Panel addresses racism and immigration in northern Ontario

The labour force in Northern Ontario is shrinking.

In Greater Sudbury, the Northern Policy Institute says 36,000 people will retire in the next 15 years, but only 25,000 people will be available to replace them.

One way governments are trying to fill this gap is through immigration.

The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program (RNIP) is a federal government initiative that promotes Northern Ontario to immigrant workers.

Officials in the program say it will only be successful if immigrants feel comfortable and supported in their new home.

Enrique Paraco, Sudbury immigration development officer, hosted a panel discussion about the challenges of racism in the north.

Hediyeh Karimian, one of the panelists, said it will take more to tackle racism than just another policy.

The change into a welcoming regionfor newcomers, Karimian said, will involve effort from everyone in the community.

"Every single person, from a young child to the oldest person in the community plays a role in tackling that systemic issue because it's hundreds of years of the system," she said.

"In order for us to dismantle that system, we all play a role in dismantling it as people of colour, as members of the BIPOC community. It can't just be us pushing."

"You've got to push from the inside out, not just from the outside in."

But, she said, in northern Ontario there are still opportunities for those who seek them. The road may be a little bumpy for them, in some cases.

"I think it's a matter of networking and getting to know people," she said. "But if you don't have the right supports around you, it could be very challenging to seek opportunities."

"In a small town mentality where people don't know you, they're not going to hire you necessarily, or you have to change your name...so your resume doesn't read Hediyeh on it, it says 'Heidi' or something like that."

That's a heartache for most people that go down that road- Wayne Neegan, Constance Lake First Nation

Wayne Neegan, a community liaison officer from Constance Lake First Nation, said that communities are doing their best to attract youth, not always with success.

"I think the communities try to make opportunities for growth and try to aim at different jobs that could be available," Neegan said. "If we look at the students that were going out to universities or colleges, a lot of them tend to fall into the skilled trades area, more so than universities."

"I feel that once they obtain these credentials, certificates or whatnot, they don't want to come home because employment tends to be very specific and the opportunities are very few."

In northern Ontario, Neegan said, those jobs tend to be in the labour industry, and people don't get the opportunity to move up the ladder in those fields.

"Unless you have a very specific license that you could do certain work, you're not going to advance," Neegan said. "And that's a heartache for most people that go down that road."