City of Powell River Mayor Dave Formosa will be a panelist at an international conference on compassion after having been invited by the convention’s organizers.
At the Thursday, September 3, council meeting, council unanimously approved covering the cost of the mayor’s travel to the conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Prior to the vote, Councillor Maggie Hathaway said it was a distinction for the mayor to have received the request to be a panelist.
“It seems like an American initiative so for them to have searched out a small community in Canada and ask the mayor to attend and sit on panels is a real honour,” she said. “Congratulations and good work.”
Formosa said Powell River’s involvement in the Charter for Compassion’s programs goes a long way to improving the city’s self-reliance, efforts for sustainability, and other initiatives.
At the city’s committee of the whole meeting, Tuesday, September 1, Formosa said he had been invited to be part of two panels at the Parliament of World Religions in Salt Lake City, from October 15 to 19.
Powell River is a member of the Charter for Compassion’s Compassionate Communities Initiative. Formosa said there are a number of Powell River groups and organizations involved in the initiative and they hold regular meetings. There is significant local participation. An example is the 100,000 random acts of kindness week, held in February this year.
“The Brooks Secondary School students actually spent months getting ready for that,” Formosa said.
Other initiatives involving Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation and seniors have taken place with vulnerable students in local schools as part of being a compassionate community.
Formosa said he received the invitation to the Parliament of World Religions, where the Dali Lama will be in attendance, in part because Powell River was the first city in the world to sign onto the charter. The mayor said that if he meets the esteemed religious leader in Salt Lake City, he would invite him to Powell River.
While the charter had small beginnings, it has grown substantially.
“Now it is quite a big organization,” Formosa said. “We are active in the organization. The big cities, I guess, they said there is a very active group working with first nations and a network with the students and they wanted to showcase us.”
Formosa had initially been asked to be a panelist on a session outlining what makes a city compassionate. He was asked to sit on a second panel, and the topic is: tips for interfaith leaders and citizens—how to have an impact on city hall.
In terms of accommodating Formosa’s participation in the conference, the best the organizers could promise was providing a hotel room and the registration fee, which is “quite high,” but the city would have to cover the flight. Speaking to councillors at the committee of the whole meeting, he said they had to determine whether they wanted him to attend or not.
Formosa outlined a growing need in Powell River for compassionate initiatives. He said there are more migrants coming into the community and the compassionate network has been active in working on this issue, such as how to prepare the community for inviting people of different ethnic backgrounds and providing opportunities for people coming here.
Councillor Maggie Hathaway recommended the matter be taken to council immediately so the mayor could make plans if travel was sanctioned.
