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SATURDAY, JANUARY 8,1994
PRINCE GEORGE
Citizen
40,500 FROM OTHER PROVINCES, 35,000 FOREIGN
Migration to B.C. in ’93 sets record
by MOIRA FARROW SouthamStar Network
VANCOUVER — B.C.’s population is booming, with record increases last year in new arrivals from overseas and other provinces.
Net migration into B.C. in 1993 is expected to total 75,500, according to the population section of the B.C. ministry of government services.
Thats a pretty dramatic increase - a record for B.C., said Don McRae, manager of population statistics, in a telephone interview Friday from Victoria.
He stressed that year-end statis-
tics for 1993 are not yet complete, but if third quarter figures continue, migration into B.C. from other provinces is expected to reach 40,500 and from international immigration to reach
35,000,	for a total net gain of 75,500.
McRae said that’s the highest total since detailed records were kept in 1971. Total net migration in 1991 was 57,322 and in 1992 it was 69,679.
The inflow from international migration is from all over the world, not just from Asia, he said.
McRae said year-end statistics
NATO summit: Bosnian war tops agenda
BRUSSELS (AP-CP) — While relations with Eastern Europe will be the key issue of next week’s NATO summit, much of the focus is expected to be on the carnage in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
France renewed a call for a U.S.-backed military intervention after five more French peacekeepers were wounded by Serb artillery attacks on Sarajevo, Bosnia’s capital.
Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said he wanted U.S. President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Jean Chretien and other leaders of the 16-country North Atlantic Treaty Organization “to take a strong position to break the war machine” in former Yugoslavia.
Some 2,000 Canadian soldiers are serving with the UN Protection Force in former Yugoslavia, 1,200 in Bosnia and 800 in neighboring Croatia.
In Paris on Friday, Chretien signalled that he is ready to support increased NATO involvement in Bosnia.
“No one has any easy solution (to Bosnia),” said Chretien, following meetings with French President Francois Mitterrand and Premier Eduard Balladur.
Asked if he’d approve of more NATO involvement, Chretien replied, “All actions that would ameliorate the situation would be welcomed by us.”
NATO has dithered over Bosnia since the civil war began 21 months ago ove its secession from Yugoslavia. Since then, at least 200,000 people have been killed and two million made homeless. At least 40 people were killed this week during heavy bombardment of Sarajevo, which is besieged by Bosnian Serbs.
There was no sign the Clinton administration was any less reluctant to get involved.
State Secretary Warren Christopher told reporters in Washington that Bosnia would be discussed at the summit, but he stressed it was not the main topic and declined to talk about specifics.
The two-day summit opens Monday at NATO headquarters in the Belgian capital. The allies are expected to adopt a Partnership for Peace initiative for Eastern European countries.
Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Albania and Lithuania want full membership, which would offer them security guarantees because the NATO treaty considers an attack on one member an attack on all.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin has warned NATO that inducting Russia’s former Warsaw Pact allies would increase fears of Russians about being isolated and could strengthen extreme Russian nationalists who view the West as a threat.
Manfred Woemer, NATO secretary general, said Fiiday the East Europeans for now will have to be happy with the Partnership for Peace plan.
Open to all East European countries, the partnership would permit co-operation in peacekeeping and joint military exercises and provide western know-how in drafting defence budgets, securing civilian control over the military and converting East Europe’s military industries.
for the top 10 source countries for international migration to B.C. are not yet available. But the top 10 countries for the first six months of 1993 were: Hong Kong (4,581), India (2,895), Taiwan (2,536), Philippines (1,972), China (1,098), U.S.A. (925), England (756), Vietnam (471), South Korea (402), former Yugoslavia (375).
The statistics show B.C. has suddenly taken a much larger chunk of all immigrants to Canada. During the third quarter of 1993, B.C. attracted 19.6 per cent of all immigrants to Canada up from 14.5 per cent a year ago.
In short, during 1993, B.C. has become a relatively more attractive destination to immigrants from all countries, states the ministry report The annual B.C. population growth as of Oct. 1 was 2.6 per cent Statistically, that is a sharp increase from the 2.4 per cent recorded in the previous quarter.
About 3.9 per cent of migration to B.C. from other provinces is actually recent international immigration people who have emigrated to Canada within the last five years. Although these immigrants moved initially to one province, they have moved on to B.C.
