Atlantic Metropolis

Never underestimate where a partnership outside the university walls may take you. Just ask Dalhousie English and WomenÕs Studies Professor Marjorie Stone, who is one of three co-directors for a research centre focused on attracting and retaining new immigrants to Atlantic Canada.
   
The Atlantic Metropolis Centre/Centre Metropolis Atlantique is a consortium of academic researchers, government representatives and non-governmental organization. Established in January, 2004, it is funded by a grant of more than a million dollars from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
   
As the icon on the Atlantic Metropolis Centre (AMC) website (www.atlantic.metropolis.net) suggests, building bridges is what Metropolis is all about. Conceived by the federal government, there are five Metropolis centres of excellence across the country.
   
A solid foundation

Immigration is rapidly becoming a major policy area as CanadaÕs population ages. Who will fill all the jobs in Canada once the members of the Baby Boom retire? This is the question driving the need for an immigration strategy.
   
A strategy needs to be built on a solid foundation of research and knowledge. ThatÕs where the universitiesÕ researchers come in to the picture.
   
Saint MaryÕs University, Dalhousie University, UniversitŽ de Moncton, and St. Thomas University are the lead universities in the Atlantic Metropolis Centre project, which brings together researchers from a dozen universities and colleges in the Atlantic Provinces. Citizenship and Immigration Canada is a key federal partner, along with the Department of Canadian Heritage, and several other federal departments, as are provincial offices responsible for immigration, economic development, culture and heritage in the four Atlantic Provinces.
 
Other key partners include non-governmental organizations that deal directly with immigration settlement Ð such as the Metropolitan Immigrant Settlement Association (MISA) in HalifaxÑand multicultural associations such as the Multicultural Association of Nova Scotia (MANS).
   
A range of issues

Metropolis researchers are examining everything from the economic consequences of immigration to the range of educational and training opportunities available for newcomers. Other researchers are focusing on immigrant women, health issues and key human rights, citizenship, and social justice issues facing newcomers to the Atlantic Region.
 
ÒAtlantic Canada has, historically, been a port of entry to new immigration,” says Dr. Stone. ÒThe overarching research of Metropolis is attraction and retention of immigrants. How do we attain that? How do we make Atlantic Canadian society more welcoming to people from other cultures Ð more respectful, more tolerant?
       
ÒI have found a healthy respect, certainly among some of the senior policy people in government in the immigration sector, about what university researchers can bring to the table,” says Dr. Stone.

The role of universities

She also believes that universities can play pivotal roles in helping the Atlantic Region attract new immigrants. They can become a central player in ensuring that foreign-educated professionals have the credentials they need to practise medicine or dentistry or engineering. Universities also need to take a look at how they can attract and retrain more international students. What is needed in the way of services, both at the university and city level, to make their educational experience here a positive one?
       
AMC funding is supporting a growing number of graduate and honours students working on immigration and multiculturalism at Dalhousie and other Atlantic universities, particularly in the fields of sociology and anthropology. Leading examples include the work of Dr. Pauline Gardiner Barber and Dr. Chris Murphy, co-leaders of the AMCÕs ÒCitizenship, Justice and Security Domain”. In medicine and health, Dr. Swarna WeerasingheÕs work leads the CentreÕs Health and Well-being Domain.
      
The arts factor

Then there is the arts sector of our universities. ThereÕs a growing appreciation of what writers and other artists bring to our understanding of the immigrant experience. We need only look to the explosion in books being published by the new canon of Canadian writers.
       
Some of those Dr. Stone has now incorporated into an honours level course called ÒLiterature, Immigration and Citizenship”. The course is an additional example of how work in the external community, through Metropolis, has led back to the university. The course studies some of the best known writers on immigration and multiculturalism- Rohinton Mistry and Wayson Choy, among them.
       
ÒI would really like see the arts take on a bigger role in retaining immigrants,” she says. ÒThe arts play a huge role in building bridges across cultures,” says Stone. Think about music, drama, poetry, fiction, film, dance, art and photography.
    
ÒHow do we use the arts and education to expand our immigration base and to develop a more welcoming environment for newcomers? ThatÕs a potential that has not been tapped.”