Temporary Foreign Worker Program

[hobbyguy]

The management of this program is important.

Canada has always needed and will continue to need some avenues for temporary foreign workers. Partly for seasonal positions that can be difficult to fill (agricultural etc.) and partly for specialized expertise that is not available or in short supply within Canada. Properly managed, it is a valuable program that enhances Canada.

Unfortunately, under the Harperites, this program has gotten completely out of control.

In 2005, with the economy "humming" and unemployment at fairly low levels, the TFW program totalled 140,653 TFWs. The Harperites took over in 2006, and since that time the TFW program has grown massively, despite much higher unemployment in Canada. The 2012 figure (the latest available) was 338,221 - almost 2-1/2 times as many against a back drop of many Canadians struggling to find work and/or struggling to get full time or even reasonable part time hours.

This latest incident of abuse http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/mcdonald-s-accused-of-favouring-foreign-workers-1.2598684 shows quite graphically the massive rise of the use of TFWs in a segment of the labor market where there is no "skills shortage". From zero under the previous government to about 18,000 in 2012 under the Harper Con government. Set that against a youth unemployment rate that exceeds 14%.

It is quite natural for foreign workers to send money home. Especially temporary foreign workers. You and I would most likely do the same. That outflow of money affects Canada's Current Account, which has been running consistent deficits for 6 years. Why does that matter to the average Canadian? Because persistent Current Account deficits (more money flowing out of the country than coming in) plays a significant role in the value of the Canadian dollar - and when the dollar goes down, you pay more for almost everything. So the side effect of mismanagement of the TFW program by the Harper government is that it contributes to YOU paying more at the grocery store, gas pump, etc. etc.

Not to mention the young people who are struggling to get part-time jobs to pay for their educations etc. - which means in many cases that mom and dad have to make up the slack, and have less money to put aside in RRSPs etc. So the effects spin on and on.

Worse still, many working Canadians would dearly love to have a decent raise. All those TFWs in the labor market undermines the need for employers to pay more. So YOU pay more not getting a raise, and because all those TFWs are out there, you have very few options to find a better paying job.

Now that there is an election coming, the Harper government is making a lot of noise about fixing the TFW program. The very program that THEY fouled up in the first place. Where have they been for the last 8 years? Allowing the program to get out of control. That begs the question - are they just making political noise (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) to look better in the polls?

Their record says they are. The Harper government would not have allowed this program to grow out of control unless they wanted the dramatically higher levels of TFWs. Either that, or they are completely incompetent.

[xjeepguy]

Perhaps the Liberals should spend some money on prime time TV ads shaming the Conservatives for this . Instead of those absurd Justin Trudeau commercials , those are the dumbest political ads I've seen in a long time.

Where I work ( up north ) I've already seen the TFW program in high gear , when it starts impacting places like the lower mainland , then the stink will hit the fan ( hopefully ) .



BTW , all those TFW's on site were paid exactly what the Canadian counterparts were .

[Sn0man]

Great post hobbyguy. I don't think you'll see a whole lot of objection to it coming from people who live in the interior of BC - it seems to have been (luckily) somewhat sheltered from the effects of this out-of-control program.

For anyone who wants to see the endgame of the TFW program, take a trip to Calgary or Edmonton. When I first arrived here, I thought I had somehow landed in a different country.

[Rwede]

So as long as the people in a city are all white, then that's okay?

Did you ask if any of the people who looked different from you were perhaps born in Edmonton, or Calgary, or Canada?

[The Green Barbarian]

The management of this program is important.

Canada has always needed and will continue to need some avenues for temporary foreign workers. Partly for seasonal positions that can be difficult to fill (agricultural etc.) and partly for specialized expertise that is not available or in short supply within Canada. Properly managed, it is a valuable program that enhances Canada.

Yes, agree with you so far. Unfortunately, then we go completely off the deep end....

Unfortunately, under the Harperites, this program has gotten completely out of control.

LOL - and here we go with more made up "facts" from the resident "fact" inventor and anti-Harper poster in this forum...

In 2005, with the economy "humming" and unemployment at fairly low levels, the TFW program totalled 140,653 TFWs. The Harperites took over in 2006, and since that time the TFW program has grown massively, despite much higher unemployment in Canada. The 2012 figure (the latest available) was 338,221 - almost 2-1/2 times as many against a back drop of many Canadians struggling to find work and/or struggling to get full time or even reasonable part time hours.

According to this website:

http://www.esdc.gc.ca/eng/jobs/foreign_ ... ml#CA-2012

In 2012 there were 145,670 foreign workers, or almost 200,000 less than you are representing exist. Given your past history of completely misrepresenting everything in order to spin negatively against the government, I would just assume that you got your number from where you get all your numbers, straight out of your butt. What else is new. Also note that of that 145,000, almost 20,000 are from the US, and are no doubt going through the process of TFW to get to Canadian citizenship. Shame on you HG, your constant fibs and spinning of the truth is just ridiculous and sad, and ultimately pathetic. This is why Harper is going to win another majority, because he doesn't really have any competition, and because the losers that oppose him have even less integrity than he does. This is a sad statement about Canada.