Looking at B.C.’s population as a whole, regardless of when the people moved here, the proportion of the population who are immigrants is almost 17 per cent. The immigrant content of Canada’s population is almost 16 per cent.
Statistics for the third quarter of 1993 show that B.C. gained 15,308 people as a result of migration from other provinces with Ontario as the major source of these people and Alberta in second place.
Net international migration to B.C. during the third quarter of 1993 is estimated at 10,431, up
sharply from the same period in 1992, when the total was 7,535.
Reviewing the last few years, the ministry report quotes Statistics Canada as saying B.C. gained a total of 85,200 people between 1986 and 1991 as a result of international net migration.
Over the same period, B.C. recorded the largest net migration from other parts of Canada of any province in the country, with a total of 132,000 people. That figure was more than double that for Ontario (64,700), the next highest province.
— Vancouver Sun
Out of bounds
Citizen photo by Brent Braaten
Area ski operators are in agreement when asked if skiers who wander out of bounds and get lost should pay for their rescue costs. Skiers who were lost in two incidents recently at Powder King and one in the Okanagan are being asked to pay the hill’s costs for rescuing them. Skier above wandered a few feet out of bounds for our photographer Friday at Tabor Mountain. Story, page 3.
ONE-YEAR CLOSED: 5.75 PCT.
Banks slash mortgage rates
by ERIC BEAUCHESNE Southam News
OTTAWA — Homeowners and homebuyers are finally getting some more interest rate relief as banks and trust companies announced cuts Friday of from one-quarter point to more than one-half a point on a variety of mortgage rates. •
And there may be more cuts coming, said one banker.
The cuts, mostly in rates for mortgages of one-year or longer, left rates on those terms ranging a low of 5.75 per cent for a one-year closed mortgage to 7.25 per cent for a five-year term at some financial institutions.
Mortgage rates are now at their lowest levels since the mid-1960s, said Tom Alton, president of the Bank of Montreal Mortgage Corp.
Mortgage rates are now at their lowest levels since the mid-1960s, said Tom Alton, president of the Bank of Montreal Mortgage Corp.
“The wholesale cost of money came down so we wanted to pass this on to our clients,” Alton said. “When you consider the five-year rate was cut one per cent in
November and now one-half of one per cent, those are big cuts which will be very positive for the housing markets.
“There’s a lot of pent-up demand out there and falling mortgage rates keep improving affordability.
“I think there’s still further room, though not a lot or room, for rates to go down. I think the five-year rate can get down to seven per cent or even below that later this year.”
The rate reductions, some of which became effective immediately and some today, follow re-
cent declines in both shorter and longer term interest rates.
The key Bank of Canada rate fell this week to a 29-year low of 4.11 per cent, though that failed to trigger a cut in lending rates for consumers and businesses.
The prime rate, offered blue-chip corporate borrowers and the benchmark for higher cost consumer and business loans remains at 6.5 per cent.
Some analysts have warned that while there may be some further rate relief, interest rates won’t be going much lower and could soon even more up.
Gov’t spending, not taxes, Cull’s target
•NANAIMO (CP) — Government spending is the main target of the current provincial budget review, says Finance Minister Elizabeth Cull.
The NDP government recognizes taxation levels are at the maximum that people can bear, so provincial spending will have to be curtailed, she told the Greater Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce.
“We can’t look to the revenue side, we must look at the spending side,” she said Friday.
The meeting with the chamber was one of 10 she had in the city Friday as part of a pro-vincewide pre-budget information campaign.
Compared with the rest of Canada, British Columbia’s economy is the strong, said Cull.
“But we also have high unemployment and
too many people on welfare, and we still have a deficit,” the minister said.
The provincial deficit is projected to be $1.5 billion by the March 31 end of the fiscal year.
The NDP government needs six to seven per cent more in spending just to maintain the status quo, Cull said.
That is balanced against projected revenue growth of only three to four per cent annually.
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INDEX
Ann Landers..............7
Bridge ............... 24
Business............10,11
City, B.C................3
Classified...........17-24
Comics................. 16
Commentary...............5
Crossword..............P10
Editorial...............4
Entertainment ... 16
Horoscope............. 24
Lifestyles............6,7
Movies 16,P16
Sports...............13-15
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