On February 25, I was sitting at my desk when Linda (one of my staff) called me out to meet a gentleman who was chatting with her. He explained that his brother attended the workshop in Pangasinan on February 2 and that he had already completed the PNP forms. I was encouraged to hear that, because in my mind, he captures what the PNP program is all about. He has a brother in the Philippines who he wants to be re-united with and, if successful, Manitoba will have yet another person coming to our province who will be able to contribute to the future of our province.

As I have said before, the primary reason why I enjoy going to the Philippines is because my office is able to play some role in re-uniting families in a community that I truly care about.

Immigration is what has enabled Canada to grow and generate the wealth it has over the years. The provincial nominee program has allowed Manitoba to have a stronger say in immigration and, as a result, we have benefited more. In the 1990s before the nominee program, Manitoba found it difficult to attract more than 4,000 immigrants a year. Today we have more than tripled that number and our province has performed better than most provinces and, in part, that is because of immigration. The Provincial Nominee Program is critical because it fulfills Manitoba’s need for immigrants who will propel our economic prosperity in the future.

There is another reason that I think holds equal importance.

Manitoba’s provincial nominee program has re-united more families and friends from the Philippines than any other immigration program has. Some politicians get nervous when I say that because they are quick to point out that the program was meant to be an economic- based program. For the record and to address the minister’s concern, I will concede that yes it is an economic program. But the program has been so successful in the Filipino community because of the strong desire of people here to be re-united with their family and friends back home. Manitoba’s nominee program is designed to give an advantage to those that have the ability to easily adapt and settle in our province. This means that a priority is given to brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces and first cousins. Having said that, generally speaking, an applicant is still required to have a skill, a good education and some real work experience to qualify.

For those of you who are interested in the numbers, the following gives you a sense of how many people from the Philippines have come to Manitoba in the past five years through the nominee program alone: 2004 - 1,529, 2005- 1,837, 2006- 2,539, 2007- 3,279 and 2008 – 2,671. With over 10,000 people coming from the Philippines over those 5 years, it is easy to understand why the Filipino community here has such an important role to play in meeting Manitoba’s immigration needs into the future.

We should recognize the true value of this program and to always look at ways to improve it and promote it.

Again I want to emphasize that no politician or lawyer or immigration consultant or even the minister of immigration can give preferential treatment to applicants.