Will this make a change in unemployment in Canada?

[(ಠ_ಠ)РаОса]

Because Kenney is just 'phasing in' restrictions, it will be difficult
to tell. It should have an impact on YOUTH unemployment first.

If Kenney was serious about protecting Canadian jobs, he wouldn't be
allowing corporations to park their asses in Canada to benefit from tax
breaks, while bringing in their foreign worker staff with them as their
labour force.

And get his disingenuous comment on the 'program was opened up in 2002'.
That program had a small number of temporary workers come into Canada
for short terms only:
_____________________

In 2002, the federal Liberal government introduced the Low Skill Pilot
Project allowing companies to apply to bring in temporary foreign
workers to fill low skill jobs. The classification of “low skill” means
that workers require no more than high school or two years of
job-specific training to qualify.

In 2006, the federal Conservatives expanded the list of occupations that
qualified for the Low Skill Pilot Project and increased the speed of
processing applications.

In April 2012, the government introduced the Accelerated Labour Market
Opinion. The ALMO for those employers that had been issued a LMO in the
previous two years, only applied to high skilled TFW and operated as a
fast-tracked LMO.
By the end of 2012, there were over 340,000 workers in the TFWP residing
in Canada. The majority of the workers are in Ontario, Alberta and
British Columbia.


============================================
By Terry Milewski, Susana Mas, CBC News Posted: Jun 21, 2014


Jason Kenney effectively phasing out temporary foreign workers in
low-wage jobs


Employment Minister Jason Kenney says he considered shutting down the
low-skilled stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program altogether,
but decided to phase it out instead.

In an interview airing Saturday on CBC Radio's The House, Kenney says he
agrees with the argument that the free market should decide whether
businesses need to increase wages to attract workers.

"To be honest, if I were setting policy today," Kenney told guest host
Terry Milewski, I would not have opened that program as they did in
2002. But it's there."

"So why not shut it down?" Milewski asked.

I think that's a fair question," Kenney replied, "We seriously looked at
that as an option.

"We seriously looked at saying what every other developed country
does: no general low-skilled temporary foreign workers stream," Kenney
said. "We came to the conclusion that the economic costs in general and
the adjustment costs for particular businesses would be too extreme."

"Probably several thousands of businesses, if we did that cold turkey,
would go out of business," Kenney told Milewski.

Kenney announced Friday, just as Parliament went on summer recess, that
employers will be barred from hiring temporary foreign workers in
regions where the unemployment rate is above six per cent.

The government would also put a 10 per cent cap on the number of
low-wage temporary foreign workers employers can hire per work site by 2016.

Kenney told Milewski, "We are phasing it down."

That cap will be gradually phased in, starting at 30 per cent effective
immediately, then reduced to 20 per cent on July 1, 2015, and 10 per
cent a year later in 2016.

The minister said that in 2016, "The government could then decide to go
to zero per cent and eliminate the low-skilled stream, but we're trying
to do this in a prudent way where the adjustment costs are moderate and
we don't just end up causing devastation for thousands of businesses."

Other reforms to the program include:

- An increase in the number of inspections: one in four employers
will be inspected each year. The government says it will hire
approximately 20 more inspectors, bringing the number to about 60.
- An increase from $275 to $1,000 in the application fee employers
must pay per worker requested, effective immediately.
- Fines of up to $100,000 for employers who abuse the program,
starting in fall. <<=== yeah, right (>_<)
- Additional funding for the Canada Border Services Agency so it can
pursue more criminal investigations.
- Posting the names of employers who receive permission to hire
foreign workers. <<=== ヽ(^。^)ノ
- Making public the number of positions approved through the program
on a quarterly basis.
- Reducing the amount of time a temporary foreign worker can be
employed in Canada, to two years from four.

Several business groups, which have been generally supportive of the
government's initiatives, were critical of the government's announcement
Friday, saying Kenney used a bulldozer where a hammer would have sufficed.
_________________________________________________

Some 'bulldozer'. More like a dirt mover that doesn't know where to put
the dirt it's scooping.

[TomP]

The foreign worker program is not looking after the interests of
Canadians. Kenny is supposed to represent the people that voted him in,
not workers in foreign lands.

