For once, Jason Kenney and the Tories side with labour – Globe Editorial

2014/10/08 Leave a comment

Globe editorial endorsing Kenney’s firm line on Temporary Foreign Workers (and are diplomatically silent on how some of his earlier policy changes encouraged growth of the program):

And Mr. Kenney rightly points to the evidence that wages for fast-food workers have been rising more slowly than the rate of inflation, whereas the labour force in Alberta as a whole is seeing solid wage growth. For once, organized labour is in agreement with the Conservative government in Ottawa.

If any provincial government seriously believes that there is not enough immigration into Canada, it can make use of section 95 of the Constitution Act, 1867, as Quebec does in a very substantial way; to a lesser extent, so do Manitoba and British Columbia. Even without new federal-provincial immigration agreements, a province like Alberta can and should encourage recruitment from provinces with higher levels of joblessness, and from aboriginal communities in which unemployment is rife.

Mr. Kenney and the federal government are right to reassert the fundamentals of Canadian immigration policy. Some parts of Canada may need more immigrants – that’s a discussion worth having. But more non-citizens with limited legal rights? No thanks.

For once, Jason Kenney and the Tories side with labour – The Globe and Mail.

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Why its time for Canada to grow up – Increasing immigration

2014/10/03 2 Comments

Pretty shallow argumentation, with no evidence apart from asserting it will be so.

No mention of inequality issues and that some communities are struggling more than others that the NHS and various studies make clear.

While overall Canada’s success at integration is almost unique in the world, simply assuming we could scale up immigration, integration, citizenship and multiculturalism by 50 percent a year is naive at best.

It would not be hard. Now at 34 million people, we would only need an annual growth rate of 1.3 per cent to reach that target. Assuming our fertility rates remain low, this means an additional 186,000 migrants annually, bringing our total immigration numbers to 444,000 per year. This may sound like a lot, but we could absorb them easily. By comparison to most cities around the world, Canadian urban areas are sprawling and empty. Even if we doubled our immigration numbers, the lineup at Tim Hortons would stay the same. It would only increase our workforce by one per cent per year, a number that our economy could easily engage, especially if we continue to recruit and favour skilled and educated migrants.

More immigrants mean more minds, more hands and more tax dollars. There is a misconception that new arrivals are a net drain on our economy. In fact, they are more entrepreneurial and work longer hours than average Canadians. The added muscle would make us smarter, stronger and louder.

While my bias is towards more pro-immigration rhetoric than the anti-immigration crowd, this has to be grounded in reality, and recognition that our absorptive capacity cannot be increasing by wishing it was so.

Why its time for Canada to grow up – Macleans.ca.

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Adrienne Clarkson on the anguish of not belonging

2014/10/01 2 Comments

Adrienne Clarkson on citizenship in her Massey Lectures this fall. Worth reading and reflecting upon:

It was in attending public school that I truly felt a sense of place in this country. Still today I believe that a public education is the single most valuable institution that our society provides to help people belong. If we are going to continue to accommodate newcomers into society, we must continue to have well-funded public education—education paid for by the state, free for all citizens. This has been key to our success ever since our humble beginnings. Without public education, we cannot have a cohesive society, a society with shared values. Without public education, we cannot continue to fulfill the public good—that is, the internationalization and the continuation of our key notions and values from one generation to the next. We can do all of this only in a democratic structure, where all children are treated as equal, regardless of income. That is how people really learn to belong. That is what public education does. We want people who will take their place in our society, but that means we must make sure there are no barriers to inclusion for people who come here.

So belonging is essential to us in Canada. We select our immigrants with the idea that they will become citizens. Immigrants are future citizens, and we recognize them as citizens in the making. As Aristotle said in Physics, “With respect to what is eternal, there is no difference between being possible and being.” New citizens take on the same responsibilities as existing citizens: obeying laws, paying taxes, voting. And once a new citizen is adopted into the family of fellow citizens, he must accept the good with the bad, both past and present, in order to contribute to and help shape the future. Canada is the land of our ancestors, as it says in our national anthem, and we are each and every one of us adopted by those ancestors. Newcomers are not invited to this country to spend a few years working, only to depart like migrants. Migrant is a very ugly word, and it should have no place in the Canadian vocabulary. Immigrant is the Canadian word. And citizenship is central to our immigration policy.

I truly believe that you can find a place to belong, as long as there is a negligible amount of force against you. I was lucky to come to this country, where we operate in an atmosphere of benevolent neglect: We are left alone to get on with our lives. This is where perseverance and generosity come in. Canadians are generous, even when they don’t know it. To me, this flexibility is the generosity that leads to gross national happiness, because it allows people to persevere through hard times and come out on the other side.

Refreshing recognition and advocacy of the efficacy and value of the more flexible, accommodative approach than the desire for more narrow and prescriptive Cartesian clarity.

Adrienne Clarkson on the anguish of not belonging.

