Province to prod feds on immigrant settlement
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/04/2012 (5241 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
OTTAWA — The province will introduce a resolution in the legislature today calling on Ottawa to change its mind about ending an agreement to fund immigration-settlement services but let Manitoba deliver them.
The federal government informed Manitoba last week it was pulling out of the nearly 15-year-old agreement. A spokesperson for federal immigration minister Jason Kenney said the decision was made to ensure consistency across support services in every province.
Only Manitoba and B.C. had agreements to provide settlement services.
Ottawa will spend more than $36 million on settlement services in Manitoba this year. Manitoba will spend about $1.3 million.
The agreement will remain in place for one more year, after which time Ottawa will take control. The federal government said it has no plans to cut the funding.
Provincial Immigration Minister Christine Melnick will introduce the resolution, arguing the settlement-services component of the federal-provincial immigration agreement is vital to ensuring immigrants get the support they need.
A spokesman for Premier Greg Selinger said the government will seek all-party support for the resolution.
“We believe taking management of this program away from Manitoba and moving it to Ottawa will take away the successful local focus and put our economic growth at risk,” said Matt Williamson in an email.
Tory immigration critic Mavis Taillieu said if the federal government funds 90 per cent of the program, it should be entitled to administer it. Taillieu also takes issue with an invitation to settlement-service organizations to “witness this very important event” at the legislature from assistant deputy minister Ben Rempel.
The letter is political in nature and the government should not be involving a civil servant, she said.
“We were shocked to see a civil servant, who is supposed to be impartial, getting involved in something like this.”
Kenney’s office, too, was dismayed by the letter.
“We don’t know what the rules in Manitoba are, but in Ottawa we would never ask civil servants or those working in taxpayer-funded settlement groups to engage in political work,” said Alexis Pavlich.
mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca