XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ont.politics   
   XPost: ab.politics, man.politics, sk.politics   
   From: "@nyet.ca   
      
   Every day brings one or two more stories about the abuses caused by the   
   foreign workers program under the Harper Cons.  And until a few   
   Canadians made an issue of it, the scope of the problem wasn't known.   
   It's becoming pretty clear pretty quickly just why so many Canadians are   
   jobless - not just the younger generation.   
      
   I watch with amazement the 'advice' by the companies importing these   
   people to the federal government:  "Make them permanent citizens and   
   then they will no longer be foreign workers".   Ahhhh . . . .  another   
   method to increase immigration into Canada and make it more profitable   
   for businesses.  No concern at all for the Canadians already here,   
   unemployed or underemployed.   
      
   Let these corporations and private companies squeal and whine and 'buck'   
   . . . . If Kenney isn't able or willing to stop the flood of foreign   
   workers into Canada, they can kiss the next election goodbye.   
   ________________________________________________________________________   
      
   Fri May 16, 2014  - ca.reuters.com   
      
   Canada restaurants buck foreign worker program changes   
      
      
   OTTAWA (Reuters) - Possible changes to make it harder to bring temporary   
   foreign workers into Canada may force some restaurants to curb their   
   hours or even shut down, and could hamper important exports if not   
   properly structured, employers groups warned on Friday.   
      
   Employment Minister Jason Kenney and Immigration Minister Chris   
   Alexander on Thursday bandied about with employers and unions several   
   ideas for reforming the temporary foreign worker program, which has   
   recently come under enormous criticism.   
      
   Participants said options discussed in the meeting included increased   
   government fees for guest workers and requiring employers to pay them   
   more. Others included numerical caps on permits, limiting access in   
   areas of high unemployment and differentiating more between business   
   sectors.   
      
   The situation has exploded into one of the top issues facing the   
   government because of stories of foreign workers displacing Canadians at   
   some McDonald's Corp restaurants, complaints from Canadians unable to   
   find jobs, and word of some guest workers being mistreated by their bosses.   
      
   The trade group Restaurants Canada was alarmed by the idea of a wage   
   floor for temporary foreign workers, possibly higher than the prevailing   
   wage, and sharply higher government fees.   
      
   "To price these temporary foreign worker jobs so high that there's no   
   way that our restaurants will have access to them is going to be really   
   problematic," said Joyce Reynolds, who attended the meeting.   
      
   She said a temporary moratorium that Kenney slapped on the restaurant   
   sector last month was already causing "a real feeling of desperation"   
   among restaurant owners in places like Edmonton, capital of the oil   
   province of Alberta.   
      
   Kenney did not say what the government should charge for temporary   
   foreign workers but mentioned the possibility of "a dissuasive fee like   
   in the U.S," one participant said. The United States can charge $2,325   
   or more in combined fees compared with the C$275 ($252) currently   
   charged in Canada, plus a visa fee often of C$150.   
      
   Jayson Myers, president of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, distanced   
   himself from the restaurants, saying no company should build its   
   business model around the temporary foreign worker program.   
      
   But Myers opposed punitive government fees, and said crucial exporters   
   like car manufacturers could be adversely affected by proposed changes.   
   Windsor, Ontario - Canada's car capital - has high unemployment but   
   Myers said automakers needed to be able to bring in foreign technicians   
   sometimes for as short as a week to retool a plant or to train.   
      
   Canada's largest private-sector union, Unifor, said reforms to refocus   
   the program onto skilled labor would restore credibility. "This will   
   stop the back-alley shop from bringing in somebody to flip burgers ...   
   they're not going to pay thousands of dollars to bring them over and   
   then pay above the going wage," Unifor President Jerry Dias said.   
      
   Chris Roberts of the Canadian Labor Congress, however, said no amount of   
   tinkering with fees would address the "built-in exploitation and abuse"   
   foreign workers face since they are tied to one employer and therefore   
   unable to switch companies.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)