Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney took time to stop in St. Paul last week, alongside local MP Brian Storseth, to speak to constituents about work being done within Kenney’s ministry and answer questions of concern from constituents.
Residents and local government representatives from across the area gathered at the St. Paul Senior Citizens Centre at noon on July 17. Kenney took most of the noon-hour to speak about work being done with immigration policies before opening the floor to questions.
One of the biggest issues that comes up every year during consultations with Canadians are labour shortages, said Storseth as he introduced Kenney, adding, “We (Alberta) are the economic engine of Canada.”
Storseth said when he was first elected to parliament, he was amazed by Kenney’s “depth of knowledge,” adding he believes Kenney is one of the best ministers of immigration the country has ever had.
Kenney started his talk by restating some of Storseth’s thoughts.
“Canada is leading the world economically,” said the minister, adding this success is being driven by the hard work of Canadians in the private sector. People from around the world want to come to Canada because of the country’s prosperity and high standard of living.
He credited “sound and prudent policy” for helping Canada become a world leader and pointed to the Conservatives’ goal of having a balanced budget within a couple of years.
Kenney said it’s important to think about the future when making policy changes in government.
“We’re trying to build that solid foundation . . . (and) think about the next generation.”
According to the minister, the number one economic issue in northern Alberta is the labour shortage, which he noted is a better problem to have than dealing with high unemployment numbers. He said he believes in giving incentives to people who go into skilled trades.
The government is bringing in what Kenney says are “controversial but necessary” reforms. Bringing foreign workers to areas of Canada where there is already unemployment “doesn’t make any sense.”
Canada admits about 260,000 immigrants each year, but the majority of Canadians are saying they do not want those numbers increased, he said, so the labour shortage problem can’t only be solved through immigration to Canada. Kenney stated it would be “dumb” to raise immigration levels.
Reforms are being made to the immigration system to make it work for Canada and newcomers, said Kenney. The government hopes to combat human smuggling, and fight against fraudulent marital sponsors while reinforcing the fairness and integrity of the system.
It’s important to help newcomers feel like they are fully contributing to society, said Kenney, which means moving them to places where they can work. The number of immigrants coming to Alberta is now increasing, but over 80 per cent of immigrants used to settle in Eastern Canada.
The government will also be inviting foreign students to remain in Canada once they complete their training and introducing other programs, such as allowing employers a greater say in the selection of people from abroad to work in Canada, rather than a government system selecting workers.
The new system will empower employers to look abroad and recruit people from outside Canada, said Kenney, and the government will facilitate bringing in workers as long as they meet the standard credentials.
Kenney also brought up the temporary foreign worker program, which allows workers of any skill level to work in Canada for a temporary amount of time. Although there are pathways to achieving permanent residency in Canada, the program is supposed to be temporary, said Kenney. If the government accepted all temporary workers as permanent residents, the number of immigrants would double, with Kenney again stating that 80 per cent of Canadians don’t want to see the number of immigrants increase.
And although the temporary foreign worker program is being streamlined, it is still important to ensure Canadians have the “first crack at the jobs.”
But, many Canadians simply aren’t applying for certain jobs, and a new one-year pilot program has recently been launched with the province of Alberta to recruit foreign workers for several skilled trades in the construction area.
Employers will not need a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) in six occupations, which means they will not have to prove they tried to fill the positions with Canadians before seeking foreign workers. It will turn a multi-step six-month process into a 30-minute process, said Kenney.
“These are important issues,” said the minister, adding the government is responding to Canadians’ concerns, while taking some risks to do so. He noted that many previous politicians were scared to make reforms to the immigration system because of public perceptions.
“We’re trying to get smart here.”
In areas such as St. Paul, Kenney says he sees “something really exciting happening.” A few years ago, small towns were shrinking and people were leaving, but now these communities are doing a better job at welcoming newcomers to Canada than the larger cities.
“These are warm and welcoming communities,” said Kenney.
