XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, van.general   
   XPost: ab.politics, nb.general   
   From: *Oct.15.2015*@tweek.eu   
      
   Vancouver Sun - March 9, 2015   
      
   B.C. among hardest hit by caps on temporary foreign workers   
      
   New report attacks Ottawa's one-size-fits-all limits to controversial   
   program   
      
      
      
   OTTAWA — B.C. will be one of the hardest-hit provinces as a result of   
   the Harper government’s reforms to the controversial temporary foreign   
   workers program, according to a report Monday by the Canada West Foundation.   
      
   But the loss of access to low-wage overseas workers will be partly   
   offset for B.C. employers because returning workers from the Alberta oil   
   and gas industry can help fill the void, according to the think-tank.   
      
   The release of the report, which lends weight to Premier Christy Clark’s   
   argument that the federal reforms are “tragically misdirected,”   
   coincided with the political fallout Monday of a provocative comment   
   over the weekend by Conservative MP John Williamson.   
      
   The New Brunswick MP, a former media spokesman for Prime Minister   
   Stephen Harper, apologized after telling a gathering of conservatives   
   that it makes no sense for “whities” to be displaced with “brown   
   people”   
   coming in under the foreign workers program.   
      
   B.C. New Democratic Party MP Jinny Sims rose in the House of Commons to   
   call the comment “disgusting.”   
      
   She said the Tories shouldn’t blame foreign workers for the program’s   
   problems.   
      
   Williamson “immediately realized his comments were unacceptable and he   
   has apologized, and I think we can move forward from here,” responded   
   Employment Minister Pierre Poilievre, before defending the programs reforms.   
      
   The report said B.C. and especially Alberta have been among the heaviest   
   users of the program, mainly to feed the needs of the resource and   
   service sectors, while Ontario and Quebec employers have been least   
   likely to use the program.   
      
   The report’s conclusions are expected to be raised by the Canada West   
   Foundation at the Metropolis conference in Vancouver March 26 to 28,   
   where Canadian and international experts will gather to discuss   
   immigration and settlement issues.   
      
   Alberta will be the biggest victim of the federal reforms, with B.C.   
   second on the list.   
      
   “Unlike Alberta, however, (B.C.) may be able to find other workers,”   
   noted author Farahnaz Bandali in Work Interrupted: How federal foreign   
   worker rule changes hurt the West.   
      
   “There are more Canadians out of work there than in the other three   
   western provinces, and the jobless ranks are expected to grow as British   
   Columbians return   
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   home from Alberta during the downturn in oil prices.”   
      
   B.C. Chamber of Commerce President John Winter said the report fairly   
   captures the negative impact of the rule changes, but may be   
   overemphasizing the impact of the Alberta slowdown.   
      
   “Those are mostly home-grown skilled workers who won’t be very   
   interested in the gaping holes left by the new TFW plan,” he said.   
      
   There had been a dramatic increase since the mid-2000s in the use of the   
   temporary foreign workers program, and The Sun and other media had   
   reported on numerous abuses.   
      
   The Harper government cracked down last June with a number of measures,   
   including a cap of 20 per cent this year and 10 per cent next year on   
   the total percentage of an employer’s workforce that can be made up of   
   temporary foreign workers.   
      
   But Ottawa erred in assuming a “one size fits all” approach would work,   
   according to the new report.   
      
   “In this case, a flawed but flexible program has been replaced by a   
   flawed and inflexible program.”   
      
   Since many employers in tourist communities like Whistler have had   
   temporary workers far in excess of the new cap, many will be left with   
   “no alternatives for labour in the short term,” according to the author.   
       <<===  (ಥ_ಥ)   
      
   “The impact of the changes could be severe.  Without enough workers,   
   businesses could be forced to have shorter hours, service will suffer,   
   workers will be stressed and businesses could shrink,” according to the   
   report.  “Some may be forced out of business altogether.”   
      
   		*[ and some will have to start hiring Canadian workers and paying them   
   a living wage - without fear of being intimidated by deportation ]*   
      
   A better option, according to the foundation, would have been to give   
   employers more flexibility in areas with low unemployment rates.  <<===   
   not BC, fella   
      
   The foundation also called on Ottawa to boost training for Aboriginal   
   and disabled Canadians to increase the domestic labour force.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)