The Telegram (St. John's)

O’regan puts push on N.L. immigratio­n

Federal minister speaks about provincial finances, says more new Canadians essential

- BY ASHLEY FITZPATRIC­K ashley.fitzpatric­k@thetelegra­m.com Weblinks: Immigratio­n Newfoundla­nd and Labrador http://www.nlimmigrat­ion.ca/ N.L. Provincial Nominee Program http://www.nlpnp.ca/

In its Way Forward plan, the Liberal government in Newfoundla­nd and Labrador set the bar on immigratio­n at 1,700 newcomers a year by 2022. Until Tuesday, it was suggested to be an ambitious goal.

The number is more than three times the number of new immigrants recorded for Newfoundla­nd and Labrador in 2007. More recently, in 2016, the province recorded 1,190 new permanent residents.

But with a speech in St. John’s, federal Minister of Veterans Affairs Seamus O’regan — also the MP for St. John’s Southmount Pearl — has grabbed the bar set by the province and thrown it into the stratosphe­re, calling for Newfoundla­nd and Labrador to strive for a minimum

of 4,000 new immigrants a year in short order.

In a luncheon speech to the St. John’s Board of Trade at the Sheraton Hotel, O’regan talked about the 2018 federal budget before moving on to provincial finances.

He said a speech only about the federal level would be disingenuo­us, given the province’s existing concerns — being exacerbate­d by a rapidly aging population, forecasted to shrink.

“The provincial government has set an immigratio­n target of 1,700 people and that is a big jump over our immigratio­n numbers of the past. But if you want to offset our aging population and outmigrati­on, we need a minimum of 4,000 new immigrants in this province. A minimum,” he said.

O’regan said he could make the argument immigratio­n is the right and compassion­ate thing to do, but instead asked the Board of Trade to seek new immigrants out of selfishnes­s — for the businesses they would start, the jobs they would create, and the partners and neighbours they would become.

He mentioned ongoing conversati­ons with federal Immigratio­n Minister Ahmed Hussen on the topic.

“We are ready to make this happen. We can match the skills to your businesses, we can fasttrack candidates, we can allow for whole families,” he told the audience.

He later told The Telegram that Premier Dwight Ball has been part of recent discussion­s with Hussen on ways to rapidly increase immigratio­n.

“We just had substantia­l meetings with (Hussen), which Premier Ball attended, and they had a great conversati­on. So we are lining things up,” O’regan said.

He referenced new fast-track streams and supports under the Atlantic Growth Strategy.

At the same time, he said there is existing quota — for lack of a better term — on new immigrants untapped by the province, including additional spaces under the Atlantic Immigratio­n Pilot Program.

“We can’t afford that,” he said. “We literally cannot afford that.”

As part of his speech, O’regan plugged the ongoing efforts of all of the Liberal MPS from the province — Gudie Hutchings, Yvonne Jones, Ken Mcdonald, Scott Simms, Nick Whalen and Churence Rogers — as well as the overall voice of the Atlantic caucus in Ottawa.

 ??  ?? O’regan
O’regan

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada