Citizenship and immigration minister Dennis Coderre often invokes the
name of legendary 19th century prairie Liberal politician Clifford
Sifton when he talks about his plan to bring new skilled workers and
professionals to rural Canada.
In the late 1890s, Sifton launched a plan to populate the West with
sturdy and experienced European farmers after meeting provincial
government representatives in Winnipeg.
This autumn, Coderre convened the first meeting of immigration
ministers in more than a century to launch a new immigration drive. He
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is proposing to give special treatment to foreign skilled workers who
agree to live and work in smaller cities or rural areas for three to
five years.
He convened the meeting in Sifton’s city of Winnipeg.
“When we had that first formal gathering (in the 1890s) and put in
place that original proposition of a $10 fee for a piece of land, it
was promoting good farmers, building the West,” Coderre said in an
interview. “That piece of land now in the 21st century is knowledge and
skills.”
He said his proposal, which has been embraced by most provinces, is
based on some simple facts of life.
Every year hundreds of thousands of people try to come to Canada to
build a new life. Every year, people leave rural Canada for the cities,
and rural communities often lack skilled workers and professionals to
run their schools and hospitals or work in their mines or factories.
Coderre sees himself as a “pragmatist who can put those two together.
“We can use immigration as a regional development tool, as Sifton did,”
he said. “We need manpower to make sure we meet the needs of rural
Canada. There’s no such thing as second-class citizens and rural
Canadians deserve a great quality of life and services that often have
no one to provide them now.”
In recent years, 88 percent of the quarter million immigrants welcomed
to Canada each year head to the three largest cities.
“My concept of Canada is not just Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver,” he
said. “What I’m looking to do is send a message that Canada was built
on immigration and it is a needed asset now in rural Canada.”
Although he is a Montreal MP, Coderre talks passionately about rural
Canada. It is a passion he said dates back to summers on his
grandfather’s Quebec farm. It is a passion he showed during a stint on
the House of Commons agriculture committee after the election in 1997 –
a committee appointment he requested.
Coderre’s rural immigration proposal is simple.
In the spring, he will issue a new system of points required to meet
the minimum standards for acceptance to Canada as an immigrant.
An inventory of skilled and professional positions in Canada and the
country’s smaller communities will be drawn up. A qualified immigrant
willing to fill that spot for three to five years will earn points.
At the end of the time, permanent residence papers will be issued.
“Say there is an opening for a nurse in Moose Jaw and we have a nurse
in the Philippines who meets our standards and wants the job. She gets
it. During three to five years, the nurse works in Moose Jaw. The
community has the duty to make them feel at home. At the end, that
nurse may well feel they have found a home and stay.”
He rejects critics who say this smacks of coercion against those with
little bargaining power.
Coderre said the thousands of seasonal farm workers the immigration
department allows into Canada each year are required to work where they
have been hired.
“Is it coercion? No, it’s a mutual agreement,” he said.
“They want to come to Canada to better themselves. We need them to
better our country.”
He said Canada needs immigrants to fill jobs and to keep up population
growth. And as Canada’s population ages and the birth rate remains low,
the need for immigrants will become greater.
“Manitoba tells me they need 10,000 workers and they need them now,” he
said with a smile. “I can help.”
When Coderre was promoted after the 2000 election to the position of
citizenship and immigration minister, he repeatedly told Canadian
Alliance critics he was “the minister for immigration, not of
immigration.”
The rural immigration strategy is an early attempt to make the point
with policy.
