Senator Simons, I have my colleague and friend Minister Fraser on speed dial. He and I chat regularly about this. It is in how we address immigration in rural areas. You will hear me talk about the round tables that I have done because they have certainly given me the information that I need to help my colleagues develop better policy. One thing that we have heard loud and clear is that if immigration is going to be successful in rural Canada, you have to bring in the family unit.

There is a wonderful story from northern Ontario of a gentleman whom I have spoken with two or three times now because I get so excited when I speak with him. His is a Syrian family that came here. He opened up a pharmacy, and he now has five pharmacies. He has helped to bring in and sponsor over 20 pharmacists from Egypt, Syria and from friends that he had in Afghanistan. His secret is that the family unit has to come. It is the same as the story in Nova Scotia, with Peace By Chocolate. He is here with his family. The family unit will stay.

Also, what I hear, sadly, as we talk about immigration, is that the communities have to be welcoming. The communities have to be welcoming and invite immigrant families in. It’s not about you coming as an immigrant family and learning about my community. It’s how my community that I live in can learn about your traditions and culture and how we can all work together. When that happens together, it’s a success story. That’s what we need to do to promote immigrant families coming in.

Most immigrant families are coming with incredible skill sets. They want to work. They want to put down roots and build their families here. We all need to welcome them into rural Canada. That’s one of the reasons how we grow.