HE police are investigating the actions of the program participants; the province is refunding millions of in fees of unhappy immigrants and the Nova Scotia auditor general detailed more of the myriad problems- in both conception as well as execution- with the flawed plan.
However, Immigration Minister Len Goucher and Economic Development Minister MacIsaac said time and again at a news conference that overall, the program has been successful as it brought more than 400 immigrants into Nova Scotia.
We are not saying that the government ministers didn’t acknowledge these problems, or the seriousness of the fact that the RCMP have been asked to probe a number of unlawful actions. What is disturbing is the fact that they are blaming many of the program’s shortcomings on its newness as a pilot program and the overall experience of the government with immigration issues.
As the auditor general pointed out in the two reports this year, the problem is that the program did not work as it was advertised. Nominees could often get into middle-management experience in the jobs that they were offered.
The fact is that the province will have to learn that a contract with an outside company should be properly reviewed and completely managed as well. As Mr. Goucher argues that many immigrants might be happy to be in Canada, but that does not mean that they were gratified by their experience in the provincial program and that, because of their presence, the program can be termed as successful.