Dear Readers,

When my wife Susan and I moved to Mill Woods in 1996, we were amazed to see how diverse the population of southeast Edmonton was. In the first few years, we rented a house in the Woodvale neighbourhood, and many of our neighbours there were Indo-Canadians or immigrants from other countries. When we were involved in election campaigns for our Member of Parliament in 2000 and 2004, we had a very diverse campaign team with volunteers who had many different ethnic backgrounds. This ethnic diversity inspired me to create this multicultural community newspaper, the Mill Woods Mosaic. The first issue was published in September 2008, and when I distributed the paper, I realized how many different places of worship this community has. There are several Christian churches but also Sikh Gurdwaras, Muslim Mosques, Buddhist and Hindu Temples, and many others. It doesn’t matter which religion you belong to or if you are atheist or agnostic, I wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays or whatever you believe in – as long as you don’t try to convert me. And I wish all of you a Happy New Year and the very best in 2026. May all your dreams come true.

‍Arnim Joop 
Publisher & Editor
mwmosaic@telus.net