The Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society (IMSS) celebrated Multiculturalism Week with an open house held on Friday with the clear message that refugees, from wherever they come from, are welcome in Prince George.
"I live multiculturalism by helping people/family like us who's away from real family," was written on one of at least a hundred leaves hanging from the I Live Multiculturalism tree at the society's complex located at 1270 Second Ave.
"Prince George is growing with the many new faces coming to the community and now it's another big day for our community as we get ready to receive the refugees from Syria," said Baljit Sethi, executive director of IMSS.
She said Prince George has not seen too many people from Syria settle here.
"But now we are expecting I don't know how many," said Sethi.
Prince George is known to be very welcoming to immigrants and Sethi said they would be welcome here.
There are many local churches and private groups waiting for the opportunity to support Syrian refugees.
When there was a call for volunteers, 40 people committed to the cause, said Sethi.
"We will show our hospitality, love and care to these newcomers in our community," said Sethi. "When people come from other countries and they are not coming by their own choice and they are forced to leave their country the situation is different. I am very proud to say that our community is very supportive. So today we are celebrating with a multicultural gathering but the main purpose was that we wanted to announce that there are new people coming to our community and that we should all open our hearts to them."
MLA Shirley Bond was on hand to say a few words about how integral IMSS is for new arrivals to Prince George from foreign countries.
"When I was first elected Baljit came to see me and sat with me to talk about the importance of an inclusive community," said Bond. "It taught me a lot about my responsibility in public service in that we are here to serve every member of our community and whether they are born or whether they arrive here and don't know our country, don't know our community, our job is to be inclusive, to listen, and to work hard on every citizen's behalf."
Doing this work speaks to core Canadian values, Bond added.
"We are a place that is blessed with riches that are unimaginable and even those who struggle we look for ways to support them," she said. "So I think it's very fitting that today we are in this place, surrounded by people from various cultures and religions and countries and that we are all considered members of this community."
When talking to different organizations about Prince George, Mayor Lyn Hall said it's about multiculturalism and our heritage.
"I had the opportunity yesterday to speak to someone from the provincial government around the refugees who may be coming to Prince George and it was very heartening for me to hear the kinds of comments I heard from this individual about what Prince George means to that particular process and to these people who need us more than ever."
