MUSICAL TREAT FROM MEXICO

Consulate promotes string quartet

We are aware that music is a universal language. MEXICAN CONSUL ALBERTO BERNAL

Mexico has a gift for Windsor and Essex County — music.

The Mexican consulate in Leamington has arranged for the string quartet from the renowned Conservatorio de Musica y Artes de Celaya to play free concerts at venues in Windsor and Essex County May 11 to 14. The quartet will also play at the Capitol Theatre, which will sell tickets, and at a fundraiser at the Leamington United Mennonite Church in Leamington. It will also put on a private performance for residents of the Chartwell Leamington Retirement Residence.

The quartet presents a “different version” of Mexico, said consul Alberto Bernal, who arranged the visit. “We are not just cars, we are not just tacos.”

Bernal said he wants to do more outreach like the concerts. “We want to promote Mexico beyond our borders,” he said. “We are aware that music is a universal language.”

Bernal said a good place to start Mexico’s outreach is in communities where it already has a footprint.

Apart from the 3,000 seasonal agricultural workers concentrated mainly in the Leamington and Kingsville area, there are about 4,000 Mexicans living in Windsor and Essex County. Bernal said the consulate is in regular contact with about 40 to 50 families who use its services.

About 10 people a month visit the consulate for help with Mexican citizenship, he said. Most are from the Mennonite community and have dual citizenship.

The mayor of Celaya, an industrial city in central Mexico, visited Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens last year, and a delegation from St. Clair College visited Celaya’s Institute of Technology. There are about a dozen Mexican students at the University of Windsor, St. Clair College and Academie Ste. Cecile.

“We expect those numbers to increase,” Bernal said, pointing to a joint training program in the works between St. Clair College and a Mexican school in Hermosillo.

Celaya boasts a thriving autoparts industry. Valiant already has a plant nearby, he said, and the city manufactures cars for Honda, Toyota and Mazda.

The city would like to forge partnerships with Windsor, Bernal said. “We are looking to expand production.”

Canadian workers should not feel threatened by the prospect of stronger ties with Mexico, Bernal said. “Canada and Mexico are partners. We are not competitors.”

While stronger trade is a goal, Bernal accepts that his consulate exists because of the large population of migrant workers from Mexico. While low-skill workers are usually hired through private recruiters, the seasonal agricultural workers program is supervised by the federal government, so the consulate is more involved.

He said greenhouse expansions will result into more Mexican workers coming to the area in 2017.

The consulate has partnered with the OPP and offered road safety seminars for workers. Deaths of migrant workers on bicycles is of great concern to the consulate, Bernal said.

While much of the service the consulate provides is for Mexicans, there is the opportunity for it to reach out to the local communities where they live.

That’s the point behind the upcoming concerns.

“We are guests in Canada and we are grateful guests.”

The string quartet will play free concerts on May 13 at Colasanti’s Tropical Gardens at 11 a.m. and at the Leamington Arts Centre at 6 p.m. Free concerts will also be offered May 14 at Devonshire Mall at 1 p.m. and at St. Michael’s Church in Leamington at 4 p.m.

The Capitol Theatre will host the quartet on May 11 and May 14, with concerts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children.