The Chronicle Herald
September 2, 2004
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By MARILLA STEPHENSON

I CAN'T ACCUSE the Tories of surrounding themselves with friendlies at Tuesday's immigration strategy announcement.

Nope, a number of the days speakers were refreshingly blunt and didn't spare the government criticism where it was warranted.

And, frankly, it is warranted.

Premier John Hamm had no answer to a query, in a media scrum after the proceedings, about why it has taken the Tories five years to get moving on immigration.

The successes of Canadian cities swelling with immigrants - Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto - are well known. Meanwhile, this province, where population growth is desperately needed, has a retention rate of only 40 per cent.

It's not exactly a news flash that, with low birth rates and a need for population growth to not only contribute taxes to our provincial coffers but also to keep federal funding flowing, we need to focus on immigration.

Well, the Tories are finally getting around to it, even though Tuesday's announcement received something of a mixed review.

While the government is still seeking input, which means even longer delays in establishing programs - especially in smaller communities desperate for economic activity - they have set immigration targets and soon will be using federal dollars more effectively.

The Tories are shooting for a retention rate of 70 per cent and annual immigration of 3,600 a year by 2010.

Immigration in this province peaked at about 3,500 in 1995, but by last year, had fallen back to the 1991 level of fewer than 1,500 immigrants.

"We can't force people to stay here," said Economic Development Minister Ernie Fage, "but we can make it very attractive for them to stay. Our challenge is to make Nova Scotia the destination of choice."

With the province sitting at second-last nationally in attracting immigrants, it's clear the Tories have plenty of work to do to meet their goal.

And Kay Crinean, executive director of NovaKnowledge, said the targets will be watched carefully to see that they are met.

She also called on the government to "revise and expand the Nova Scotia nominee program," adding that it is too restrictive in its current form.

And Jacques-Whitford co-founder Hector Jacques, who immigrated from Mumbai (formerly Bombay) in the 1960s, was equally adamant that the province has plenty of heavy lifting ahead on the immigration file.

"It's a damn good start, but it's just a start," he said.

He also stressed that economic security is the most important consideration for immigrants looking for a new home.

"The standard of life and the touch-feely stuff we like to talk about doesn't matter one whit if you don't feel (financially) secure."

Public input is being sought on the discussion paper, including ideas to encourage immigrants to settle in smaller communities.

The Tories said all the right things on Tuesday, but they are late to this game.

And it is one that they had better get right. Immigration is a key factor in the future economic success of this province. What on earth took them so long?

Marilla Stephenson's column appears Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

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Copyright © 2004 The Halifax Herald Limited