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Sudbury celebrates its first Multiculturalism Day
Greater Sudbury marked its inaugural Canadian Multiculturalism Day on Friday to celebrate the city's growing cultural diversity.
Greater Sudbury marked its inaugural Canadian Multiculturalism Day on Friday.
The day has been officially recognized by communities across the country since 2002 to celebrate Canada's rich diversity.
'Sudbury was built on the back of immigrants that have come here and worked hard,' said Sudbury Mayor Paul Lefebvre.
Sudbury multicultural
Greater Sudbury marked its inaugural Canadian Multiculturalism Day on Friday. The day has been officially recognized by communities across the country since 2002 to celebrate Canada's rich diversity.
(Amanda Hicks/CTV News)
'To our community and families, there's diversity that we get to thrive in and to celebrate.'
Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas said it's important for the community to come together to celebrate diversity.
'We live in really tough times for a lot of people right now around the world and in our own country, in our own province,' Gelinas said.
'It becomes even more important to have strong relationships, to learn from one another, to understand one another.'
Dozens turned out to the ceremony at Tom Davies Square, organized by the Sudbury Multicultural and Folk Arts Association.
Influx of newcomers
Association president Bella Ravi said she had never heard of the day until recently.
'I was on Google a few years back, and I saw that there is such a day as Multicultural Day,' Ravi said.
'Then COVID hit and we couldn't do anything.'
She said there has been an influx of newcomers to the city in the last decade.
'The last decade, it has grown, mainly because of the students initially,' Ravi said.
'But now I think our reputation precedes us now. People know it's a good place to raise a family. It's a safe place to be.'
Still, she said with sour sentiments towards immigration south of the border, some of that has trickled to Sudbury.
'We have an influx, and this community was not used to that. And I get both sides of it, because when you see your community changing so fast and you're not exposed to it like you are in Toronto,' Ravi said.
'So, we are out there, trying to explain what immigration means to the economy, for our culture, for the community.'
Multiculturalism will be at the forefront of Canada Day celebrations July 1 at the Sudbury Arena.
CTV's Ian Campbell and Rick Wyman will be in attendance.