It is quite natural for foreign workers to send money home. Especially temporary foreign workers. You and I would most likely do the same.

For most of the people on the 2012 list, it's not "natural" to send money home, it's called "survival". They are here because they are trying to make a better life for their families back home, in countries that don't provide the same opportunities as we do. You and your fellow leftist boobs have no concept of this as you were born here and have been sucking off the teat of this country since birth. These people just want better lives for themselves, and because their skin is a bit browner than yours, you see them as inferior and want to deny them that chance. Shame on you.

Your Macdonalds example is a joke. If kids in Canada want to work, they are given first priority. The problem is that they don't want to work and see no need to, mommy and daddy give them everything. If they want a job, they can get one. That being said, if I'm an employer, and I need a young person to work for me, it's garbage that I'd have to hire the son of some radical leftist loser over some young person from the Philippines, because that kid was born here. With all of the entitlement nonsense his radical leftist idiot parents would be feeding him, I'd doubt I'd get an honest day's work out of him, while I know the Filipino worker is going to bust his butt because his entire family is depending on him/her to send money home.

I've actually been to these countries HG and I've seen how much these people need the money being sent home. You can come up with all the BS and stupid reasons why these people should starve to death while so some spoiled entitled kid here is just given a job by default but in the end they are all BS, and inherently racist.

Their record says they are. The Harper government would not have allowed this program to grow out of control unless they wanted the dramatically higher levels of TFWs. Either that, or they are completely incompetent.

They aren't letting it grow out of control. The only people saying that they are letting it "grow out of control" are liars and complete idiots. This is another example of leftist losers trying to create an issue and a problem that doesn't exist, all to deflect from their own horrible inadequacies and unelectablity. What else is new.

[Rwede]

I'm not surprised that a leftist has made up statistics once again.

Choose a goofy number like 338,221 and most will think it's real. Well, most lazy leftists who are too stupid to do their own fact-checking, at any rate.

The level of racist from people on the left is astounding on this forum. And, sickening at the same time.

[maryjane48]

*removed*

[maryjane48]

*removed*

[Rwede]

This sums up the culture of entitlement perfectly.

First, say a group of workers works harder than you do.

Then, you complain that they make more money than you do.

Duh! What a total disconnect this guy has!

'They work harder'

Christ said a manager said all of this is happening because the Filipinos — beholden to McDonald’s for bringing them to Canada — are better workers.

“They told me that they were more reliable because they wouldn’t show up late and they work harder,” said Christ. “They do work hard — I can’t argue against that.”

Employers used to be able to pay temporary foreign workers less than Canadians, but that’s not allowed anymore.

Interestingly, records show in this case several of the Filipino workers are paid 20 per cent more than most of the Canadian staff.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me why they are paying them more,” said the unnamed employee.

McDonald’s said that’s because some are brought in under a higher job classification — food service supervisor — which at that franchise pays $12.36 an hour. Many of the local workers are food counter attendants, who earn $10.25 per hour.

Federal classifications say food service supervisors need to have two to three years' experience. Christ still earns $10.65 hourly, despite working there longer than that.

“Why am I not being given these opportunities that I deserve, rightfully? It makes zero sense to me,” he said.

The old union mentality that mediocre work for a longer period of time deserves more pay than solid, hard work for less time is long gone in today's world. Employees are getting paid based on the value they bring their employers, as it should be!

[Sn0man]

So as long as the people in a city are all white, then that's okay?

Did you ask if any of the people who looked different from you were perhaps born in Edmonton, or Calgary, or Canada?

You infer racism where there is none.

[The Green Barbarian]

*removed*

No they are not. The majority of TFW's are Filipino or Mexican, and so would be Catholics, if anything. But religion isn't a race and its sad and pathetic that loser leftists always try and equate Islam with a race. It just shows the mind-numbing stupidity of leftists everywhere.

[Glacier]

It is interesting that as youth unemployment is at an all time high, so is the number of temporary foreign workers coming into the country taking jobs that young people traditionally fill. Coincidence? I think not.

[alfred2]

canadian youth do not want to work at the jobs these worker are doing.

[xjeepguy]

It is interesting that as youth unemployment is at an all time high, so is the number of temporary foreign workers coming into the country taking jobs that young people traditionally fill. Coincidence? I think not.

Youth employment is at an all time high because they all want jobs where they can be on their cell phones half the day and post to FB what they had for lunch . I was on a Morgan Construction ran operation last summer and personal cell use was so bad they outright banned workers from bringing their phones on site. Guys were running 60 ton rock trucks into the bush because they were on their phones .

[logicalview]

It is interesting that as youth unemployment is at an all time high, so is the number of temporary foreign workers coming into the country taking jobs that young people traditionally fill. Coincidence? I think not.

It's more interesting how easy people are duped into believing that the number of temporary foreign workers is at an all time high just because some nutty troll says so without any proof to back it up, and then still believe it even when shown proof to the contrary. I guess all it takes is for some nut to post a complete lie, and then away you go.