If there was a loophole in the EI program where unemployed workers were
able to collect an extra $20 per week, that loophole would be closed
immediately. Striking airline attendants are deemed to be crucial to the
economy and must be legislated back to work. What about foreign workers
that displace Canadian jobs?

If this government won't look after the interests of Canadians then we
should vote them out and put someone in office that will. The foreign
worker program was terribly abused and should have been shut down
completely!

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ***@netfront.net ---

[(ಠ_ಠ)РаОса]

These are jobs that were normally filled by students and the first jobs
of many young Canadians. These jobs were considered entrance positions
to the workforce and not considered a permanent position. The main
reason for that was because the employer didn't want to pay a wage that
would keep workers.

Some of them are entry level jobs in the food and hospitality industry.
Almost no training involved. I can imagine that the turnover is quite
high, since students are always looking for better jobs after taking
anything at the start of their job career. . . . I think most of us did
the same. However, there have been reports of skilled workers in
banks being replaced by foreign workers and unionized, skilled
ironworkers in Alberta.

Remember this?
-----------------------------------------

The program has become a hot potato for the Harper government ever since
stories of abuses came to light in the news media, including one case
where Royal Bank employees were asked to train foreign workers to take
over their jobs.

In February, 65 Alberta ironworkers alleged they were let go so that
foreign workers could replace them.

Canadian firms are using the program more and more to fill both high-
and low-skilled positions, despite relatively high levels of
unemployment and data showing that the ratio of unemployed to job
vacancies is rising.

A recent government calculation estimated there were 386,000 temporary
foreign workers in Canada, or about two per cent of the labour force.

And NO INSPECTIONS have been done by Harper and Kenney on any employment
sites involving foreign workers - none.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/06/20/federal_government_has_done_no_temporary_foreign_worker_inspections.html
__________________________________

This was a hassle for employers because it meant they were always trying
to fill these positions. With the temporary foreign workers program
these positions can be filled with a foreign worker for up to 4 years.
The foreign worker sees this as a way to get in to the country and the
employer sees it as a way to have complete control over their employees.
That has left young Canadians going through school without the
opportunity to enter the workforce.

Yep. Harper has been catering to the corporations and businesses on
this issue. He doesn't care a damn about Canadians going jobless or
being unemployed by his corporate-pleasing program. The numbers
sky-rocketed under HIS government, not under the Liberals back in 2002,
like Kenney is trying to imply.

It's a bad program and should be scrapped. It is not good for Canada or
Canadians.

This is one group I seldom take issue with, but today's article makes me
shake my head at the Unions - or at least this particular union leader:
_____________________________
Canadian Press | June 22, 2014

Temporary foreign workers should be given citizenship, B.C. union says

[....]
Jim Sinclair, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour, said no amount
of reform can change the fact the program will still allow companies to
hire foreign workers instead of Canadians.

“The program is still going to exist — they just found ways to massage
public opinion so they can continue with it,” said Sinclair.

He said the proposed changes will do nothing to help the foreign workers
themselves.

“Our position is that they should be given citizenship,” Sinclair said.
“If they’re good enough to work here, they’re good enough to live here,
bring their families and spend their paycheques in Canada.”

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/06/22/temporary-foreign-workers-should-be-given-citizenship-b-c-union-says/
_____________________________________________

'Scuze me? This is not an issue about 'if they're good enough to work
here, they're good enough to live here'. This is about CANADIANS being
displaced by, or left unemployed because of, the foreign workers'
program. Having them come in permanently does nothing to help
Canadians - it helps only the foreign workers who have now used a
temporary program as a road to immigration. And, of course, employers
to some extent who like the 'submissive attitude' of foreign workers
over Canadian ones.

With full citizenship they wont' be 'submissive and dutiful' for very
long. See cultural makeup of some of the most powerful and assertive
unions and their history of strikes and demands. There is only one way
to stop the abuses happening under this program. Scrap it. Entirely
and immediately. Jim Sinclair, take a reality pill.

[(ಠ_ಠ)РаОса]

Is it that hard to understand? The jobs that are being filled by
temporary workers are menial labour, jobs that require a minimal amount
of training, contrary to the claims of the OP that it takes a year to
train an employee.

Bullshit. Canadians in highly-skilled, NOT entry level jobs are being
displaced too.

