This year's multicultural day potluck dinner last Saturday at Estevan's St. Paul's United Church drew in a crowd much smaller than the previous year's. "Last year we had close to 200 people so this is a little quiet, but it's a chance to get out and talk to people and get to know them," said Pam Gunnlaugson, immigration and settlement co-ordinator for the Southeast Community Settlement Committee.Although there was a smaller turnout than expected, everyone enjoyed themselves, as they laughed, chatted and ate the delicious ethnic food which ranged from Polish perogies, Italian lasagna, Palestinian lentil soup, to everything in between. "I think it's a good way to bring the community together and raise awareness of all the different cultures in Estevan because people don't even realize that there are multiple cultures here because we don't have enough of these events going on," said Katie Burham, an English as another language instructor at the Southeast Regional College. Marilyn McCutcheon, chairwoman of the Estevan Literacy Group said the event was a success because those from different cultural backgrounds came and shared their customs with the community. She added that multiculturalism in the city has come a long way. "They can share their ethnic foods for one, that's just so easy. As we look around tonight we see all these beautiful ladies in their gorgeous sari sets, that's so nice to see that."We've had a lot more immigrant population come to Estevan in the last five years. One of the things that we really needed to do was share our language of English with them so they could communicate with other people," said McCutcheon. As an instructor, Burham has seen the immigrant population boom firsthand and said it's a benefit for the city. "Almost every day or every week we have a new student come in. I think it's great to see diversity in Estevan. It's not something we used to have a lot of, and so now it's great to see a lot of different cultures."It's a great chance for me to learn about their culture as well as them learn about our community and the different events that are going on so they can integrate into the society we have here," said Burham. McCutcheon agrees with Burham and thinks acceptance is the Canadian way. "That is really what a Canadian person is, we are quite open to that. Quite frankly we need people to come and work in our community. We are very happy to have skilled workers from other countries be a part of our community," she said.Gunnlaugson said that the community is realizing that with the labour shortage, they will need to bring in more people to fill jobs. "Of course employers always hire Canadians first, but when you hit a crisis where you can't keep your businesses open because you don't have employees, then you realize that alternative strategies might answer that," said Gunnlaugson. Although most of Estevan's current population came here for work, many do not stay to build a life, said Gunnlaugson, and that's what the committee she works with is trying to encourage. "Most people move here for work, they move here to take care of their family because they don't have anything in their home countries, and it's safe. A lot of people have small children and they've been through tragedies, they've witnessed war, they want to raise their kids in a small community that is welcoming," she said.
