Val-saint-françois asking the population how to be more welcoming
Over the course of the next two weeks, the Val-saint-françois regional county municipality (MRC) will be holding a series of public consultations in preparation for the creation of a welcome policy for newcomers and immigrants to the region.
“The MRC does not currently have such a policy,” said Rouka Idrissa Abdoulaye, the mobilization and development agent for immigration in the Val-saint-françois MRC and organizer of the upcoming consultation sessions in the communities of Valcourt, Richmond and Windsor.
Abdoulaye explained that a welcome policy is all about creating a region that is inviting to others and which encourages those who move to the area to stick around and become a part of the community.
“It can seem abstract, but it outlines the actions that we will take to try to be welcoming,” the development agent said, explaining that policies in other local MRCS cover things ranging from support groups dedicated specifically to helping new arrivals integrate, to things like housing, transportation, and promoting the MRC in other parts of the province.
“Newcomers includes someone who moves here from Montreal or Lac-saintjean,” Abdoulaye said, pointing out that although the Val-saint-francois wants to be welcoming to immigrants as well, this policy is meant to help anyone who moves to the region make local communities their homes.
“We are open to everyone,” she said, “and we want our businesses to keep these people in the region.”
According to information from the 2016 census, the Val-saint-françois MRC has a population of 29,955, which includes 585 people who have immigrated to Canada and 10 non-permanent residents. Among the immigrant population, the majority are between 15 and 44 years of age (395).
Ideally, Abdoulaye said, a good welcome policy would help boost overall population which, in turn, would help ensure ongoing support for social services that support everyone.
“We want this to be a policy that people take ownership of, so the population needs to be involved in the process of creating it,” she continued, explaining that the public consultations are a second step in a process that began with a public forum last November. “The majority of the local mayors were present, along with different socioeconomic actors in the region and local businesses to share their opinions and suggestions on what sort of policy we should have in the region.”
The three consultations will take place in Valcourt on February 19 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the community centre on Saint-joseph Street, in Richmond on February 26 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Melbourne town hall on route 243, and in Windsor on February 27 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Centre regional Le Bel Age on 6th Ave.