Chatham-Kent’s mayor is hopeful his participation in a recent conference can help solidify the municipality as an international tourist destination for those interested in Black history.
Mayor Darrin Canniff attended the World Conference of Mayors in Orlando, Florida over the weekend to make a presentation on the municipality, its rich Black history, and its ties to the Underground Railroad.
“It was an amazing time to promote Chatham-Kent,” said Canniff. “It’s a great opportunity to get people here and show off what an amazing community we have.”
Chatham-Kent’s mayor has also become the first and only World Conference of Mayors, which is comprised of mayors from across the United States, Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean Islands.
He said a plan is currently in the works for a large delegation of conference members to come to Chatham-Kent in the near future.
According to Canniff, the group’s membership has shown interest in creating a cross-national tour of Black history sites that could include those in CK, such as the Black Mecca Museum, the National Buxton Historic Site and Museum, and the Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History.
“The tens of thousands of people that tour across the [United] States for that history — we want to get as many as possible coming here as well,” he said.
The World Conference of Mayors is a non-profit, non-partisan organization. Established in 1984, its primary objective is to stimulate positive and constructive relations between mayors internationally, based on interlocking interests and concerns.