Immigration could boost rural school populations
Stew Slater, columnist In what was probably another bungled example of Stephen Harper’s desire to
control all messages emanating from his  federal government, the media and
public were uncharacteristically asked to leave last week’s public session
of the Avon Maitland District School Board.
Sarah Cieslar, an English as a Second Language instructor based in Huron
County, had received permission from the board to make a presentation during
the public delegation section of the meeting, on behalf of something called
the Huron Immigration Partnership. A copy of her presentation had been
provided to trustees, although it wasn’t included in the information package
given to the public and media.
Seemingly out of the blue, she requested that the media not be allowed to
report on the presentation. There were mumblings that potential federal
funding may be in jeopardy if word of her proposal gets out in the news.
A hurried discussion among trustees and administrators resulted in Director
of Education Geoff Williams informing Cieslar that it was unfortunate she
had not informed the board of this requirement in advance. He asked her to
keep her presentation short, and asked the media and public to wait in the
hall.
I credit Williams and the board for criticizing Cieslar for not making
better preparations to deliver the presentation during closed session. And I
credit them for asking us to leave. According to one of my media
counterparts at the school board meeting, some municipal councilors in Huron
didn’t act similarly; when Cieslar made the same request a couple nights
earlier, reporters and the public were allowed to sit in for her
presentation but informally asked not to take any notes.
Either it’s public or it’s not public. If the public is allowed to hear a
portion of a meeting, then the media should feel obliged to report on it.
With that in mind, here’s part of what I learned about the presentation,
through a conversation a Huron County media counterpart, and by standing
outside the boardroom casually looking through the window at the projection
screen.
In an effort to counteract the depopulation of areas like rural southwestern
Ontario, Immigration Canada wants to promote a broadening of potential
destinations for newcomers to the country. Currently, large cities receive
the vast majority of immigrants. The main population growth areas are the
suburbs, while inner cities and particularly rural areas experience
declines.
School boards, of course, are interested in this trend. That was highlighted
last week when Annie Kidder, president of the People for Education lobby
group, held a news conference at a Stratford elementary school to release a
report entitled “Declining Enrolment in Ontario Schools.”
“Definitely, in our rural areas, we have been steadily declining,” explained
Avon Maitland chair Meg Westley, who joined Kidder for the news conference.
Over the past decade, Westley added, the board has gone through three
accommodation reviews and “become increasingly realistic about the situation
. . . We don’t believe we should necessarily keep half-empty schools open.”
A couple of days earlier, reports had emerged out of the Sudbury area that
several dozen publicly funded teachers’ positions will be lost next year,
due to declining enrolment. When Kidder addressed over 1,000 Avon Maitland
employees gathered for Professional Development day activities at
Stratford’s Rotary Complex, she was quick to reassure teachers that they’re
still valued.
“Ninety-five per cent of parents send their kids to the publicly funded
systems,” the People for Education president said, to audience applause.
“There has not been a flood to the private system.”
She admitted, however, that she – like most teachers – is part of the reason
for the decline. Unlike the four or five children per family of a generation
ago or the 10 or 12 from three generations ago, today’s parents now have one
or two.
This certainly has a stabilizing effect on Canada’s population and affords
us the opportunity to welcome immigrants from less fortunate parts of the
world. But, as Cieslar’s presentation apparently noted, rural areas don’t
generally share in that beneficial – and, in many ways, necessary –
population influx.
Hopes for reversed trends in school enrolment represent one reason foreign
immigration to rural areas would be beneficial. I’ve been surprised by the
number of Mexican Mennonite families attending a rural school with my
children, and remain hopeful that the large farms that first attracted them
here will provide they type of working conditions and opportunities for
advancement that will encourage them to seek permanent residency here.
Warnings about the lack of skilled tradespeople persist in this region,
despite a perceived downturn in the province’s economy. While efforts have
been made to tweak the Education system to create more home-grown skills,
immigration could ease this transition.
According to my media counterpart, Cieslar’s presentation stressed that the
challenge is turning Huron County into a potential destination for new
immigrants. Not surprisingly, her presentation took the high road in
proposing solutions, but the undercurrent is inescapable: many people of
other race, language or culture, dropped into rural or even small-town
Ontario, would not feel welcome.
In many cases, not only would they not feel welcome, they would feel like
victims of intolerance, fear and ignorance.
Catherine Fife, a vice president with the Ontario Public School Boards
Association who attended last week’s news conference with Kidder, knows
about attempts to welcome new immigrants into an area that wasn’t previously
accustomed to such efforts. She’s a trustee with the school board in
Waterloo Region, where in information technology industry boom over the past
decade saw a great influx in immigrants.
“We are seeing new immigrants move out of the GTA. We are seeing school
boards struggle to meet the needs of those students,” Fife commented.
Kudos to the Waterloo board for asking for help in making immigrant students
welcome, and bringing issues of accommodation for newcomers out into the
open. The federal government should do the same; let people like Cieslar
speak to the public, to stress the importance of burying 20th century ideas
of preserving our rural and small-town areas as strictly quasi-Christian,
English-speaking protectorates.