Several people who are part of the newcomers’ community got an opportunity to receive invaluable information about policing and laws that govern the province at an information session presented by the Moose Jaw Police Service.
The Moose Jaw Newcomer Welcome Centre hosted the event on Thursday, Jan. 31 where Cst. Kyle Cunningham from the Moose Jaw Police Service provided an interactive presentation that answered any questions newcomers had. Cst. Cunningham spoke about: who are the police? Other topics included what do the police do; how to respond in an emergency; laws of Canada and the police’s role in enforcement; driving in Saskatchewan — impaired driving and penalties; domestic violence and more.
Cst. Cunningham said he was happy to provide this information and answer questions so that newcomers can feel more comfortable and safe in the community.
“I think it’s great to have that relationship with our Moose Jaw Multicultural Council and the Newcomer Welcome Center whereby we’re able to get information to them. To be new here, they may have received information through friends or family members, but it’s really important to pass on the correct information to help them make decisions, help them feel safe in our community and to feel a part of it. They have a role to play in community safety as well.”
Cst. Cunningham said the feedback from attendees was good, as some very important questions were answered in the session that will help newcomers adjust better in their new home.
“The feedback from the newcomers was great because they had some important questions. Of course, policing in Moose Jaw and by extension, Canada, is very different from a lot of the countries they’re from, so we want to show that policing here is done differently but we want to make them feel comfortable. Providing this information is part of that process to help them adjust and better able to make the right decisions, especially when it comes to laws in Canada,” he noted. “It is just really great to have this partnership with the Multicultural Council and the Newcomer Centre. This helps to continue building our bonds in the community.”
Eric Akoto, who was one of the members at the information session, said he is grateful for the information that was provided.
“The information session was indeed great for me because I had a lot of questions answered. I got to learn so much more about laws in regard to the City of Moose Jaw and the province on a whole. There was a lot I wasn’t aware of before and I’m happy I got the opportunity to come here tonight because now I’ll be able to make better informed decisions. I’m grateful for the knowledge I gained from this session tonight.”
Melissa Mitchell, Newcomer Welcome Centre program manager, said as the community becomes more diverse, there is a need to provide this type of information on a consistent basis. She said the sessions serve the clients well.
“We’ve had the Moose Jaw Police come to do presentations on many different topics and we thought it was great to bring this information about policing in the community to educate newcomers on what to expect and how to respond to certain situations. As the population becomes more diverse and changes happen over time in our province and city, we love to keep newcomers as informed as possible, whether it’s about new laws or just important changes to legislation that they need to know. For example, marijuana being legalized, we wanted to make sure that we not only provide this information to our clients but assist them in understanding it. So, the Moose Jaw Police is a great partnership we have that assist us in this area.”
