Immigration is an issue that has wedged its way into mainstream political discourse in Canada, and over the weekend citizens of Pictou County were given a strong indication of where the federal liberals stand on it.
“Anyone who hates on immigrants or immigration is actually working against out national interests,” said Canada’s immigration minister, Ahmed Hussen. Central Nova MP, Sean Fraser moderated the townhall-style event which took place at Summer Street Industries in New Glasgow.
They each made the case for how the liberal party’s immigration policies have helped reverse population decline and stimulated economic growth in a region that needs both.
“We want to really use immigration to fuel economic growth in Atlantic Canada,” said Hussen. “And I’m so proud that our efforts have paid huge dividends.”
Essentially, three different categories of “newcomers” were discussed at last night’s gathering.
- Skilled workers who come through the newly minted Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program (AIPP)
- Seasonal workers through the temporary foreign worker program
- Refugees through blended visa, community sponsorship, or private sponsorship
The AIPP is a program that matches skilled foreign workers with Canadian employers who are unable to fill a position locally.
Over 3700 employers have registered with the program since 2017.
“I just visited a business a few hours ago where a Nova Scotian hired one skilled immigrant from Australia and because of that one decision he was able to create 35 jobs for Nova Scotians. That’s what immigration can do for all of us,” said Hussen to a round of applause from the room.
Both Hussen and Fraser also pointed to the example of Peace by Chocolate in Antigonish which, in 2018, had hired 35 employees locally.
However, it wasn’t all sunny ways on Saturday night.
Criticisms of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program were raised during the event’s open forum.
These are workers who do not have the skills or qualifications to apply for something like the AIPP and who work seasonal positions for a set period of time.
“Some of them have been coming for six months each year for ten years, but there’s currently no forward path to permanent residency or citizenship. All this time counts for nothing,” said one audience member who asked Hussen about the government’s plan to create a path for residency for these workers.
Hussen said that the liberals got rid of the four-year-in / four-year-out rule.
“Meaning if you were a temporary foreign worker and you had a job, even if the employer wanted to keep you, they couldn’t.”
If an employer needs the worker to stay, and is perhaps willing to offer support, then getting rid of this Harper-era policy could technically give temporary foreign workers the time in Canada that they’d need to apply for permanent residency.
The Liberal policy has been made that path easier, but it’s still rockier than it would be for skilled workers who come under programs like AIPP.
Fraser added that, like the AIPP, temporary foreign workers in Nova Scotia help fill positions that local employers have difficulty finding people for.
“It’s a huge opportunity for employers who have tried to find Canadians for positions but cannot do it, to find the labour that they need,” said Fraser.
“Some of the largest buyers of Nova Scotia lobster are seafood processors and the only reason they’re able to be the largest buyers of seafood products is because they have the staff to process them.”
Despite the different pathways that these newcomers arrive, both Hussen and Fraser doubled down strong on the outcome that having them here has on economies and communities.
“Immigration helps communities grow and it helps economies grow. You can’t dispute that,” said Fraser during an interview. “Bringing newcomers here is going to help improve not only our economy and create more jobs locally, but it’s going to improve the quality of services that local people receive as well.”
Politics
A sense of concern over anti-immigrant sentiment was the elephant in the room on Saturday and both Fraser and Hussen were quick to cast it along political lines.
“We cannot take the acceptance of immigration as a positive role in Canada for granted anymore,” said Hussen. “We have to fight for it, because there’s a lot of mis information out there including now from inside parliament with Maxime Bernier and even the Conservative party.”
These assertions of racist pandering from their political opponents also comes at a time of political scandal within the liberal party.
Progressive Conservative party leader, Andrew Scheer has recently called on Prime Minster Justin Trudeau to resign in the wake of the SNC-Lavalin controversy which implicates the PMO in pressuring former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould into a pursuing a softer remediation agreement with SNC-Lavalin, a Quebec engineering company facing criminal charges of corruption and fraud dating back to 2015.
SNC Lavalin also employs over 8500 people in Canada.
“If you were looking at a local business that’s an anchor in this community, then I would be deeply concerned,” said Fraser before adding. “I would hope that every politician would join me in saying ‘lets make sure that there’s a just result that punishes the offenders, but ensures that innocent employees don’t suffer negative consequences because someone at the top of the food chain committed an offence’.”
‘I’m going to Canada’
At the very end of the night, just before the mics were shut off, the room heard from Farhiyo Salah.
Like Minister Hussen, Salah is originally from Somalia.
She grew up in the Dadaab refugee camp which is located in Kenyan, not far from the Somali border. There are currently more than 230,000 registered refugees who live there.
Salah came to Canada on a World University Service of Canada (WUSC) scholarship.
“When I finished high school, I had two scholarships. One for France and one for Canada,” said Salah. “I said, no I’m going to Canada.”
Salah is currently in her second year of study at Saint Francis Xavier University.
“I am so proud to say that in two years I will be a nurse and helping my community here.”