And, please, don't try to put your verbal diarrhea into others'
mouths. If this is what you understood from Hudak's plan, you are
definitely less smart than Hudak - very low opinion I have always had
about Hudak notwithstanding.udaku

Oh? Hudak's reckoning was that one job for one year was a job. Given
that they seem to be thrilled with the creation of McJobs where the
average turnover is close to 6 months, that grossly exaggerate the
number of jobs actually generated.

[Greg Carr]

Post by (ಠ_ಠ)РаОса
Because Kenney is just 'phasing in' restrictions, it will be difficult
to tell. It should have an impact on YOUTH unemployment first.
If Kenney was serious about protecting Canadian jobs, he wouldn't be
allowing corporations to park their asses in Canada to benefit from tax
breaks, while bringing in their foreign worker staff with them as their
labour force.
And get his disingenuous comment on the 'program was opened up in 2002'.
That program had a small number of temporary workers come into Canada
_____________________
In 2002, the federal Liberal government introduced the Low Skill Pilot
Project allowing companies to apply to bring in temporary foreign
workers to fill low skill jobs. The classification of “low skill” means
that workers require no more than high school or two years of
job-specific training to qualify.
In 2006, the federal Conservatives expanded the list of occupations that
qualified for the Low Skill Pilot Project and increased the speed of
processing applications.
In April 2012, the government introduced the Accelerated Labour Market
Opinion. The ALMO for those employers that had been issued a LMO in the
previous two years, only applied to high skilled TFW and operated as a
fast-tracked LMO.
By the end of 2012, there were over 340,000 workers in the TFWP residing
in Canada. The majority of the workers are in Ontario, Alberta and
British Columbia.
============================================
By Terry Milewski, Susana Mas, CBC News Posted: Jun 21, 2014
Jason Kenney effectively phasing out temporary foreign workers in
low-wage jobs
Employment Minister Jason Kenney says he considered shutting down the
low-skilled stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program altogether,
but decided to phase it out instead.
In an interview airing Saturday on CBC Radio's The House, Kenney says he
agrees with the argument that the free market should decide whether
businesses need to increase wages to attract workers.
"To be honest, if I were setting policy today," Kenney told guest host
Terry Milewski, I would not have opened that program as they did in
2002. But it's there."
"So why not shut it down?" Milewski asked.
I think that's a fair question," Kenney replied, "We seriously looked at
that as an option.
no general low-skilled temporary foreign workers stream," Kenney said.
"We came to the conclusion that the economic costs in general and the
adjustment costs for particular businesses would be too extreme."
"Probably several thousands of businesses, if we did that cold turkey,
would go out of business," Kenney told Milewski.
Kenney announced Friday, just as Parliament went on summer recess, that
employers will be barred from hiring temporary foreign workers in
regions where the unemployment rate is above six per cent.
The government would also put a 10 per cent cap on the number of
low-wage temporary foreign workers employers can hire per work site by 2016.
Kenney told Milewski, "We are phasing it down."
That cap will be gradually phased in, starting at 30 per cent effective
immediately, then reduced to 20 per cent on July 1, 2015, and 10 per
cent a year later in 2016.
The minister said that in 2016, "The government could then decide to go
to zero per cent and eliminate the low-skilled stream, but we're trying
to do this in a prudent way where the adjustment costs are moderate and
we don't just end up causing devastation for thousands of businesses."
- An increase in the number of inspections: one in four employers will
be inspected each year. The government says it will hire approximately
20 more inspectors, bringing the number to about 60.
- An increase from $275 to $1,000 in the application fee employers must
pay per worker requested, effective immediately.
- Fines of up to $100,000 for employers who abuse the program, starting
in fall. <<=== yeah, right (>_<)
- Additional funding for the Canada Border Services Agency so it can
pursue more criminal investigations.
- Posting the names of employers who receive permission to hire foreign
workers. <<=== ヽ(^。^)ノ
- Making public the number of positions approved through the program on
a quarterly basis.
- Reducing the amount of time a temporary foreign worker can be employed
in Canada, to two years from four.
Several business groups, which have been generally supportive of the
government's initiatives, were critical of the government's announcement
Friday, saying Kenney used a bulldozer where a hammer would have sufficed.
_________________________________________________
Some 'bulldozer'. More like a dirt mover that doesn't know where to put
the dirt it's scooping.

Good moves by the minister and long overdue.