XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: ont.politics, man.politics, sk.politics   
   From: "@nyet.ca   
      
   Can't be too soon for those included in the rising UNemployment lists   
   across the country.  But then, Harper never intended to upset the   
   companies and corporations taking advantage of the program, did he?   
   Lose the support of corporations and business going into an election?   
   . . .   I think Canadians had better get used to part-time jobs while   
   foreign workers get the full-times ones, plus overtime.   
   ________________________________________________   
   Edmonton Journal - June 5, 2014   
      
   Crack down on TFW program violations, McCallum urges feds   
      
      
      
   EDMONTON - The federal government needs to get tough with employers   
   breaking the rules of the temporary foreign workers program, says   
   Liberal critic John McCallum.   
      
   Only four employers in the country are listed on the government’s   
   “blacklist” despite plenty of evidence of violations, including high   
   profile cases where businesses laid off Canadian   
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   workers and hired temporary foreign workers, McCallum siad Thursday.   
      
   With no enforcement officials on the ground to prevent such cases, the   
   program has resulted in higher unemployment in B.C. an Alberta,   
   according to a CD Howe Institute report, noted   
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   McCallum, who was in Edmonton to meet with the Alberta Federation of   
   Labour Thursday.   
      
   “We have direct evidence that, as a consequence of the program,   
   unemployment among Canadians is higher,” said McCallum, calling the TFW   
   program “grossly mismanaged.”   
      
   The April CD Howe study concluded the federal decisions to make it easer   
   to bring in TFW “accelerated the rise in unemployment rates in Alberta   
   and British Columbia.”   
      
   McCallum, on a cross-Canada tour, also said he has found strong support   
   among businesses as well as unions for better enforcement, including   
   after visiting Fort McMurray last week.   
      
   The federal government should start its reforms by funding an effective   
   enforcement unit, said McCallum.   
      
   It should also allow more temporary foreign workers to leave a job if   
   they are being exploited, he said.  Currently, their contract ties them   
   to the employer who brings them into the country.   
      
   “The government should give more workers an ‘open permit’ so they have   
   the same mobility as Canadians,” said McCallum.          <<====  ??!!   
      
   “It’s an uneven playing field and employers can get addicted to docile   
   workers.”   
      
   Earlier this spring, federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney slapped a   
   moratorium on hiring of temporary foreign workers in the food industry   
   after reports surfaced that some chain restaurants laid off Canadians   
   and hired temporary workers.   
      
   Kenney is expected to announce his reforms in the next couple of weeks.   
      
   McCallum said Kenney should start by requiring employers to look harder   
   for Canadian workers first.   
      
   Advertising for Canadians has become “just tokenism” and in some cases,   
   employers only have to advertise for five days for Canadian workers   
   before being granted approval for foreign workers. “They have to toughen   
   those provisions,” said McCallum.   
      
   The Liberals proposed five-point reforms that would include scaling back   
   “significantly” the numbers of temporary foreign workers, putting more   
   workers on a track to immigration and beefing up enforcement.   
      
   In Fort McMurray, McCallum noted that unions are open to bringing in   
   temporary foreign workers because they enforce the rules and ensure the   
   workers are paid union wages, overtime and other rights.   
      
   But it should not be up to the unions to police employers; that should   
   be the job of the federal and provincial governments, said Gil McGowan,   
   AFL president.   
      
   “The unions are acting as watchdog to make sure no Canadians are   
   displaced and that does not happen in non-union firms,” said McGowan.   
   “The government has no enforcement branch.”   
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   The AFL has been highly critical of the program, releasing evidence that   
   many employers are allowed to bring in workers at less than the legal   
   wage (the regional prevailing wage).   
      
   Kenney’s department dismissed the AFL study saying it is based on   
   outdated data, said spokesperson Alexandra Fortier.   
   The Harper government also rejects the Liberal plan, she said.   
      
   Allowing more temporary workers to immigrate would simply let them   
   replace Canadians on a permanent basis, she said.   
      
   “We are focused on ensuring Canadians are first in line for available   
   jobs.”   
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   No blacklist.  No enforcement.  Yet they're "focused".   
   On what?  Their navels?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)