Leadership

If you’re Somali in St. Cloud Minnesota, some media outlets would have you believe that it’s the worst place in the USA to be. But my time there showed me otherwise. 

Somalis have been singled out as a ‘dangerous’ group through a government-imposed travel ban which prevents new refugees (including family of those already in the country) from entering the USA. However, in spite of increasingly negative rhetoric, Somali Americans in St. Cloud are thriving and revitalizing the economic and social fabric of the community.

“Instead of (the public) hearing from the media, now we’re telling our own narrative. That helps the Somali communities and the communities that lived here before get to know each other better and accept each other”, local Abdi Daisane told me.

So what’s it really like to live as a Somali in St. Cloud? Are the insular days of ‘White Cloud’, as St. Cloud used to be known, gone? 

Rural towns are full of rednecks and racists. Owen Sound is shattering this stereotype one community sponsor at a time.

For a town of 20,000 people, it has experienced a lot of change over the past few years. The catalyst was the Canadian Government’s policy to allow community groups to sponsor refugees. So far 25 refugee families have arrived, with others now also choosing to relocate to Owen Sound from different parts of Canada.

It started with a couple of key leaders, including a church minister who organised a community meeting at the local church in September 2015. 75 curious and compassionate locals showed up, many of whom had been touched by the image of 3 year old Alan Kurdi’s body washed up on a beach in Europe.

Out of this meeting, a small number of church members put their hand up to form the first sponsorship group. They brought out an Eritrean refugee family of seven. Other locals watched keenly from the sidelines. The Eritrean family were well-liked by the community and settling well. You can do it too – was the message filtering out through the town.

Monthly meetings were organized at the church to encourage others to get involved. This turned into the Grey Bruce Newcomer Network which harnessed the groundswell of support as other sponsorship groups quickly began to form. The volunteer network became a way for the community to self-organise, support one another and share insights and challenges. With the nearest funded settlement service more than 150km away there were no existing services close by and this made it even more important for the community to educate themselves to ensure that refugees were provided with the highest possible level of care and welcome.

Now it’s Thursday night in Owen Sound and I’m participating in a lively open night event at the Arden Language Centre. Diversity seems the norm here. Adult English students from all different backgrounds are proudly showcasing their culture and the building is alive with colour and vibrancy.

Responding to a lack of English language services in the region, the school was started by husband and wife-team Andy and Dave after the first refugee families started to arrive. “Here we do more than just teach English” Dave tells me, “we build human connections”. The school relies on over 50 volunteers to teach just over 40 students. On top of the incredible language and literacy outcomes the school has enabled for students, the personal relationships formed between volunteers and students have been powerful in influencing broader community acceptance for refugees and newcomers. And importantly, this has helped newcomers feel welcome and like they belong.

Owen Sound didn’t need everything to be perfectly in place to become an inclusive new home for refugees – the community responded as the need emerged.  But it started with leadership and a seed of compassion.

With the church minister, who brought ordinary community members into a conversation around diversity and social justice. And the first pioneering sponsorship group, whose endorsement and encouragement paved the way for other locals to become sponsors. And Dave and Andy, who not only responded to a gap in services but recognised the importance of getting locals involved.

What Owen Sound teaches us is how big social change can often start with the leadership of one or two trusted and respected community champions. It also shows us the power of personal connections in sustaining positive change.

“Of course racism still exists here”, a local tells me, “But the difference now is that when one guy makes a racist remark in the pub, there’s 2 or 3 other guys around him to tell him to shut the ** up. And he shuts up pretty quickly!”

Before you know it, you have created a movement.

Halifax is a regional city that’s doing immigration differently. With a population of around 420,000 the harbour-side shipping hub located on the central part of the Canadian Atlantic has transformed itself into a thriving global city.

For a long time Halifax was struggling to keep young people and attract and retain newcomers. But this has all changed with 8400 new immigrants and refugees moving to the city in the last two years, the highest number ever.

The unemployment rate is at its lowest since 1976.

The municipality is now processing more building permits than ever before. In 2011, the city issued permits for 96 new residential units. In 2017, that number soared to 1,040 units.

Halifax’s tech talent pool has grown by 28% over the past five years, adding 2500 tech jobs.

Halifax seems to have found the sweet spot in making themselves attractive as an immigration destination and wrapping their arms around people when they arrive to keep them there.  

When you hear Mayor Mike Savage speak, it’s hard not to catch on to his infectious vision and can-do approach. Much of Halifax’s success as a city of new immigrants seems to be down to the leadership he has shown over his six years in office.

The large numbers of newcomers flocking to the town are not only now the norm, but something which the city holds up and celebrates. An integral part of Halifax’s identity.

Talent, location, cost and innovation.

This is the unique values proposition Halifax uses to set itself apart when attracting people from overseas and other parts of the country.

But if you ask me, it’s the smaller gestures that are equally, if not more significant to Halifax’s success.

Like the free public transport passes provided to all refugees.

Or the Mayor’s Welcome Party, a big annual reception to welcome new international students, help connect them to local organisations and build social connections.

Or the Connector Program which matches newcomers trying to enter the labor market with established business people and community leaders. The program has been scaled up across other parts of Canada and exported to Sweden and Switzerland.

In the words of Mayor Savage, “It all comes down to all orders of government, plus civil society and organisations working together, to not only bring people here but to really make them feel comfortable here, because we want them to stay”.

Halifax highlights the critical role that local government plays in shaping a positive narrative around diversity and mobilising local people to come together and make it happen.

In 2016, Halifax Regional Municipality passed a landmark motion to enable permanent residents to vote in municipal elections. The rationale – those who contribute to the life and economy of the city should have a say in local government. While Provincial approval is still being sought to enable this to happen, this move further reflects the incredible support for immigration in the town.

Today on my way to the airport, I asked my taxi driver – a born and bred Halifax local in his late 50s, for his honest opinion. I was trying to see if I could scratch beneath the glossy surface. I’d heard of a disapproving term used by some locals to refer to newcomers as “CFAs” (Come From Aways). He thought about it carefully.. “Oh no, we only use that for people that come from other parts of Canada. Immigrants and refugees are fine!”.