In Coversation with Jim Gurnett
Former Executive Director of Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers (EMCN)
By Judy Sillito
On May 12, 2009, the face of Edmonton changed for our immigrant residents. That marked the last official day of Jim Gurnett’s tenure as Executive Director of Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers, a position he held for nearly eight years. Jim laughs warmly as he confesses that this is the longest time he has ever stayed in one job. Typically, after a few years he would move on to new challenges, but at EMCN there seemed to be plenty of challenges and dimensions to keep him enticed.
Can you tell me a bit about the path that brought you to connect with ESL?
I was teaching in Calgary and had the opportunity to move my family to Afghanistan where I taught ESL to children at an international school. This was my first exposure to ESL. We lived there for four years and really loved it. But with the Soviet invasion in 1979, the school was closed and I came back to Canada to look for work. I had an interest in the Peace Country, so decided to take a look around there and immediately landed a job as principal. I became involved with politics and when MLA Grant Notley died in 1984, I was elected as the NDP Candidate for Spirit River-Fairview. Eventually my work with the party led me back to Edmonton but when we lost all seats in the 1993 election, I found myself again in need of a job. At the time, the Hope Foundation was just getting off the ground and I was captivated at the idea that this thing called ‘hope’, which I had always privately recognized as a powerful force, was being given academic credibility. It was through my work at the Hope Foundation that I became interested in the urban core and the needs of the homeless. Eventually I moved to the Bissell Centre as Manager of Community Services and then on to EMCN. Of course my work at EMCN brought me back in close contact with ESL.
And what trends have you witnessed in ESL over your eight years of service?
Well, certainly there is an increased availability of funding for specific purposes that have a straightforward labour market ‘benefit’. There is now room for more creative approaches in service delivery and that is a good thing. I am also pleased at the way the Province of Alberta has funded a lot of activity in the ESL area, not leaving it all to the federal government.
What advice do you have for SPOs to address gaps or deficiencies in ESL program delivery?
I hope to see a move in the direction of less rigid categories for funding so that we don’t have to tell people needing language training that they ‘don’t fit the mandate’. I believe a more effective way to disburse funds would be for SPOs to listen more and learn from immigrants themselves and for funders to be more open to innovative ideas from SPOs that arise from this, rather than to set the criteria of what THEY think should be happening and only invite applications for those things. As I leave my direct involvement with ESL, I have some anxiety about the sense I have of a move to more closely equate official language proficiency and citizenship. I believe this is the tip of a much larger iceberg that will move Canada increasingly in the direction of seeing immigration not in broad social terms but in a ‘utility’ way - what's the ‘value’ of immigrants for the rest of us? - so this is something about which we need to be very vigilant. But that is not to say that I don't greatly appreciate the importance of offering every possible support and opportunity for newcomers to develop the greatest possible competence in both official languages.
Tell me what you consider to be your primary accomplishments related to ESL.
I have been intentional about stating that ESL needs to be fully integrated with all aspects of the lives of immigrants. When we teach English, we are teaching to whole beings, so our service should be holistic and fully integrated.
Where are you going from here?
Not quite decided yet. For sure I want to spend more time with my grandchildren, but other than that I am mulling over several categories of options: working overseas perhaps in Africa or the Middle East; tackling a new project here; or I’ve even considered less complex work that then allows me to explore my interest in creative writing. Certainly, whatever I end up choosing will be connected to social justice in some way.
What are the greatest rewards of your work?
Definitely the people. People at EMCN, other collegial connections throughout the city and beyond, immigrants of all ages and descriptions. I have been profoundly touched and humbled by the courage, creativity, and determination of the immigrants and refugees that come here. I have come to realize what an immense treasure that is for Edmonton.