federal Building in Edmonton together with some members of the NDP Caucus let by Premier Rachel Notley.

Hosted by MLA Christina Gray and MLA Rod Loyola, they invited Premier Notley to start the event by lighting the “diya”, which spiritually signifies moving from darkness to light. A tired looking Premier Notley also moved the actions of her government on multicultural, newcomer, and minority communities from darkness to light using her speech.

“we want to make Alberta safer and fair for everyone…so we are doing a few things to do that…we are confronting racism head-on…,” Premier Notley went on, drawing applause from the audience “…we’ve done things like; freeze tuition, cut our school fees, and raise the minimum wage…we are building and upgrading 240 new schools across the province…”

…Who lights a lamp and places it under the table…?

How does the NDP reach out to the majority in-active multicultural, newcomer, and minority communities, the kingpin of the next election, to help push them across the finish line in 2019, when the premier ignores the opportunity to address the predominantly multicultural media present?

I must remark that the NDP Caucus has made the Alberta Federal Building a welcoming place for new Canadians to celebrate their major cultural celebrations and have actively join in these celebrations as covered by Diversity Magazine, from Black History month to Diwali. With 2019 elections hovering over our heads, I am curious to see how the NDP gets their accomplishments to the majority in-active community members who do not attend these events to help get them across the finish line in an election that will be very competitive, an election that will be fought in Edmonton and Calgary and the rapidly growing multicultural communities will make the difference if and only if, they can get them out to vote. Interestingly, contrary to their own promise, the premier disappears without taking questions from the predominantly ethnic media present – who lights a lamp and places it under the table?

Well back to the beautiful Diwali celebration, Diwali, Deepavali or Dipavali is the Hindu festival of lights, which is celebrated every autumn in the northern hemisphere. One of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, Diwali symbolises the spiritual “victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.”

What a piece of beauty as the photos and videos below tell the story better than anybody can…