26 August 2014 – The Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver conducted a consular outreach activity in the cities of Brooks from August 10 to 12 and in Medicine Hat from August 14 to 16 to provide passport, notarial and civil registry services to Filipinos living in Southern Alberta Province.
A total of 715 applications for passport renewals and first-time applicants were processed in Brooks while 691 applications were received from Medicine Hat using the Consulate General’s appointment system. Aside from availing themselves of consular services, the residents of Brooks and Medicine Hat and a number of Filipinos who came all the way from Calgary and Edmonton took advantage of the outreach event to register as overseas voters for the 2016 National Elections. All in all, there was a total of 828 new registrants for overseas voting.
The visit to Brooks also included a courtesy call by Philippine Consul General Neil Frank Ferrer on Deputy Mayor Barry Morishita. They exchanged views regarding the positive contributions of Filipino workers in Brooks.
Consul General Ferrer also paid a courtesy call on Mayor Ted Clugston of Medicine Hat and briefed him on the services provided to Filipinos during the first consular outreach in the city. The mayor acknowledged that the number of Filipinos residing in the city had been increasing over the years and gave his assurance of support to the Filipino community association. He shared the concerns of businesses and foreign workers on the impact of the recent changes in the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP) of the Federal Government.
Through the facilitation of the Mayor of Medicine Hat, a visit by the Consul General was arranged to the city’s power plant and the solar energy facility. The power plant which was built in 1910 uses co-generation turbines with natural gas and steam to produce electricity which is more than enough for the city’s consumption. Medicine Hat exports surplus electricity to the towns of Redcliff, Dunmore, Veinerville and other surrounding rural areas. The City was the first municipal utility in Canada to incorporate gas turbine combined cycle technology, which enables the plant to produce electricity using one third less gas.
Aside from the power plant, Consul General Ferrer viewed the city’s latest project on renewable energy using concentrated solar thermal power system. Under the new system solar energy will be captured in rows of high performance parabolic solar trough collectors installed in a field located 400 meters south of the power plant. With this project, Medicine Hat will soon be the first city in the world to operate a concentrated solar thermal power system in a high latitude and cold weather location. It will also be the first city in Canada to have a solar-powered steam generation system integrated into a natural gas power plant. About one megawatt of electricity, or enough electricity to power about 150 homes in Medicine Hat for a year, is estimated to be generated as a result of the project.
Consul General Ferrer invited the two officials to participate in the Winter Escapade tour to the Philippines jointly organized by the Philippine Posts in Canada. The program entices Canadians to visit the Philippines to escape from the harsh winter months in Canada. END