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Newcomers settling in smaller Sask. communities

2014/10/01 Leave a comment

Not many articles about the increased diversification of settlement patterns, although the numbers are still small in an absolute sense:

Counterbalancing the drawbacks, though, are benefits of small towns and rural areas – outside of employment – that are keeping their immigrant retention rates high.

Largely, it comes down to the idea of small-town, friendly Saskatchewan, said McLean. She mentioned how church groups in Prince Albert have been overwhelmingly welcoming of newcomers.

Employers have also gone out of their way to encourage retention by helping their employees settle in and integrate, said Kapeller. She spoke of employers driving car-less workers to appointments, helping out with grocery shopping, and lending a hand in registering children for school.

Palmer added that in smaller areas, immigrants tend to get more immersed in the community as a whole instead of getting swallowed by the already established, nationality based newcomer communities in larger cities

The results of the two-day summit, the first of a series of provincial events across the country, will inform regional and national priorities for the CIC going forward.

Newcomers settling in smaller Sask. communities.

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Canada offers unique training in managing migration | Toronto Star

2014/09/30 Leave a comment

Howard Duncan, a former colleague in my CIC days, on his Metropolis immigration training initiative:

Unlike other academic programs in immigration studies, Metropolis Professional Development training, through its international faculties, is intended to avoid academic discussion and instead focus on finding the systems that get the best results through monitoring and evaluation tools.

“Many new countries are getting into the immigration game and don’t know what to do,” said Howard Duncan, executive head of Metropolis, an international network of immigration policy-makers and researchers based at Ottawa’s Carleton University.

“Migration is no longer a one-way permanent flow from Italy to Canada or Germany to the United States. With the shift in global economic strength, the old immigrant source countries have now become destinations of returned migration. Some are struggling in managing reintegration.”

The not-for-profit program aims to give policy-makers, international migration organizations, community groups and private sectors that deal with immigrants a broader understanding of the global phenomenon and guides in problem solving — like an MBA in immigration.

“The global competition for talents and migrants is heating up. There is a huge demand and need for this kind of training,” noted Duncan.

Canada offers unique training in managing migration | Toronto Star.

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British Columbia Premier proposes name change for Temporary Foreign Worker program

2014/09/29 1 Comment

Not a stupid idea – names and labels are important – but goes completely against the grain of the recent changes to the Citizenship Act that removed credit for pre-permanent residency time, with Minister Alexander trying (not completely successfully) to argue for a clear distinction:

Christy Clark says a simple name change might help.

“I think the federal government needs to remember that almost all of us are descended from people who came from other countries. So maybe if they are overhauling the program they can change the name from temporary foreign worker to potential new Canadian. It was people from all over the world that built this company are continuing to do that.”

That said while Clark emphasized BC needs foreign workers to fill some jobs she says British Columbians must be in the front of the employment line.

Premier proposes name change for Temporary Foreign Worker program | CKNW AM AM980.

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Temporary foreign worker data don’t correspond with reality

2014/09/29 Leave a comment

More on Temporary Foreign Workers and poor data/mistakes that undermine the Government message:

Restaurants Canada president Garth Whyte said he had concerns about the data when the government released its figures in June but the names of the employers weren’t known until now. He said the government should have checked the information before using it. “The math doesn’t add up,” he said.

Mr. Kenney’s office said he was not available for an interview Friday. A department spokeswoman responded to The Globe’s questions about the data in an e-mail by saying that the government’s changes are intended to restore the TFW program to its original purpose, as a short-term last resort for employers. She did not say whether they intend to review the data.

There have been other data problems in the federal government. Statistics Canada issued a major correction to its July jobs numbers after human error led the agency to vastly under-report growth in hiring. And in March, The Globe revealed that Finance Canada was using job postings from Kijiji, a popular online classified site, in its job-vacancy calculations. As a result, Finance Canada’s numbers differed from Statistics Canada’s.

Restaurants Canada and the CFIB are concerned that TFW program changes will harm businesses in regions with labour shortages.

Not sure how and why these mistakes happened (reduced capacity, time pressures, political direction to move too quickly) but another illustration why solid data and evidence necessary (but I still find no justification for fast food Temporary Foreign Workers and equivalent).

Temporary foreign worker data dont correspond with reality – The Globe and Mail.

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Employers say temporary foreign worker figures are not accurate

2014/09/27 Leave a comment

Never good when the numbers are wrong:

But six employers contacted by The Globe on Thursday contended the information is inaccurate, raising questions about the accuracy of some of the data the government used to support its case for sweeping reforms to the temporary foreign worker TFW program.

The federal list is set to become political fodder in Alberta on Friday, when the Alberta Federation of Labour plans to release a copy that it obtained through a separate information request.

“There are lots of employers using the program very aggressively,” said Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan. “A lot of these [TFW] jobs are some of the best in our economy and we shouldn’t be cavalier about allowing them to slip through our fingers.”

