But for more than the last decade, the small prairie city has — and continues to be — a home for those from across the planet looking for a job and a safe place to raise a family.
“This is a continuing pattern,” said Brooks Mayor Martin Shields, highlighting the latest group of foreign workers that recently arrived from Ireland.
Shields said the result of the influx of the hundreds of foreign workers who arrived in Brooks in the past decade are now becoming naturalized Canadians.
That’s had the effect of seeing local schools pushed to the limit to meet the needs of the corresponding children brought into the community.
The Catholic school board alone has seen a 40-per-cent increase in student population since the fall of 2012, said Shields.
“Nobody knows when workers get status and families are going to come,” said Shields.
“We’ve seen a tremendous amount of change. . . It just exploded.”
Shields said the federal government is also moving to streamline the process in which those in the Temporary Foreign Workers Program become landed immigrants.
“For us, that’s a better idea as you have people here married but are
living here singly and their families are in their home countries,” said Shields.
“That’s just not the best thing for a community.”
Shields also said the way the various ethnics have been able to get along was also recently highlighted by Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
Shields said during an immigration forum, Nenshi said, “’if you want
“
For week after week, the recall appeared to grow exponentially, sparking debates in Parliament as to the quality of one of the largest beef suppliers in Canada.
Coupled with the downturn in the natural gas industry in Brooks and area, the economic future of the community of 12,000 hung in the balance of the Lakeside packing plant.
We’ve seen a tremendous amount of change. . . It just exploded.
— Mayor Martin Shields ”
to see how it’s done right, how it’s working well, go to Brooks.’”
The Brooks mayor said Nenshi explained that while in larger cities it’s possible to retreat into ethnic neighbourhoods, that option isn’t available in the Centennial City.
But in the fall of 2012, the future of the plant was thrown into question as the country’s focus was leveled at the Lakeside plant which was the source on the nation’s largest beef recall in history.
By November, however, a corner was turned with the announcement Brazilian-based food processor JBS was taking over management of the operation from XL Foods, whose owners were notably absent from the public during the crisis.
Shields said communications between the city and JBS have been strong since the start. That stands in stark contrast with many of the criticisms of its predecessor XL from several sources from the unions to media to government officials.
“If we have a question, we have (JBS) phone numbers and emails and they are responded to immediately — we have that connection,” said Shields.
“Those things are in place as far as communication and connection with JBS and with local management here in Canada and Brooks.”
JBS also is looking to strengthen ties in Brooks as it expands its operations for the first time in this country.
“We’re very excited to enter into Canada,” said JBS spokesperson Cameron Bruett in January, following the announcement the company had purchased the plant.
“It’s great quality beef in (Canada). To this date, we have not had any processing capacity in Canada so it certainly complements our North American operations.”
Bruett said the Lakeside plant will enlarge the company’s global food processing facilities, likewise, reaching more consumers across the globe.
“It presents a great opportunity to more customers worldwide,” he said.
He added the Lakeside facility itself continues to be a safe environment for food production with JBS undertaking to “implement the same food safety, employee safety and worker safety programs we have here in the United States.” ■
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