Diversity Empowers Cities

Diversity breathes life into Canada’s cities.

While the Multiculturalism Act was becoming law in 1988, MIREMS’ predecessor also first began working towards celebrating Canada’s diversity by making language barriers transparent. Now imbedded into the fabric of our national policy, multiculturalism has become an integral part of city development and growth. As cities and municipalities across the country gear up to elect new officials this fall, MIREMS is bringing the opinions and ideas shared by multicultural communities with their ethnic media to a larger audience.

These voices are present and powerful; they discuss municipal issues in their mother tongue. MIREMS’ careful cross-cultural translation makes them accessible.
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The following collection of cross-culturally transcreated and summarized stories give an on-the-ground-look at what ethnic communities are talking about in their cities.

NORTH DUNDAS

Ontario mayor's devotion
From Turkish source Turknews in Hamilton. "Ontario mayor temporarily lends his home to Syrian refugees Eric Duncan, the mayor of North Dundas, Ontario, said he wanted the family to have a smooth transition to life in Canada. “Myself being single and having a mother nearby that I could live with, I said I would give up my house so the family could move here, get settled into Canada and then figure out where in Winchester or North Dundas they wanted to live,” Duncan said." (21/08/2018)

TORONTO

Korean candidates in trouble due to the bill to slash the size of Toronto city council
From Canadian Korean Times Weekly in Toronto.
“Premier Doug Ford used his new government’s majority muscle to push through a controversial bill cutting the size of Toronto city council in half, with municipal elections just 10 weeks away. As the bill passed, the number of Toronto wards decreased to 25 from 47, so three Korean candidates running to be a Toronto councillor have ended up competing with each other.” (16/08/2018)

MISSISSAUGA

Mississauga Multicultural Festival
From Punjabi Zee TV Canada in Toronto
“A multicultural festival was held in Mississauga, with performances from 12-14 different cultural groups. Mississauga City Councillor for Ward 6 Ron Star said this was a multicultural festival put on for the whole community. He liked that it is a family event with something for everybody. He said multiculturalism is part of our fabric and we have to address the fact that we are all part of the same family.” (14/08/2018)

CORNWALL

Illegal border crossings see 23% rise from June to July
From Chinese source 51.ca
“This July, RCMP have intercepted 1,634 people along the US-Canada border, mainly in Quebec. Cornwall, Ontario, has been designated as a backup place for resettlement, in case of a sudden surge in the number of illegal border crossings. There are 16 comments on this article. One of the commenters stated that the refugee crisis has completely gone out of control.” (15/08/2018)

PEEL

Complaint about attitude of Peel District School Board trustees
From Punjabi radio show Fairchild Radio AM 1430 Desi Rang in Markham
“A caller complained about the attitude of Peel District School Board trustees. Without mentioning the name of the trustees, the caller said he sent an email to them but never heard back from them. Responding to the caller, the program host said that he will continue to invite candidates for the positions of school board trustee and city councillor until the municipal elections in Brampton. He encouraged community members to get the questions and concerns they want to discuss with the candidates ready.” (14/08/2018)

MONTREAL

Montreal's hot real estate market spawns once-rare bidding wars
From Chinese Sing Tao Toronto
“Montreal’s sizzling real estate market has spawned bidding wars, a common occurrence in recent years in the frenzied Toronto and Vancouver markets but a rare phenomenon in Canada’s second-largest city. A mix of very low inventory, a solid Quebec economy and influx of foreign buyers has caused home prices in Greater Montreal to appreciate above the national average for the first time in seven years.” (13/08/2018)

BRAMPTON

International students lured to work in election to get a job
From Punjabi radio show Fairchild Radio AM 1430 Desi Rang in Markham
“A caller said that his cousin, an international student from India, was asked by a candidate to work for him during door to door campaigning in the election as a volunteer. The candidate promised to give him a job if he got elected. The caller wanted to know whether his cousin could complain about this. The program host echoed the thoughts of the caller, and said that such incidents have happened and some of them have caused fights. Responding to the concerns, Councillor Gurpreet Dhillon said that the caller can report the incident to Elections Canada. Dhillon didn’t mention any names. He said, "I don’t want to give details, but we see it openly." (20/08/2018)

VAUGHAN

Indian Independence Day celebrated in Vaughan City
From Punjabi Zee TV Canada
“Indian Independence Day was going to be celebrated with a free event at Vaughan city hall. The local MP, Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua and the city councillors were expected to attend the celebrations. There was going to be dances, singing, flag raising, games, free food and free entertainment. The mayor was going to raise the flag at city hall. The organization 'We Connect Community Services' (WCCS) organizes the event. WCCS Vice President Sejal Gajjal said they focus on community programming for the vulnerable members of the community, on multiculturalism, seniors, youth, women and the general community. She said this is the fourth year they are organizing the India Independence Day in Vaughan and their organization is the only organization that does the flag raising municipally in Vaughan. Social Worker Jayshree Pandey said her project is funded by ESDC's Seniors Community Grant Programming and New Horizons. The project does inter-generational programming. As part of that project, seniors, youth and children will be performing together at the celebration. 200 people confirmed they will be coming to that performance." (20/08/2018)

These stories are collected by MIREMS’ consultants daily. Signing up for our Diversity Empowers Cities newsletter will bring stories like these to your inbox. Access to information is essential to running or reporting on a campaign, and MIREMS hopes to make that access a bit easier by connecting you with diverse voters and voices.

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