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- Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced he was going to wipe out the federal skilled workers program, replacing it with opening the door for skilled trades workers and offering permanent residency to electricians, welders, heavy-duty equipment mechanics and pipefitters.
[This will lessen the opportunities for Canadian workers]
- Kenney has tightened up the rules around spousal sponsorship and conditional permanent residence status, triggering criticism from human rights lawyers, refugee groups and women’s groups.
- Kenney performed radical surgery on Canada’s refugee system. He moved to designate specific refugees as “irregular arrivals” — which allows for mandatory arrest and detention for up to a year.
[This eliminates any help for desperate people from war torn countries trying to save their lives or that of their family and children.]
- Harper’s government have made a list of ‘safe’ countries considered capable of providing state protection for their citizens. A total of 27 countries have been named, 25 of them from the European Union. They include: Austria, Croatia, France, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. Refugees from “safe” countries will have their case fast-tracked through the refugee process, with their claims heard within 30 to 45 days.
However Harper’s new form of racial discrimination means countries not on the approval list will not be treated equally and all immigrants will go into a biometric collection of fingerprints and photos — from applicants in 29 countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Iran, Jamaica, Jordan, Haiti, Pakistan, Vietnam and Yemen.
[as if the ‘fast track’ countries do not have criminals]
- Prospective Canadian citizens must now provide proof of language proficiency — in English or French — before they can apply for citizenship. The new regulation will affect candidates between the ages of 18 and 54. Immigration officials will return applications of those who do not provide evidence of proficiency.
[Many of you out there came from families who were immigrants with a poor English proficiency and they succeeded in Canada. Also with this new Harper law, many people from countries with poor education don’t have a chance to start a new life]
- Changes were made to allow employers to pay temporary foreign high-skilled foreign workers up to 15 per cent less than the prevailing local wage. In the case of low-skilled workers, it’s 5 per cent less.
[Why should they be paid less if they are doing the same work as others? This also closes the door for Canadian farm labourers because farmers will prefer to save money than hire Canadians]
Harper also eliminated the special parental benefits for foreign migrant workers who contribute an estimated $3.4 million to the country’s employment insurance system. As a result, the 30,000 migrants workers employed under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program can no longer take leave and collect a fraction of wages while caring for their newborns or sick children, said Chris Ramsaroop of Justicia for Migrant Workers, a workers’ advocacy group.
Migrant farm workers have never been eligible for full EI benefits because they are seasonal, but they had been able to access the special benefits for up to 35 weeks even if they were outside Canada during the off-season. “These workers have been subsidizing Canada’s EI fund yet ineligible to receive full benefits,” said Ramsaroop. “Now they are being completely stripped away from the few special benefits they were able to get.” “All of us are still paying into Canada’s EI system, but we are not allowed to collect any of the benefit we help contribute to,” said the 48-year-old father of six, who has worked in tobacco and apple farms in southwestern Ontario the last 13 years.
I do not understand the issues presented by either side.
Maybe if you took the time to.
What did i learn " The First Mandate of a Politician is to get Elected, The Second Mandate is to Stay Elected."
In politics all tyrants first must come as saviours.
If the goverment gave in to everyones needs and wants we would be in some pretty rough shape...
No one is suggesting giving everyone their needs and wants. However the Harper crew are making life worse for those most in need and giving out a silver plate for those who do not have as much need.
On one hand Farmers who work harder then most and make alot les then many will be happy about this and seeing as how the cheaper things get for them the cheaper the food I buy gets I guess there is a good side and a bad side...
I live out in farm country, have for near 30 years and they don’t work any harder than anyone else in many types of jobs…..and some farmers live an easy good life. Go out in farm country and find a lot of old shacks, or run down farmers homes (not the ones they rent to people)….or tractors over 10 years old being used daily in the fields….or driveways with trucks that are 5 or more years old. You’ll be looking hard to find any. Farming is Big Business these days.
Canadians are known for being lazy and the numbers show it .. Look at the Unenployment rate then look at the job oppurtunity out there .... Us as Canadians are making it so we need to bring in foreign workers so is that really Harpers fault?
I wouldn’t call Canadians lazy. I wouldn’t call any group of people that. There are many reasons that job opportunities are not taken….and too many to go into here. Some businesses want slaves and they can’t find them in Canada, so they import them.
