MLA finds himself i in hot water over immigration comments | ‘SKEENA NDP MLA Robin ‘Austin is puzzled and upset» he’s. .being ‘ called ‘anti- Liberal MLA. a) Austin said Mary Polak is taking comments he made in the legislature i in February oo - out of context. In his reply to the speech from ‘the: throne, Austin "questioned why the pro- vincial government wanted to address the shortage ‘of skilled labour in B.C. through ‘immigration when. there are people out of work in the northwest who would, benefit by job training. “We have a skills short- age, but we do not.fund our college system to train these workers with the skills they need,” Austin said Feb. 16 in the legislature. "He pointed to two aboris g- inal. communities, .Gitwan- gak and Gitanyow, where he. - said the ‘unemployment. rate -.. is over:90 per cent. _ And: he «said “Northwest Community College doesn’t -: have the money to meet the demand §it’s- -getting for skilled ti trades programs. Polak is concentrating on a specific aspect of Austin’s comments — that immigrants prefer to settle and live in ur- * province,” ply reflected a reality of im- - ban centers. . ~ “Surely those . who have committed them- selves to living in the north ‘should have the chances to ‘gain'the skills to fill those ~ jobs instead of relying on. immigrants who; quite: pos- : sibly, will only want to live, ‘in the Lower Mainland oncé «they get. here,” ‘on Feb.- 16. oO That’ comment is “an. in- sult to the thousands. of im-: | migrants who have built this: -- - wrote — Polak in’ _said Austin her letter. ; - “Despite ‘constant tempts by the NDP to por- tray their party as the one most supportive of immi- grants, they will not support immigrants when. it means confronting their core sup- porters, in the labour move- ment,” she wrote. a "Speaking last week, Aus- tin said his comments sim- migration in Canada. “Where do immigrants want to go? It’s to Vancou- ' ver, Toronto and‘ Montreal. By. and: large over 90 per cent of immigrants want to. settle in urban areas,” he said. “That’s not an anti-im-' migrant stance.” “All I’m. saying is the . government should invest in» the people who. want to live — in rural B.C.,” Austin said of his position of one way of . dealing with the skills short- - age, - - He also said it is laugh- . ” Arrested — for assault ; A FIGHT between two men resulted in one being sent to -hospital and the other being . arrested March 1. Just after 4 p.m., Ter-. race RCMP responded to a reported assault in the 4500 block of Lazelle Ave. They determined — that two: men had fought, and one knocked the other to the ground where he struck his head on the pavement. The injured’ man’ was _ taken by ambulance to Mills: Memorial Hospital for exam- ination. The other man, who. police say is well-known to them, was arrested; Assault charges are pending. | REMANUFACTURED “INKJET | AND LASER CARTRIDGES NEW MACHINES & ‘SUPPLIES _ Northwest. “people | “at- able to consider himself as anti-immigrant because he himself came to. Canada immigrant by a Langley from England in 1980 and took out citizenship in 1993. “And you should know - my mother was born.in Sri -Lanka,” Austin said. “Welcome to the seamier ~ side of politics,” said Austin of the situation... " Also speaking last’ week, : Polak noted that Austin has “forgotten decades of contri- butions by immigrants. who moved to northem and rural areas." “Tt really sounds to me. like Robin is perpetuating a stereotype,” said Polak who, when as a school trustee in Surrey, worked on a. group. aimed at bettering the von “ofi immigrants ts to find work. ~ Robin Austin “ap Sa stereotype that says immigrants stay in the Low- er Mainland while the rest of ‘the province is a Caucasian bastion. I think ‘that’s really inappropriate in the context that. he’s putting | it in,” said ‘Polak. - ° tt ‘Mary Polak “If Robin. wants to criti- cize us for the job we’re do- ing in training, in skills de- velopment, to say that we’re not doing a good enough job, _ that’s fine. That’s fair game. But to bring: immigration into it as if that’s the issue, Cash. Card. ~ Carte comptant VALID MAR-18 - APR‘T 2006'/ VALABLE OU 18 MARS AULL AVRIL 2006. that’s wrong,” she added. Polak said Austin’s com- | ‘ments appear to: promote a. line of thinking that immi- ‘grants take jobs away. from "Canadian citizens. =~ | BEE aS Austin noted that Polak “was part of a long’and ex-_ pensive court battle when she and others opposed. the “=-use in Surrey schools of text- books ‘featuring same-sex "parents during her time as the chair of its school board. “Life does come back to , haunt you. She’s now sitting _ beside =Lorne ‘Mayencourt ” fin the legislature],” ‘said Austin. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - A7 Mayencourt i is gay and is | the Liberal MLA for Van- couver-Burrard. This card can be used towards your next purchase | vat any. participating C: Canadian Tire location. oe - 7 “sO ffer valid on the purchase total of eligible products after discounts and redemptions and. before taxes. Excludes prescriptions, products that contain codeine, tobacco products (where applicable), stamps, Icttery tickets, event tickets, transit tickets and passes, electronic gift cards, Life Experiences packages and pre paid phone cards. We reserve the right _ to substitute an item of equivalent value. Offer valid Saturday, March 18 & Sunday, March 19, 2006. Gift cards will only be. , accepted, at participating Canadian Tire locations from March 18 to April 1, 2006. See cashier for details. * ZWILLING JA. HENCKELS KNIVES) » GADGETS} _& COOKWARE) SALE) ON NOW! 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