Little Brook (NS) – August 9, 2023: On Wednesday, August 2, 2023, representatives from Louisiana's Cajun Bayou paid a visit to the Municipality of Clare.

They were welcomed by Warden Yvon LeBlanc, Deputy Warden Éric Pothier, District 7 Councillor Nadine Comeau and municipal employees. Marcel Saulnier, manager of the Rendez-vous de la Baie Welcome Center, offered them a full day of activities in the area. As part of the day's program, municipal representatives presented our Louisiana partners with a gift basket of local foods and artisanal products.

Since the fall of 2021, a partnership has been formed between Louisiana's Cajun Bayou and several tourism stakeholders in our region. In 2022, an official campaign entitled From Acadian to Cajun: Two Countries, One Culture was launched by Louisiana's Cajun Bayou in collaboration with the Congrès mondial acadien 2024 (CMA 2024), the Yarmouth & Acadian Shores Tourism Association and Discover La Baie Sainte-Marie. The campaign is reinforced by a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on June 16, 2022, by the Lieutenant-Governor of Louisiana, Billy Nungesser, and Colton LeBlanc, Nova Scotia's Minister of Acadian Affairs and Francophonie. The goal of the campaign and MOU is to strengthen ties between the two regions, while facilitating economic growth and business development, cultural and media exchanges, and education, training and research opportunities.

The Municipality of Clare is pleased to be part of this partnership, which aims to reconnect our Cajun and Acadian roots despite the centuries and thousands of kilometers that separate our formerly united cultures. It was a pleasure to welcome these folks to southwestern Nova Scotia, and we look forward to welcoming them to the region again next year for the CMA 2024. For more information on the Acadian to Cajun: Two Countries, One Culture partnership, we invite you to visit Louisiana's Cajun Bayou website.