One of the goals of the local immigration partnership for this year is to create an inclusion charter. After several internal conversations with the staff and the partners, Skeena Diversity Society organized its first of many community dialogues planned this year to gain the perspectives of the community.
Planning an official launch of the inclusion charter in fall, this year, a community dialogue was organized on March 14, 2024 at Cafenara from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m to understand what inclusion means to the city.
The dialogue was attended by more than 30 people from diverse ethnicities with the age group spanning from 20 to 70 years old.
“We will be expanding and are looking to have discussions with the school district as well,” said Sasa Loggin, the executive director of Skeena Diversity Society.
“This is a community engagement and research to find where everybody is at. We want to be inclusive before we launch the Inclusion Charter,” she said.
Some of the other organizations that are a part of the local immigration partnership program are the City of Terrace, Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine, Terrace Chamber of Commerce, Coast Mountain College, Volunteer Terrace, TDCSS, Work BC, Terrace Public Library, and more.
“Inclusion means many things to different people,” Loggin said.
Urja Bheda from Skeena Diversity summarized the feedback at the dialogue by calling Terrace a friendly city, but a community that can do a better job at being welcoming.
“They [immigrants] would like to see more connections, they want to connect more with the locals of Terrace without feeling like an outsider,” she said.
“Smiling at someone and being friendly is very kind, but its important to understand what welcoming looks like,” Loggin added.
Under the inclusion charter, Skeena Diversity will be issuing a public statement, Loggin said, which can then be tailored by the organizations and businesses in the city who want to participate in the initiative of making Terrace more inclusive.
“We are not perfect. It’s a journey of learning together and growing together.”