Montreal, June 17, 2023 - Some 300 participants from all walks of life attended a one-day conference, the second in Montreal, in the large auditorium of Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf. They came from all over the city, even as far away as the suburbs of Toronto! - Bahá'ís with their friends, neighbors and co-workers, to be an active partner in “Bahá'u'lláh's Vision for Humanity”.
Visionaries such as Alan DeSousa, Montreal city councillor, mayor of the borough of Saint-Laurent and current vice-president responsible for sustainable development, the environment, parks and green spaces, Aref Salem, city councillor and leader of the official opposition, Gabriela Guilbault, community "organizer" of Femmes internationales murs brisés and of CHINDAÏ's Mtl program, Kadiétou Savadogo, executive director of the Centre communautaire Bon Courage Place Benoît and her partner, actively participated in the conference's workshops and plenary sessions.
Organized by the Cluster Teaching Committee of Montréal Region, this conference gave participants the opportunity to better understand the nature of the spiritual enterprise in which they are engaged, to become aware of how far they have come, and to deepen their understanding of the demands of the current stage in the realization of the Divine Plan. They will strive to better appreciate the privilege of being part of a community that has set its sights on the spiritual and material transformation of society, and the good fortune of being linked by bonds of love and comradeship with brothers and sisters in a global effort, each working within the same framework of action, all united under the protective shadow of the Covenant.
This was the second time that a Bahá'í gathering had brought together a significant number of our friends from Montreal's Chinese community. In addition to plenary and small-group discussions, a lively children's program attracted and enabled many families to attend.
The program included 14 workshops with specific themes such as Building Dynamic Communities, Contributing to Social Transformation and Educational Projects and the Training Institute, all part of the consultation. Youth and children also had their own workshops and themes to work on! They used art as a means par excellence to express their views on how to build a better world!
The conference theme was based on the goals of the Universal House of Justice's Nine-Year Plan initiated in 2022, and inspiring individuals and communities to unleash their potential to achieve these goals.