Events Make a Gradual Return

Each year, the Rio Tinto Aluminium Canada Fund encourages and supports various programmes and initiatives in areas such as health and wellbeing, education, the environment, the reduction of inequalities, as well as culture and heritage. Everyone had to cope with many changes in the past year as most activities were put on hold. Fortunately, the tide turned this summer when the government began easing restrictions, which allowed events to gradually resume. As a result, Rio Tinto has been able to continue to honour its commitments to the community and participate in restarting activities.

As an official partner of several events, Rio Tinto was determined to continue working with the community. “It was important for us to continue to be present and, above all, to honour the commitments we had made to the various partners,” said Audrey Desbiens, Advisor, Strategic Partnerships at Rio Tinto. “The past year has been difficult for many, especially from an economic standpoint. Even though our partnerships have taken different forms, we have remained flexible so as to support the people in the community.”

Jonquière en Musique, the Festival international des Rythmes du Monde de Saguenay, the Grande fête des récoltes de Saint-Gédéon, and the Traversée du lac St-Jean were all open to festivalgoers this summer, albeit in revised formats due to the pandemic. Despite the limited number of people who were able to attend and a more condensed calendar of events, Rio Tinto was present at all these events.

“The event promoters and the various organisations were very creative during the pandemic,” added Desbiens. “They adjusted quickly to the measures in place and adapted to put on their respective events. We could not but honour all their work, and it was extremely important for us to be a major partner in relaunching these activities.”