Manitoba Government: Immigrant Settlement Services

Manitoba PNP Dept: Immigration Minister Jason Kenney touched off the controversy, announcing the Manitoba government would no longer be on the receiving end of some $36 million for immigrant settlement services. The province reacted strongly claiming this would ruin the program, which was critical for the province's population and development strategy, according to Winnipeg Free Press. The key question was never asked: Is the Manitoba PNP really as successful as everyone seems to believe and the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program PNP , which played a key role in helping to attract almost 16,000 immigrants to Manitoba last year, got a lot of press last April. This largely turned out to be a tempest in a teapot, as all the federal government wanted to do was to administer these programs the same way it was in every other province and territory outside Quebec and not to cut funding as the province feared. As is often the case in Canada, the media coverage focused on the intergovernmental spat over who would get to spend the money and take the credit and not on the performance of the PNP itself. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.