Ben Morrissey, a P.E.I. resident who is currently working as a policy analyst in Nunavut, provided the following opinion article.
To preface, this piece in no way seeks to shame newcomers pursuing a better life or contributing to the Island community.
Woe is us! … is the response that the Charlottetown and Summerside Chambers of Commerce have given to the P.E.I. government regarding its recent immigration policy adjustments.
It is almost comical that these organizations are requesting the government to reassess their immigration plans when the rest of the Island community has finally received some form of temporary respite from the social and economic implications of rapid population growth.
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While the government’s recent adjustment provides a small dampening on what some consider to be rapid population growth, this was apparently enough to draw the ire of the Island’s business community, which is becoming more and more addicted to the benefits of newcomer labour (and consequently higher aggregate demand on essential and non-essential services and products).
Class issue
It is no secret that immigration on the Island has clearly become a class-based issue in the past two or three years, as many working-class Islanders contend with increased rents, low vacancy rates, low-skilled job competition, reduced health-care accessibility, and so on, while landlords and business owners see increased asset values and surging business growth.
Islanders' complaints are generally found through hearsay and the odd online forum. Our voices seem to be weak and concerns unnoticed, but suffice to say, the broader community has noticed that the social and built infrastructure is simply not in place to accommodate such robust population growth. While these issues do not operate solely in an immigration-influenced vacuum, and yes are multifaceted, there is no denying that strong population growth has influenced the relative decline of Islanders' quality of life.
Critical workers
This problem is not unique to P.E.I. Canada has an aging population. Bearing that in mind, it is important to acknowledge that the P.E.I. government took a gamble (perhaps increasing our population would help fill key labour market gaps); a gamble that reports show failed.
Unfortunately, P.E.I. needs a list of critical workers but instead receives a growing abundance of retail and food service workers — industries that do not necessarily classify (in my mind) as critical. In all reality, many of the jobs that newcomers take are superfluous in nature, since when did so many people randomly require Skip the Dishes or a total reliance on a fast-food diet? Is this a pandemic hangover? I digress.
The lack of success in attracting critical labour demonstrates that the current method of willfully ignorant immigration policy is flawed and is leading to a reduced quality of life for most Islanders.
Wage stalling
Despite all of this, your local chambers of commerce (and presumably many of their members) do not care about the social and economic perils involved with said population growth. No, they only care about accessing cheap labour — a fact buttressed by the continual public rejection of minimum wage increases on the Island, as seen in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
The lack of success in attracting critical labour demonstrates that the current method of willfully ignorant immigration policy is flawed and is leading to a reduced quality of life for most Islanders.
It appears that the Island business community does not care about the population that supports and fosters it. Islanders are routinely scolded about the ongoing labour shortage that is crippling Island businesses. Well, rather than attempting to stall minimum wage growth through “advocacy,” try making your workplaces attractive to the resident population through livable wages and employment benefits.
No, that is simply too much to ask for; it is easier to drown out local talent by acquiring exploitable and cheap newcomer and temporary foreign worker labour.
To succinctly conclude, no, I do not feel bad (nor do many members of the general public) that the Island business community might have to put effort into attracting local talent — at least not when the rest of the Island is forced to deal with the negative externalities of growing the labour market at any expense.
