Rio Tinto Squad Cultivates Ties in the Community
After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the main events and festivals in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean have returned in full force. These past months, the Rio Tinto Squad has taken advantage of the festive atmosphere to meet with the public. Rio Tinto representatives were able to engage festivalgoers in meaningful conversations on a variety of topics.
Rio Tinto has been at the heart of the region’s development since 1926 and has employed several generations of workers at its facilities during this time. The Rio Tinto Squad was created by the company as a way to cultivate strong ties with the local community.
Squad members were present at a dozen or so events, including Jonquière en Musique, the Traversée Internationale of Lac Saint-Jean, the Festival du Bleuet de Dolbeau-Mistassini and the Festival International des Rythmes du Monde in Saguenay. They were there to listen to the visitors and answer any of their questions.
These conversations were also an opportunity to tell people about certain Rio Tinto initiatives that may not be as familiar to them, including the Rio Tinto Aluminium Canada Fund, which supports programs and projects that help improve the quality of life in communities.
The role of the Regional Economic Development (RED) initiative, which assists local partners in four areas—aluminium innovation, decarbonization, the circular economic and the digital shift—was also discussed.
The Squad also brought up the four neighbourly relations committees in place in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, whose purpose is to promote collaboration, consultation and information sharing between the company and the community.
During these friendly conversations, the Squad touched on Rio Tinto’s priorities and visions in terms of eco-responsibility, reflected in the Rio Tinto water refill stations set up at event sites.
Finally, festivalgoers were gifted items bearing the Rio Tinto logo, including business cards embedded with flower seeds. They were also told about the communication tools they could use to keep the conversation going at https://votreriotintoslsj.com/.
