Miia Suokonautio and Keshen Goodman Library

Halifax: Below are some thoughts from Miia Suokonautio, the executive director of the YWCA in Halifax, according to CBC. Where are you from Some years ago when I was teaching in the Dalhousie social work program, I had a bright, passionate student who, despite growing up and living in Canada for more than 40 years, shared that she was always being asked where she was from. On March 8, CBC Radio Mainstreet will be at the Keshen Goodman Library in Clayton Park for Beyond Hello — a community conversation about how Nova Scotians can be more welcoming to newcomers. At the time, she was completing a graduate degree, had started and successfully operated a business in Halifax, spoke fluent and articulate English, had raised her children in the province and spent four decades here. I witnessed four different people, at four separate points in the meeting ask her, "Where are you from " Again, she a bright woman and has her wits about her. Attracting immigrants 'crucial' to Nova Scotia economic success, says Lena Diab 'Come from away' problem makes integration difficult for newcomers Simple ways to be more welcoming to newcomers from Mainstreet guests A few months later I ran into her at a community meeting on youth mental health. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.