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Chatham-Kent: Without Immigrants, We\'re Going Nowhere
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
That will surely change over time. However, hopefully it will be change fostered with a good dose of immigration. It is no secret that Chatham-Kent continually suffers from out-migration. In other words our population continues to decrease over time. Our municipal politicians are faced with providing more services to less and less taxpayers. It's untenable over time. That's unless we get more people to come here.
In 1996 the population of what is now Chatham-Kent was 109,350. The 2001 census put Chatham-Kent's population at 107, 341. What will the 2005 population be? It'll probably be lower still putting even more pressure on our tax base.
If you have read this column over the last couple of years, you'll know what I think should be done. In my opinion the number one priority of our municipal government should be to actively attract economic immigrants to come to Chatham-Kent.
Unfortunately I don't hear that. We shouldn't be satisfied with the status quo in Chatham-Kent. If we are, we'll only relegate ourselves to more of the same. We simply can't afford that anymore.
Our council seems to be fixated on controlling and reducing costs. That's admirable but how about a municipal planning forecast where we have rising tax revenues because of renewed and vibrant economic growth? Think about Guelph, Waterloo, Waterdown and a whole host of other communities near the GTA. Immigrants are driving their growth. Chatham-Kent needs to aggressively get in that game.
Mayor Gagnier and her staff made a great effort of that with their venture to Korea. More of it needs to be done. Although it is understandable that most Canadian immigrants settle near the airport they land at, the wide-open spaces of Chatham-Kent would be nirvana for many.
To me economic development is all about getting economic immigrants to come here. Statistics tell us immigrants are a win, win.
Hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of economic activity originate from immigrant business activity. Their net effect on public services is positive. In other words because they give more in taxes than they take back more immigrants help maintain public services and lower costs. We all know Chatham-Kent could use more of that.
Immigrants are innovative and they tend to expand trading relationships because they possess region or country-specific knowledge of language, markets and business contacts. The Korean connection in Chatham-Kent is a good example of that.
But of course Canadian immigrants aren't coming here. In fact 80% of Canadian immigrants end up in our largest metropolitan centres of Vancouver, Montreal and the greater GTA. There are many reasons for this, one being all new immigrants feel more comfortable in their own ethnic enclaves. But when the second generation grows up, they move. Somehow in Chatham-Kent we've got to get that move going sooner.
Of course most of our immigrants to Canada today are visible minorities. I have quite a few friends from the South Asian community, many of whom are new immigrants to this country. Most of them live in the Greater Toronto Area.
When I've had some of these South Asian immigrants come to visit my small farm, they think they are in heaven. Our wide-open spaces in Chatham-Kent seem so much more pristine than the GTA. When I tell them our cost of housing versus the GTA their eyes light up.
But of course there isn't a Bangladeshi sweet shop on every corner. We'll have to work on that one. But why can't Chatham-Kent's council and our economic development people reach out to the recent Chinese and South Asian immigrants to this country. It is the key to our future economic development.
There are some like the Intercultural Coalition of Chatham-Kent who reach out and welcome, integrate, and support new immigrants to Chatham-Kent. This same vision has to be shared by our council and our economic development people. It's key for creating jobs, fostering economic growth and building for the future.
Without it, we're going nowhere. The faster we come to grips with that, the better.
Philip Shaw, farms 830 acres near Dresden, Ontario. He holds a Masters of Agricultural Economics and Business Degree from the University of Guelph and is a well-known commentator on agricultural issues in print, on radio and over satellite in Canada and the United States. In the Chatham-Kent Times, Phil will use his frank and forthright writing style to address political and economic issues from the local to the international stage. He is a keen observer of political life at all levels, reads widely and has travelled the world to gather fodder for his column. See what's At Issue this week.
