Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - September 14, 1998, Winnipeg, Manitoba Families forge new life in Manitoba influx of German immigrants under program a population explosion9 for Pembina Triangle by Bill Redekop staff reporter two Little Brothers Romp around Winnipeg International Small Canadian flags while a third boy in a stroller laughs a and laughs.  \. 7 i z mom and dad smile wearily x Lour flight from fran Fuia Gerri any As they Bax a 4arice Luggage carts Sta Ikea with everything they Owh. Z Zzz c another immigrant family has landed in Mani Stubba. A. ,. R a. Oleg and Lydia uru had sons Are part of a. Special program to boost p6putoion, Manitoba. Last week three families totalling 30 people i arrived from Germany to resettle in the Pembina Triangle area of Winkler Morden Carman and Altona. T the Unruhe Are part of an initiative that will see 50 families immigrate by november. Altogether 300 people including 200 children Are moving to the area. In Rural communities where a new school teacher is often the Only infusion of new blood the Region is the envy of Small town Manitoba. Our Community is so excited said Adele Dyck of Star 7 reality in Winkler a driving Force behind the project. The project initiated by the Community arid the Winkler chamber of Commerce is Matching 50 families from Germany with jobs in the Pembina Triangle where unemployment is Zero and the booming manufacturing sector can t find enough trained workers. We be tried to recruit people from All Over Canada but they say who wants to move to Manitoba it s so cold " said Dyck. Cold no problem that s not a problem for the new recruits. Oleg 25, visited Winkler in january and liked what he saw including the Snow. In Germany it Rains every Day in Winter he said with a Grimace. He even shovelled our driveway laughs Dyck. Oleg is a trained electrician and will work for d. A. Loewen electrician Winkler. Other arrivals this month were Peter Kettler a lathe operator headed to Loewen manufacturing in Altona and Andreas Derksen a welder slated to work for general metals in Winkler. The incoming families Are not destitute nor were they necessarily unemployed. In fact the 50 families have combined assets of about $7 million the province says. Oleg said his main reason for coming to Manitoba is for the future of his kids. We come from Russia my son is born in Ger Many Oleg explains in fractured English. But in school the other children say there goes the russian i think that s not the welfare of their kids is a common concern for the immigrants says Gerry Clement the province s assistant Deputy minister of citizenship. It almost always comes Down to what s Best for the future of their All of the recruits Are people of German artices try who lived in Russia but returned to Germany once the soviet Union dissolved. The German government gave them Noney and retraining to Grams.  a but the influx of people was too great for the country s Economy and unemployment has s03t�a to 15 per cent. That has caused some resentment. In Russia these people were considered expatriates because their origins Are German said. Clement. When they were in Germany they were made to feel like russian expatriates. They Felt like people Avit put a most Are mennonites most of the new arrivals Are mennonite an Anabaptist Faith but families of Baptist religions have also been recruited and some recruits have not declared a religion. The initiative would not have been approved without jobs for the newcomers or Strong support from the Community Clement said. The Community approached the province with the idea. The newcomers follow the usual immigration process but the province s intervention got them fast tracked in about eight months. The injection of 300 immigrants into Rural Manitoba is a veritable population explosion. Manitoba accepted about 3,800 immigrants last year but 3,200 came to Winnipeg figures show. Most of the rest went to the next largest population centres. For instance Brandon received 76 and mining town Gillam accepted 52. We be already started to hear from other communities who have heard about the Success of this program Clement said. The number of immigrants to Manitoba has ranged from 3,800 to 3,900 the past three years but the province is trying to increase those numbers. The province with 3.4 per cent of Canada s population has targeted taking in the same 3.4 percentage of Canadian immigrants which would total about 7,000 per year. There s no provincial limit on immigrant numbers. Immigrants to Rural Manitoba come mainly from Britain Germany and the Netherlands. Manitoba Farmland has remained attractive to those countries because the British Pound and German Mark Are among the few currencies that have been Able to keep Pace with the american Dollar. European Farmers find Canadian Farmland Phil Hossack Winnipeg free press Oleg and Lydia Unruh with sons Kevin to Patrick and James in stroller. Attractive because reduction of european Union farm subsidies is hitting farm economies including land prices. Their Best land used to sell for up to $25,000 to $30,000 an acre said Bernie Funk of euro can reality. That s Down by a third to a half but they Don t have the big Fields like we do. They come Here and look at our big Fields and go Brand new 98zx2 2.0 litre 5 spa. With air cond., sport package aluminium wheels cd Stacker rear Al 1" a spoiler & much More. 7 Only As Low As #w7095 i w a wow or it. Pm my Brand new 98f150 4x4xlt super cab 3rd door v8, Auto of air cruise tilt pm ;