Editor:
Re: Burnaby mayor urges fed funding as students living in vans, NOW Opinion
The thoughtfulness of the co-signed letter by Mayor Mike Hurley and other B.C. urban leaders reflects that a “new deal’ is vitally needed where an integrated national policy emerges to support local communities.
In my Council delegation remarks on March 7th, I stressed the importance of exactly this collaborative message that Mayor Hurley, Councillors Calendino & Dhaliwal, and others have been advocating throughout their time in office.
First, as a Canadian-born child of immigrants, blessed to have the opportunities this great land has to offer, I am strongly in favour that far more must be done to support current and future migrants. And let us not forget that many migrants today are being forced to leave their homes for various reasons, often due to conflict, so some of our new neighbours should be considered as refugees seeking sanctuary.
Thus, our remarkably positive circumstances here demand more than just a friendly welcome.
And for those amongst us who wish to be less than charitable, please ask your nearest Burnaby business how they are struggling to find sufficient staff to serve their customers. The federal government has indicated a desire to admit upwards of 400,000 migrants per year, about 1% of Canada’s population, which admittedly may not be nearly enough given then vast wave of retirements that COVID has generated.
We have just seen a quick rebound in employment, reaching near-record highs so the potential to grow the economy further will quickly run into sizeable roadblocks without an increase in the workforce that can only come through additional migration. The real question is where will all these new folks live, which ultimately falls on municipalities to address, and in quick time too.
This is exactly where the federal government needs to step up even more. The recently announced housing program is a good start, yet cities needs way more in terms of re-settlement assistance, transition and training programs, along with encouraging empathy and cultural awareness within the community for newcomers who may originate from places unfamiliar to us.
And I know exactly how this lack of friendly welcome feels. Moving here in the mid-1960s and attending school in North Burnaby where at the time our culture was definitely foreign and often unwanted amongst the locals.
Yet, we cannot just rely on senior levels of government for solutions as Canada’s constitution places the responsibility for land-use and future development squarely on the shoulders of our locally elected officials. And without community support, such changes that provide for the critically needed housing just can’t happen.
Now, the Mayor’s letter is eminently polite, as it should be. But I will not be so polite, as over and over we hear the whining calls of the NIMBY to stop change, stop welcoming migrants, and otherwise leave their large patch of green grass alone. And I’m not kidding about wanting to turn away migrants.
In my engagement with the neighbours in the Bainbridge Village area in preparation for my Council presentation, I heard exactly this kind of “shut the door behind us” remark from a second-generation Canadian who stands to make a bundle should Council approve the current Phase III draft at some point.
Moreover, multiple delegations to Council, and untold numbers of letters, emails, texts are sent to City along these very lines that welcoming migrants, increasing the workforce to enable small business success, and otherwise demonstrating Burnaby’s true self as a great place to live are undesirable traits for advocates like me to pursue with government and in the community.
Quite clearly the Mayor’s letter calls for the right kind of solutions; but what is truly disappointing and frankly selfish are the number of Burnaby residents who would prefer to do nothing.
Joe Sulmona, Burnaby
