XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: ont.politics, man.politics, sk.politics   
   From: {~_~}@nyet.ca   
      
      (=_=)       Too funny!   The Harper incompetents in Ottawa have been   
   caught out again. . . . .   
      
   So much for 'skills shortages' requiring foreign workers.   
   _________________________________________   
      
   March 26, 2014 - Globe and Mail   
      
   Tories defend use of Kijiji data in face of opposition ridicule   
      
      
   Employment Minister defends decision to use website's data to support   
   claims of growing skills shortage, saying site is 'the new classified ads'   
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   The Conservative government is defending its use of Kijiji to support   
   its claims of a growing skills shortage in Canada, even though the   
   Parliamentary Budget Officer says the website's wonky job data are   
   throwing off the government's math.   
      
   Ministers were peppered with questions Wednesday from opposition MPs who   
   ridiculed the government for choosing to rely on data based on an   
   outside software program that searches for online job ads – including on   
   Kijiji – rather than reports from Statistics Canada.  Those reports say   
   surveys of employers show job vacancies are declining, not rising.   
      
      
   "Kijiji's a great place to sell a bike, but this is no way to run an   
   economy," said NDP finance critic Nathan Cullen after Question Period.   
      
      
   The reaction followed a Globe and Mail report that revealed a key factor   
   as to why job-vacancy data released by Finance Canada this year on   
   budget day has been out of sync with other sources.   
      
   Finance Canada's data is based on a software program created by Wanted   
   Analytics that sends web spiders across online job boards to build a   
   database of available positions. However, the Conference Board of   
   Canada, which also uses Wanted Analytics, recently decided to remove   
   Kijiji as a source because it was creating "instability."   
      
   Labour and skills shortages were one of the key reasons Ottawa expanded   
   Canada's controversial temporary foreign worker program.   
      
   The number of temporary foreign workers reached more than 200,000 in   
   2012, nearly doubling the number from 2000.  That rapid growth sparked   
   concern that it was dampening wages and on-the-job training efforts, as   
   well as acting as a disincentive to hire.  It also sparked concern over   
   abusive hiring practices, and the government has since tightened the rules.   
      
   The PBO noted this week that by removing Kijiji as a source, the rising   
   trend line highlighted by Finance Canada would instead become more of a   
   flat line.   
      
   Still, the government and the PBO agree that there are regional skills   
   shortages, particularly in Saskatchewan.   
      
   Federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney defended his government's use   
   of Kijiji, but acknowledged there are technical concerns with the data   
   including the need to weed out repeated postings for the same position.   
      
   "People are laughing at Kijiji, but it's the new classified ads," he   
   told CTV's Power Play. "I would just invite some of these economists –   
   who sit in front of their spreadsheets of inadequate data trying to   
   figure out the world – I wish they would actually go out into the real   
   world and talk to employers like I do all the time."   
      
   Mr. Kenney said critics should recognize the challenge of producing   
   reliable labour data in a world of online job boards.   
      
   "Here's the bottom line, everyone who is dealing with this debate should   
   have a little bit of humility and admit that none of us know exactly   
   what is going on in the labour market of today."   
      
   Economist Don Drummond said better information can be produced at a cost   
   of about $39-million a year. He was part of an advisory panel in 2009   
   that made dozens of recommendations to improve labour-market data, yet   
   few suggestions were implemented.   
      
   The former TD chief economist would like to see one entity, such as Mr.   
   Kenney's department Employment and Social Development Canada or   
   Statscan, "pick up the baton" and take responsibility for more detailed   
   and current labour market data at the national and provincial level.   
      
   Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Kijiji said Wednesday the company was   
   surprised to learn that its job postings are being collected and sent to   
   the government to produce reports. Chris Harris, Kijiji's head of Jobs   
   and Housing, said the job postings on the site are rising in part   
   because the site itself has had major growth in terms of popularity.   
      
   "We're not surprised that we may appear to be an outlier," he said in an   
   e-mail.   
      
   Labour market indicators help shape public policy on everything from the   
   number of temporary foreign workers Canada admits each year to   
   employment insurance rules and where to invest in skills training. A   
   clear picture of vacancies can point to whether the labour market is   
   tightening or seeing more slack. I  t can also guide policies that might   
   encourage some workers to move from one province to another. It could   
   also influence personal decisions of Canadians to move from one   
   occupation, such as teaching, to a high-demand one, such as plumbing or   
   carpentry.   
      
   Liberal MP and deputy leader Ralph Goodale said the incident raises   
   questions as to the way the Conservatives develop public policy.   
      
   "To have a very informal anecdotal source of information trumping the   
   government's own official source of statistics is bad public policy in   
   the extreme," he said. "Especially now as there is accumulating evidence   
   outside of Statistics Canada that Statistics Canada was indeed right."   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)