Four days of events to showcase city’s diversity
From March 19-22 Medicine Hat will be “Raising the Curtain” on diversity and inclusion, with four jampacked days of celebrations, events and presentations designed to raise awareness of the city’s diversity.
“In 2014, the city actually signed on to be a Canadian municipality against racism and discrimination,” explains Raising the Curtain committee chair and city spokesperson Ashley House. “In doing so, we really made the commitment to be a municipality that believes in the diversity of all peoples, not just cultural. Diversity is really anything that makes you different or shapes who you are.”
More than two dozen community organizations and venues will be hosting a wide variety of events, from the Saamis Immigration SHINE multicultural showcase, to an inter-generational English tea service hosted by Teddy Bears and Tea, to a smudging workshop at Medicine Hat College — there is truly something for everybody, says House.
“It is a celebration of our diversity, and making sure Medicine Hat going forward is the place we want it to be.”
Saamis Immigration is one of the major partners involved with this year’s inaugural Raising the Curtain celebration. It will be hosting a women and girls-only swim, a soccer game between the Saamis mens’ rec. team and the Medicine Hat Police Service, as well as its ever-popular SHINE showcase. Saamis Immigration community connection co-ordinator Mary Tulip says her organization is proud to be a big part of the festivities.
“We’re organizing people of all ages, cultures and ethnicities,” confirms Tulip. “Medicine Hat is a diverse and beautiful community but I think people sometimes tend to hang around only with people that they know, or people who are like them. There is such a diverse and beautiful amount of culture in Medicine Hat; and just to be able to showcase it, and have people out to enjoy it is a wonderful thing.”
For more information on the event schedule visit the city’s website under Community Initiatives.