I'd like to respond to that.
When you look at the distribution of immigrants across the country, obviously you start with the provinces. We have three provinces across the country--Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia--that get the bulk of people, and I think that's where we have to start. If we want to do anything to change that trend, we have to take initiatives on a provincial basis.
Again, there is good news. I was at a conference recently in Atlantic Canada, and this is on the table. I think the provinces are getting the warning and are realizing the importance. They are quite involved in recruitment and attraction.
When you go overseas and ask people about Canada, basically what they know is Ontario, B.C., and Quebec. They would hardly know Saskatchewan or Manitoba. So the first step should be to market those provinces, because they have a lot to offer. When you look at what the Atlantic provinces have done in the past few years, obviously you see signs of success there. Manitoba is also a success; you know about Winnipeg. So I think we have to start from there.
In the provinces, yes, you get people coming to Ontario, but Ontario still has the same problem, in that 80% or 90% go to five different centres. In the case of Alberta, 95% of people go to either Edmonton or Calgary. That in itself could be quite unhealthy.
In terms of next steps, the communities have to take the initiative. In Alberta, for instance, Brooks or Red Deer or Medicine Hat or Olds have to understand why they need people to go there and what it takes to retain them. We have to make sure that the cities or municipalities are involved in their target-setting. Again, Brooks is a good example. I'm sure you've heard about it. They have about 3,000 people living there who weren't living there five or six years ago. Obviously the city was not prepared. I was quite involved with that, and I know it took some time for the city to get prepared. That's a good example we can learn from in terms of increasing the numbers in, let's say, Olds, a small centre in Alberta that has a lot to offer.
So I think we need community involvement, community recognition of the need for new people, and some serious institutional changes. If you are sending people from Africa, from Sudan, to Brooks, it shouldn't take five years for the school board to realize that these people are their customers. They should realize that even before they go there. Unfortunately, we always react to issues.
So I think the small communities have to be more proactive. We need them to be the ones to say that they want immigrants, and I think we should let them do the settlement.