XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: ont.politics, edmonton.general   
   From: {~_~}@nyet.ca   
      
   CBC News Posted: Apr 15, 2014   
      
      
   Temporary foreign workers being approved too easily, expert warns   
   Federal government expands investigation into McDonald’s use of   
   temporary foreign workers after CBC report   
      
      
   The government must tighten up requirements that allow Canadian   
   employers to hire low skilled temporary foreign workers and do a better   
   job enforcing the rules of the program, an expert in the issue says.   
      
   "The issue is how seriously are they taking that enforcement and how   
   much are they actually doing it and what happens when they actually do   
   do it," said Naomi Alboim, chair of Queen’s University's School of   
   Policy Studies.   
      
   The federal government has expanded its investigation into McDonald’s   
   use of temporary foreign workers following CBC's Go Public reports over   
   complaints about the use of the Temporary Foreign Worker program at a   
   franchise outlet in B.C.   
      
   Now, some McDonald's employees at some Alberta franchises are   
   complaining that local workers are getting shortchanged to accommodate   
   temporary foreign workers.   
      
   Alboim said the temporary foreign workers' low-skilled pilot project,   
   introduced by the Liberal government in 2002,  has since "grown quite   
   astronomically and that's the group that is pretty vulnerable.” Those   
   who fall under that category include workers in the hospitality and food   
   sectors.                                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
      
   Alboim says the program is problematic.   As well, low-skilled temporary   
   foreign workers are tied to a single employer, single location, with   
   little mobility and very little enforcement, she said.   
      
   "And the question is, is it really true that there aren't people already   
   here in Canada — whether permanent residents or Canadian citizens or   
   students or young people —  not available to do those jobs?"    <<======   
      
   Many Canadian employers support the TFW program, arguing they need these   
   workers to fill job vacancies.  Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian   
   Federation of Independent Business, recently told CBC News that many   
   Canadian employers feel that temporary foreign workers have a better   
   work ethic than Canadians and that there are some jobs in some regions   
   that Canadians do not want to do.   
      
   But Alboim said there are many Canadians who are underrepresented in the   
   workforce who could be trained to do these jobs.   
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   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
      
   “If employers would invest more into working conditions, improving   
   wages, would there be more people willing to do this work?”   
      
   Employers who want to hire temporary foreign workers must get approval   
   from the government by applying for a Labour Market Opinon (LMO).   
      
   "A positive Labour Market Opinion will show that there is a need for the   
   foreign worker to fill the job you offer and that there is no Canadian   
   worker available to do the job," according to the Citizenship and   
   Immigration website.   
      
   But Alboim said the LMO process is far too easy for employers.   
      
   The applications are approved without asking employers pointed questions   
   about their wages, working conditions, how far afield have they looked   
   for workers and what could they do to make their jobs more attractive,   
   Alboim said.   
      
   “They don’t do that to a significant enough degree, in my opinion, so   
   the employer get [approved] LMOs who should not get LMOs."   
      
   Alboim said the rules need to be  tightened and that the "hiring of   
   temporary foreign workers should be the last resort."   
      
   "So there should be both a stronger set of requirements placed on the   
   employers before they get the LMO and the LMO should be conditional on   
   employers meeting other conditions in order for them to get it.   
      
   "And there should be enforcement to ensure that the employers are   
   actually meeting the obligations and conditions attached to the issuance   
   of the LMO."   
      
   Arthur Sweetman, professor of economics at McMaster University, said he   
   believes the success or failure of the whole program hinges on the   
   Labour Market Opinion.   
      
   "And my sense is that the LMO has not been as effective a tool in   
   protecting Canadians as it might have been,' he said.   
      
   He said while he couldn't comment on the specific cases in B.C or   
   Alberta, the LMO process in general may not be as thorough as it could be.   
      
   And he said it's difficult to know whether cases that do get media   
   attention are the norm.   
      
   "The government has been sufficiently opaque that I don’t think we know   
   if there’s any systematic trouble or not.  My suspicion is that there   
   is, but we simply don't have the evidence one way or another."   
      
   Sweetman said there needs to be a much more transparent LMO process that   
   would include the government posting statistics on a quarterly or   
   half-yearly basis.   
   He said the government should also post the number of temporary foreign   
   workers coming into what regions of the country and what types of jobs   
   they are doing.    <<=====   
   ________________________________   
      
      
        GO PUBLIC: McDonald's foreign worker practices face growing   
   investigation   
        McDonald's boycott threatened over use of temporary foreign workers   
        Temporary foreign workers have better work ethic, some employers   
   believe   
        FLOWCHART: Hiring temporary foreign workers   
        EXCLUSIVE: McDonald's accused of favouring foreign workers   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)