City proclamation salutes Mauritius independence
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/03/2016 (3741 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Kerselin Fumier hopes the local Mauritian community will feel a bit closer to their island home now that March 12 — this Saturday — is officially dedicated Mauritius Independence Day in Brandon.
Mayor Rick Chrest was joined by members of the Mauritius Cultural Association of Brandon on Tuesday for the proclamation signing at city hall.
“It symbolizes so many things,” said Fumier, the association’s president. “We love Mauritius so much, so we wanted to have a proclamation day to make all the Mauritian folks that live in Brandon, Manitoba, to feel like they are home.”
Fumier, who immigrated to Brandon eight years ago, says there are roughly 200 people from Mauritius living in the city.
The small country is located in the Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of Africa. It was colonized by the Dutch, French and British before gaining independence on March 12, 1968. Mauritius became a republic within the Commonwealth in 1992.
In Mauritius, Independence Day is marked with a large ceremony featuring honoured guests from nearby countries, live music and dancing.
Locally, there will be a flag raising at city hall on Friday and the Mauritius association will have a celebration at the Park Community Centre on Saturday, March 19.
“When they see the flag on Friday … I’m pretty sure everyone will have Mauritius in their hearts,” Fumier said.
The City of Brandon issues civic proclamations for days or weeks dedicated to cultural celebrations, health issues and advocacy initiatives, among other things — for example, last week the city declared March 7 as “Brandon’s Certified Green Homes Day.”
Chrest says he was happy to sign Tuesday’s proclamation and extend an official welcome to Brandon’s Mauritius community.
“We’re prepared to demonstrably show that … they are part of the community, yet they can continue to celebrate their own culture, which is really a hallmark of Canada,” Chrest said. “To me, it just makes our community richer.”
» ewasney@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @evawasney