Looking for a harmonious future

With Prince Rupert already home to a rather diverse population base and the promise of even more change to come in the future, a local group is looking to find a way to welcome all that diversity.

A dialogue on Multiculturalism takes place this weekend on Saturday at the Civic Centre from noon until 4 pm. It’s an event where participants will discuss the state of cultural relations in Prince Rupert, by looking at the past, the present and gazing ahead to the future.

The Daily news provided details and a preview of the day’s events in the Wednesday paper.

Session about finding harmony
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Page one

As the Asia-Pacific Gateway drives the North American economy into the future, the face of British Columbia is expected to rapidly change. Along with it, Prince Rupert is expected to become even more diverse, prompting a look at the city’s ever-more-multicultural future this Saturday.

“This feeling that we’re kind of stepping into a global picture and becoming more of a world-wide centre and the question of how ready are we to be attracting a more diverse workforce and how well are we going to deal with an influx of people possibly from all over the world is what’s behind this,” said Beth Davies, Prince Rupert Anti-Racism Committee.

“We want to just take a look at ourselves and see what we do well —which I think is a lot — and what we need to do better.

“What this really comes down to is it’s an opportunity for people of different backgrounds to hear one another.”

It’s also an opportunity to explore some of the tensions that can result between different segments of local society when interests perceived to be competing emerge.

“The rhetoric about Prince Rupert is that we’re a wonderful, integrated multicultural community which for the most part we really are,” she said.

“But we also know that there’s an underside of this. When push comes to shove, if there’s a reason for conflict then people fracture into groups.

“I think the whole business with the port and the court case is a case in point of how easily we can be no longer an integrated, harmonious community.”

The Dialogue on Multiculturalism is an interactive event that allows locals to not only discuss the value of multiculturalism to them but also to address how welcoming Prince Rupert really is and what the community could do to be more welcoming — a key issue if the city is going to be able to become a key player in the global village.

While there will be one panel discussion, most of the short four-hour program will revolve around ‘cafe conversation tables’ where five or six people will sit down at a table and simply share different stories about Rupert’s past, current and changing face. As part of that process, some entries from the recent multiculturalism writing contest will be used as conversation pieces.

“We have some amazing stories of people getting into sinking boats and coming here form Vietnam and people who had an established Japanese community in Prince Rupert but were sent off to the East and have come back,” said Davies. “In Prince Rupert, we all live beside each other, we go to school together and we don’t have ghettos, but what is the experience of somebody who is an ethnic minority in this community? We don’t often ask them how welcome do they feel in their neighborhood or how welcome do their children feel going into that school. Let’s talk about it and either celebrate our successes or take about where we should go.”

The Dialogue on Multiculturalism takes place at the Civic centre on Sat., Feb. 24, from noon to 4 p.m. with lunch included.

Participants are encouraged to RSVP by calling 624-6054 ext. 5798 or by emailing culture@nwcc.bc.ca.