Three of the largest employers included on the list said the figures were not accurate.Shaw Cablesystems, which was listed as employing 4,354 temporary foreign workers more than 30 per cent of its work force, said it had provided incorrect figures to Employment and Social Development Canada. The correct figure is 169 TFWs, or one per cent of its work force, the company said in a statement.

…. Alberta Labour Minister Ric McIver noted Alberta has a severe labour crunch. He said business owners are inundating him with concerns about restrictions to the foreign worker program.

“Canada is a big country and sometimes one size does not fit all,” Mr. McIver said. “Our goal is to work with our partners in the federal government and look for a program that actually meets the needs of Alberta business, puts Canadians first to get jobs, but doesn’t put businesses out of business by denying them absolutely essential labour.”

Mr. Kenney doesn’t appear to be wavering. In an e-mail Thursday, he noted 110,000 Albertans are looking for work and the changes will affect about 8,000 low-paying jobs currently filled by foreign workers. “There are also still too many people capable of working who are not in the labour force,” Mr. Kenney wrote.

Employers say temporary foreign worker figures are not accurate – The Globe and Mail.

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Jason Kenney faces foreign-worker fallout in own backyard – Politics – CBC News

2014/09/26 Leave a comment

More on the changes to the Temporary Foreign Workers program, the political repercussions:

Like most government decisions, the clampdown on temporary foreign workers has come with a political price.

Last spring, as media reports swirled about questionable use of the scheme by companies small and large, Employment Minister Jason Kenney met for days on end with his staff, hearing hours of briefs and brainstorming a solution, according to a senior government source.

Kenney knew he was walking a political tightrope, trying to maintain the program in industries and regions where employers face legitimate labour shortages, while clamping down — and crucially, being seen to clamp down — on companies that are allegedly displacing Canadians to get cheaper labour.

The minister had long been troubled by reports that included such examples as a coal mine in northern B.C. which listed fluency in Mandarin as a job requirement when requesting foreign temporary workers. The case was the subject of a union-led federal court challenge, but was dismissed.

But the final straw, according to an official who helped craft the government response, was a report that two waitresses were laid off in Estevan, Saskatchewan, only to be replaced by foreign workers.

“That was the kryptonite moment for us,” the source recalls. “This is one of the hardest places to find Canadians to work and yet, they were laying off Canadians.”

Kenney’s decision: phase in a 10 per cent cap on the number of low-wage workers coming in, ban their use in areas where unemployment is six per cent or higher, and increase processing fees and fines for those who abuse the program.

The result: applications to the program were down by 75 per cent this summer over last, Kenney told the Commons last week.

But the result is also growing anger among employers in sectors as far-flung as the fashion and film industries, to fish packing plants, to the hospitality sector and restaurant industry, to mines in remote northern regions.

…Kenney, for his part, is standing firm on the new policy.

His office has argued that businesses, small and large, need to do a labour market assessment as part of their business plan. If they have to offer higher wages to attract people, so be it.

Still, concern about the repercussions could explain the government’s haste to offer a break to small business on EI premiums announced earlier this month by Finance Minister Joe Oliver.

Some Conservatives seem to feel the pot needs sweetening, as they march into election season running on their banner theme: economic prosperity for all.

Jason Kenney faces foreign-worker fallout in own backyard – Politics – CBC News.

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Could Alberta pass Quebec to become the second-largest province? – Macleans.ca

2014/09/19 Leave a comment

From the latest Statistics Canada population projections for the next 25 years:

The Atlantic provinces aren’t likely to fare well. The population in Newfoundland is likely to drop over the next 25 years. P.E.I. should continue to grow, but most of the growth scenarios StatsCan ran on New Brunswick and Nova Scotia showed the provinces shrinking by 2038.

Under every growth scenario, Ontario will remain the country’s largest province, driven largely by immigration.

Quebec’s population would grow over the next 25 years under all the scenarios, with most of the gains coming from immigration, but because its rate of growth is almost certain to come in lower than the Canadian average, its demographic weight, or share of the total Canadian population, will slide.

Under most scenarios, Alberta’s population will surpass that of British Columbia by 2038. It’ll be the youngest population, too, with the lowest proportion of seniors in the country.

Jason Kirby’s unscientific projections show Alberta’s population possibly becoming larger than Quebec’s some time in the early 2050s.

Economically, this shift will happen sooner:

But population growth is one thing. When people talk about provincial rankings, there’s a good chance they’re referring to the size of their economies, as opposed to how many folks live where. It’s certainly the metric any politician boasts about first, come election time. So, to take our Quebec-Alberta match to the next level, here’s another look into the future, this time using 10-year GDP growth rates. Will Alberta’s economy overtake that of Quebec? Barring some pretty massive changes in provincial fates, that could happen as early as 2016, some three decades before Alberta’s population ever catches up to Quebec’s—which pretty much says everything you need to know about how grim the economy is in la belle province.

Could Alberta pass Quebec to become the second-largest province? – Macleans.ca.

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