Vancouver Sun

B. C.’ s ethnic diversity boosts economy

But aboriginal­s have not fared as well as other minorities; policy changes are needed to address this unfairness

- KRISHNA PENDAKUR Krishna Pendakur, professor of economics at Simon Fraser University, has studied inequality, poverty and discrimina­tion for the last 20 years.

Quebec Premier Pauline Marois believes that multicultu­ralism is a failed experiment. She looked across the pond and saw inequality and nascent terrorism in Britain and more favourable outcomes from France’s path of codifying dress norms and restrictin­g religious displays. So, her Parti Quebecois government is looking to France to light its path to intercultu­ral harmony. ( Perhaps she hasn’t noticed the cars on fire in the suburbs of Paris). Interestin­gly, she did not notice that a big experiment in multicultu­ralism has been going on in B. C. for some decades now, and it has yielded surprising­ly little terror.

British Columbia has a long history of ethnic diversity. From aboriginal origins to white settlers and colonists, to Asian immigrants in the 19th century and vast migration from East and South Asia in the last 40 years. It wasn’t always nice. Until the 1950s only white people could vote, and immigratio­n policy was explicitly racist until 1968. But since 1968, British Columbia has been the destinatio­n of choice for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from outside Europe, especially Asia. According to Statistics Canada, by 2017 Vancouver will be a “majority minority” city.

There will be continued immigratio­n to B. C. over the coming decades. Canada accepts about 200,000 permanent residents, and nearly as many temporary immigrants every year, and they disproport­ionately land here in B. C., especially in Vancouver. This immigratio­n is potentiall­y good for the B. C. economy: recent work in economic geography has shown that skilled immigrants make everyone around them more productive.

Cities are the engines of sustained economic growth, and the richest cities in the world are often “productivi­ty hubs” where high skilled people attract more high skilled people, making everyone a winner.

Is there a dark side? Is Marois’ vision true? It is easy to look at Vancouver and see a balkanized urban area, with Chinese people in Richmond, South Asians in Surrey, Iranians in North Vancouver and Caucasians nowhere to be found.

But this view is not really how it is. In big U. S. cities, there are reams of city blocks that are 100 per cent black or 100 per cent Hispanic. In Greater Vancouver, there are very few monoethnic city blocks. Although the Punjabi Market has lots of Punjabis, it also has lots of other ethnic origins mixed in there, too.

The mixing of ethnicitie­s here in B. C. is not restricted to residentia­l choices: Statistics Canada recently found that four per cent of all couples are mixed origin, but that in Vancouver that ratio is eight per cent. If you look among the young only, you see much higher proportion­s of mixed origin couples. And if you look in nearly any urban classroom in B. C. you will find many children whose ethnic origin is hard to figure out. In my daughter’s classroom these children are the majority.

B. C. also stands out in other ways. White men earn more than visible minority men across Canada. But, this disparity is smaller in B. C. than in any other province, and smaller in Vancouver than in any other big city.

There is also evidence that firms discrimina­te less in Vancouver than in other big cities. So, B. C. in general, and Vancouver in particular, are crucibles showing that immigratio­n does not necessaril­y result in division, segregatio­n, inequality, unrest and terror. Here in B. C., without any attempt to regulate how people display and regard their religions and customs, we seem to have something like success.

But this cloud has a lead lining. While there is good news for ethnic diversity, the same cannot be said for aboriginal people. Although they are residentia­lly mixed, have high intermarri­age rates, and lots of mixed origin children, they are severely disadvanta­ged in the labour market.

Unlike the patterns with immigrants and visible minorities, aboriginal people fare worse in B. C.’ s labour market than they do in other parts of Canada. In B. C., aboriginal people face serious shortages in education, and even with education, they earn 30 to 50 per cent less than their non- aboriginal counterpar­ts. Aboriginal people now comprise five per cent of B. C.’ s population, but with birthrates nearly twice that of non- aboriginal­s, this is a rapidly growing and highly disadvanta­ged population.

To fully take advantage of our evolving demography and diversity, we need to make a concerted effort to engage aboriginal people in B. C.’ s vibrant economy. This will involve spending resources to improve aboriginal education and training, both onreserve and off- reserve.

Simple tricks, like transferri­ng money to schools with lots of aboriginal children, have been shown to improve test scores and may lower dropout rates and grade repetition.

In addition to making aboriginal people more able to compete in the labour market, we must make the labour market a fairer competitio­n. A real effort must be made by non- aboriginal people to escape the imprint on their current behaviour left by centuries of racist action and belief.

Aboriginal racism in Canada is akin to black racism in the United States, but without the soul- searching that has occurred there over the past four decades.

We should consider strategies similar to those used in the U. S. to address black racism, such as regulating the behaviour of private firms and giving preference in post- secondary admissions. These are big steps, requiring big political and social effort, but they are necessary to safeguard B. C.’ s economic future.

 ?? STZ’UMINUMS- VIU CARPENTRY PROJECT ?? Chris Seward learns carpentry skills by helping to build a home at the Stz’uminums First Nation near Ladysmith. Business and government leaders need to engage aboriginal people in the B. C. economy, says SFU economics professor Krishna Pendakur.
STZ’UMINUMS- VIU CARPENTRY PROJECT Chris Seward learns carpentry skills by helping to build a home at the Stz’uminums First Nation near Ladysmith. Business and government leaders need to engage aboriginal people in the B. C. economy, says SFU economics professor Krishna Pendakur.
 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Canada