Fantastic - this province is seriously polarized in terms of the distribution of the colour of people's skin and could really use some diversity. However, I must point out that they recognize the fact that young people are leaving, and their solution has nothing to do with trying to get them to stay.
Spending money on increasing immigration to NB is a good thing - I'm not questioning that at all. However, when someone turns 18 and moves to Alberta or Halifax, then that is 13 years of public education and 18 years of health care going with them.
Young people are an investment, in a very real sense. There's a huge amount of money tied up in every person by the time they graduate high school. If you're looking for a way to save money, maybe the government of New Brunswick should stop paying for the education of other provinces' citizens.
How do we keep young people here? Well, first and foremost, make it attractive to go to school here. Do this by funding Post-Secondary Education. This has the added benefit of helping to keep those appealing immigrants here after they graduate.
David Alward said during the campaign that he's concerned about young people leaving and taking their tuition with them. But honestly, after 18 years of education, a few thousand dollars for a student to stay in New Brunswick is a bargain. On top of that, we should make the tax rebate of $20 000 apply even after leaving the province, but only if you come back. This way, we educate our population, let them tour Europe or Ontario for a few years, and when they're reading to settle down, they have a reason to come back, bringing a lot of perspective with them.
This is a plan for a more educated, more populated province. It'll never be realized by this PC government because their main voter base stereotypes students, so giving us money is politically unsavoury.
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I agree with most of what you wrote, I think this is or should be the number one challenge for the province.
ReplyDeleteOfficial bilingualism and the fact that it is more difficult than ever to get a job in the public and non-profit sector without speaking both languages is enough to keep our English majority from wanting to stay in NB...
ReplyDeleteI'm sick and tired of hearing 3rd and 4th place candidates getting jobs because 1-3 doesn't speak both languages. I believe it then leads to a structural weakness within those sectors because only in NB would the best person for the job not make the cut!!
I'm not anti-French but I think it's time we re-think official bilingualism as it is, before expanding upon it...