Prairie Skies Integration Network Announces Regional Strategic Plan In Davidson
DAVIDSON - The group assembled may not have been large but the sun was out and the spirit was there as the Prairie Skies Integration Network (PSIN) launched their strategic plan in Davidson.
A strategic plan deigned to make communities stronger by integrating newcomers in a coordinated community effort.
“Vibrant communities through Newcomer integration” is the group’s motto and it shows throughout their effort and their strategic plan to accomplish their goals.
Based out of Moose Jaw, PSIN’s goal is to work collaboratively with communities, groups and individuals to help ease the integration of Newcomers into the community.
By doing so in a coordinated collaborative effort Newcomers are able to take full advantage of the opportunities afforded to them and communities are strengthened with new members and the abilities they bring with them.
Jide Kassim, Admin/Communications coordinator for Prairie Skies Integration Network addresses those gathered - MJ Independent photo
The program began with Jide Kassim, Admin/communications coordinator for PSIN introducing the program and the singing of Oh Canada.
Following the national anthem time was taken to recognize the original inhabitants of the land the program was being performed on.
For Dalise Hector, project manager for PSIN, acknowledging the event was being held on lands under Treaty Number Four was important but that more of an understanding of what was really being said to make
“The practice isn’t actually a modern invention. It really is a protocol practiced by Indigenous people to acknowledge their surroundings. This acknowledgement can be stressed in various ways including terms ‘all of my relations’ to signify one’s inter-connectedness with all of nature and note that everything and everyone depends on one another for survival,” Hector said.
As part of the recognition she gave First Nations elder Mary Anne Machiskinik a gift of tobacco.
Following the presentation of the gift of tobacco Machiskinik said a prayer in Saulteaux which she then translated to English.
“(I prayed) everyone here can walk in a good way and talk in a good way (as) they reach out (to come together), she said.
GIFT OF TOBACCO - First Nations elder Mary Anne Machiskinik (left) receives a gift of tobacco from Dalise Hector - MJ Independent photo
Hector then went on to speak about how over a decade, through trial and error at times, how PSIN came into being. It was a process that found cracks in Newcomer programs and in the community which slowed Newcomer integration into the community.
“There needed to be a program there with the right people to overcome systemic gaps,” she said. “It was difficult and slow work.”
Hector said that following a thorough look at the problems Newcomers were having to integrate and be successful more quickly that groups and individuals came together and PSIN was borne out of those efforts.
She described the work to establish PSIN as “gory and messy work.”
“Prairie South Integration Network is us, PSIN is you, PSIN is everyone…we are looking for communities that Newcomers would like to call home,”
PSIN is one of 80 national Newcomer centres set up to help new Canadians integrate. PSIN is responsible for integrating Newcomers within a 150 kilometer radius of Moose Jaw which includes Davidson. The group also had launches in Moose Jaw and Gravelbourg over the past week.
From left to right - Jide Kassim, Admin/communications director for Prairie Skies Integration Network, Melissa Mitchell, program manager for the Newcomeer Welcome Centrein Moose Jaw, Mary Anne Machiskinik, First Nations Elder, Dalise Hector, project manager Prairie Skies Integration Network, Ferdinand Bararuzunza, Francaphone Integration Network and Stefanie Palmer, Moose Jaw Multicultural Centre and co-chair of Prairie Skies Integration Network’s management board.- MJ Independent photo
Hector said the key was for groups to work together in a collaborative partnership approach.
“There would be no Prairie South Integration Network without partnerships,” she said.
By coming together in a collaborative approach in a regional strategic format is what makes PSIN and its strategic plan strong. It “empowers our partners (who)…take ownership of this common agenda,” Hector said.
The common agenda is about Newcomer integration throughout each area community’s social fabric.
The core focus is for the entire region to embrace and value each newcomer. The group supports accessible and meaningful opportunities for newcomers and the enhancement of resources and conditions which improve newcomer integration.
The core focus areas PSIN has identified as part of its strategic plan are:
Housing
Employment
Access To Information
Education
Community Support
Language
Social Connections
Transit
Newcomer Support
Well-being
Faith/Religion
Economic Inclusion
At the present time PSIN’s main partner in Davidson and other area communities such as Craik is the Palliser Regional Library system.
The regional library has signed on through such things as being a major partner in literacy and by providing resources sought after in languages other than English at their branches.
For instance the Craik branch of the regional library system has seen strong demand for resources in Ukrainian.
Other resources offered to assist with integration is free access to the PressReader system which at present allows readers with a valid library card to access for free newspapers in over 70 countries with translation of 53 language to English.
Ferdinand Bararuzunza from the Francaphone Immigration Network of Saskatchewan (FINOS) said the PSIN concept allows his group to better integrate French speaking immigrants into the region.
Bararuzunza said PSIN has an “action plan for the development of the region.”
PSIN and FINOS hold a jiont mission for the growth of Saskatchewan.
FINOS roundtable of 17 members - dedicated to increase Francaphone speaking immigrants successfully immigrating into the province - is assisted by being part of PSIN’s collaborative effort, he said.
Dalise Hector cuts the cake - MJ Independent photo
Although no members of Davidson’s town council or Davidson Chamber of Commerce showed up for the launch Hector said the group is just being established and would welcome area groups and individuals to become part of the collaborative effort.
To find out more information check out PSIN’s Facebook page or their website by clicking here.