I have heard people say I can't find a job it is tough to find a job well I have had 2 job for over 15years and have been unemployed for 2 months in those 15 years .. Grew up in towns with Population 100 to 10,000 so not an crazy amount of oppurtinty but with education and without knowing anyone I have still kepty 2 jobs for 15 years ... I mean I got educated later in life but still had 2 jobs for 8 years before I went back to school.
I understand. I’ve worked since I was about 12, every day after school, not even getting summer holidays. When I left school I have always worked and only had maybe 6 months total off. Sometimes I had three jobs at once. Sometimes it was one or two jobs and a business of my own on the side. Then I got to a point I decided that I would never work for anyone again and I’ve had my own businesses since then.
However……long ago getting a job was much different than now. These days no one will train you…..you have to have a course or degree ….if you have the money to take them…..or a ton of experience. At one time anyone could get a garbage mans job….now you have to have a grade 12 min. A job recently came up in my area for a heavy equipment operator……258 applied…..1 got chosen. What do the other 257 do?
Canadians lazy? No. But they are not going to work like slaves for slave wages just to make someone who is rich…..even richer.
Harper’s new immigration rules when it comes to farming….what farmer is going to hire a local Canadian person during the season when they can get imported labour for 5 to 15% less as well as get them to do more and more because they know the workers have little choice? No one. Then when immigrant workers pay UI…..they can’t get full benefits if they need it.
There is a severe shortage of skilled trades people in many areas of the country. It isn't a matter of companies not wanting to pay Canadians to work at those jobs...there are not enough Canadians who are interested in specializing in those trades.
Well we would have to look at some stats I suppose. It is true though that a lot of young Canadians are less and less interested in trades where they have to get their hands dirty….when society and schools are aiming them towards desk jobs.
Ottawa has reached a consensus with the provinces to establish a pool of skilled-worker candidates by the end of 2014 that will allow employers to cherry-pick potential immigrants to fill regional labour shortages.
My question about that would be….if there are Canadians looking for work in a skilled trade….but the employer can pick an immigrant to do the work for less…who do you think they will hire?
Many of those same farmers have already been using temporary workers from other countries because they can't find enough Canadians who want to do that sort of labour.
One of the reasons they can’t find farm workers who are Canadian is because of two factors….first the rate of pay (about 10.25 hr) and then they have to work 60-70 hours a week (14 hours a day is not uncommon) with no overtime….and then they pay into UI which they aren’t allowed to receive. In Ontario workers are not allowed to organize or form a union to protect themselves. Workers are not allowed to go out at night in some areas. Most also have to pay for their lodging by the farm owner….35 to 50 dollars a week.
Of course if these people were treated fairly and with fair wages for the time and work they do….then the cost of produce would go up…..and the ‘citizens’ wouldn’t like that….so the migrant farm workers are virtually overlooked. Canadians wouldn’t put up with the wages and conditions and because of that the migrant worker, many who can speak only basic English if at all….are a lot more attractive from a bottom line point of view.
So do Canadians want to do that labour?………if they are paid decently and treated decently. The only reason the migrant worker comes to Canada is because the wages are good in comparison to where they are from and most migrant workers are married and with children so that the farmer and the government know there is an anchor back home which will take them out of Canada when they are no longer needed.
Just an example…..two years ago in the summer a farmer near me had about 8 migrant workers out in a 100 acre field for over 8 hours picking rocks and the temperature was about 90 degrees. Out of the 8, only one man had a baseball cap on. The sun was beating down on them like they were eggs on a frying pan. Where was the farm owner? …..in his 180 grand John Deere tractor with air conditioning and a stereo…as he pulled the wagon that all the rocks were being thrown into. I happen to be out on my ATV that day and after I seen them I went back home and filled up 2 large jugs with water and strapped them to the ATV rack. Then I drove back and out to the field where the men were. The farmer got out of his air conditioned cab and came over and with a sour look on his face he said the men had water!!! Sure they did….on the back of the stone wagon and sitting there getting hot enough to boil one of the rocks. What I found interesting was 6 of the workers were probably from the Bahamas and they were built like brick houses. If any one of them had stood up to the farmer then he would never have had a chance….but there lays another problem….they can’t. There are little legal repercussions in Canada for migrant workers and most of them are afraid to say anything or they will have to ….leave.
Oh…and the farmer…owns 400 acres…house worth about 350 grand…..with a pool…..with a mobile home in the driveway…with a brand new Dodge 4 wheel drive truck with all the toys….wife drives a new car….and right now they are in Mexico for their usual 2 month vacation where they have a time share. I put his total worth at about 5-6 Mil.
So what Canadians would work under those conditions?
