Minister talks immigration, economics
Canada's immigration minister was in Belleville Friday night attracting funding for the Tories and talking up his party's plans for immigration reform.
Jason Kenney was the guest speaker at a fundraising dinner for the Conservative Party of Canada (Prince Edward-Hastings) Riding Association.
About 100 Conservative faithful and local dignitaries gathered at the Greek Hall to see Kenney, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.
Kenney was quick to sing praises for area MP, Daryl Kramp, who he said was instrumental in organizing his visit to the Friendly City.
"Looks like they have a full house," Kenney said about the gathering inside the Harder Drive venue. He said Kramp's overwhelming victory in the last federal election is testament to the fact Conservative roots remain strong in the riding.
"This is old Loyalist country," he said. "It's historically a Conservative area." The minister said his address would provide an update on ongoing efforts to strengthen the economy and "how we're doing on delivering on our election commitments." He said the Tories are eyeing immigration reforms in the months to come "to get more economic bang for immigration buck."
The objective is to select "immigrants who are more likely to succeed" and possess high levels of English and skills training to fill job shortages. "We don't want newcomers to face unemployment," he said. "We don't want medical doctors driving cabs or engineers in corner stores."
Part of the multi-prong plan involves aligning immigrants streaming in with existing job shortages. Canadians will likely hear more about the reforms "probably during the budget or the later part of this year."
He said rural communities like Belleville are gradually becoming a draw for newcomers because foreigners tend to assimilate quicker in smaller environs.
"Fewer immigrants are going to Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal than before," he said.
That was proven in recent census results that showed population growth declining in metropolis like Toronto, which slowed to 4.5 per cent.
At the same time, smaller neighbouring communities, like Brampton, spiked by 20.8 per cent, fuelled by an influx of immigrants from South Asia.
Canada grew to 33.5 million people in 2011 with the highest growth rate among G8 countries.
Western provinces like Saskatchewan led the pack in average population growth last year, registering its largest growth spurt in more than a decade, posting a 6.7 per cent increase in population.
Making it the third highest provincial growth level in the country, trailing only Alberta and B.C., Alberta saw the fastest growth of all the provinces at 10.8 per cent.
Welcoming more than a quarter of a million permanent residents yearly, the minister is looking to keep those numbers at its current plateau.
"We're looking at keeping the levels relatively stable," he said. "I don't want to strip developing countries of their best and brightest only for them to be underemployed in Canada."
Local Tory backers said the objective over the course of the next three years is to raise substantial funds "to be able to fight," that normally costs around $75,000 for the local campaign, which is roughly what was spent during Kramp's re-election bid.
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