Saskatchewan premier visits Thorncliffe area to woo workers westward
AYOUB ANSARI
East Toronto Observer
Saskatchewan, a province with a million people and 10,000 available jobs, hopes to persuade skilled immigrants from Thorncliffe to leave the city and head west for economic opportunities.
Rob Norris is Saskatchewan’s Minister of Employment and Labour, also responsible for Advanced Education, Immigration and the province’s Workers’ Compensation Board. He hosted a barbecue Sept. 29 for the residents of Thorncliffe Park, an ethnically diverse community in East York.
While the event attracted media attention, including more than a dozen journalists, fewer than 100 people showed up.
Saskatchewan’s Premier Brad Wall even made an appearance at the event. In a brief speech, he explained his province’s situation in simple terms.
“We have a people shortage in Saskatchewan,” he said.
The driving force behind Saskatchewan’s booming economy is its natural resources. According to the province’s website, Saskatchewan produces about one-third of the world’s supply of potash and uranium and has the potential of becoming a significant diamond producer.
Highly-educated immigrants attending the event came with hopes to pursue their careers as doctors, accountants and engineers in Saskatchewan.
Dr. Amreen Rind, an immigrant from Karachi, Pakistan, is a medical doctor currently working as an assistant physician. Despite the fact that she passed all the required exams, Rind doesn’t have the licence to work as a doctor in Canada; she must re-do her residency in Canada to obtain her license here.
As she took notes, Rind said she was a bit frustrated at the lack of information presented. Premier Wall indicated, however, that this was a “web-based campaign,” and urged immigrants to visit SaskJobs.ca or attend the job fair for more information.
Mohammed Jaffer, a 25-year-old who emigrated from Hyderabad, India, in February, said he came to the event looking for an accounting job. Jaffer, who lives with his wife and son, said he is willing to relocate if he gets a job in his field, although he doesn’t know about the climate of Saskatchewan.
On the other hand, Abdul Kadir, an immigrant from Mogadishu, Somalia, is looking for an engineering or teaching job and has no worries about the prairie climate.
“I never knew about this (Toronto) weather before I came here, so it doesn’t matter,” he said.
Rind said she is also willing to head west with her family and is not too worried about the climate. She does worry, however, about finding halal food in Saskatchewan.
Audience annoyed over feast during fast
Although organizers served halal food at the event, Muslims were fasting for one of the final days of Ramadhan and felt the timing was culturally insensitive. As the chicken biryani, curry, naan, and chick peas were served, Abdul Kadir was annoyed the food was served an hour before sunset, when Muslims break their fast.
Amena Kathrada, an immigrant from Zimbabwe doesn’t fast because she is diabetic, said her son couldn’t make it to the event because he was fasting. Kathrada said she told organizers they hosted the event at a bad time and the organizers said they didn’t know about fasting.
The premier, however, acknowledged those who were fasting in his opening statement, about a half hour after the food was served.
Kadir says local organizers who know about Muslim faith and culture should be blamed for the insensitivity, not the people of Saskatchewan.
