Don’t blame those who take jobs offered under temporary foreign workers program

WEDNESDAY MORNING EDITORIAL — As frustration grows with Canadian employers abusing the rules for hiring temporary foreign workers, we have to be careful not to point fingers at the workers themselves.

They have families to support. They take work where they can find it.

NDP MLA Mable Elmore (Vancouver-Kensignton) made the point this week that the country was built by immigrants who have a record of working hard and becoming good citizens. “That’s how my mother came to Canada and if this program was in place when she came, she wouldn’t be here,” she said.

“I wouldn’t be here. And so this is not what Canada’s about. Canada needs immigration, needs immigrants. We don’t need more guest workers.”

Yet foreign workers are filling vacancies in construction, mining, fast food outlets and even — as was the case last year — in a bank.

The program is supposed to help employers who can’t find qualified Canadian workers. In other words, there has to be a vacancy that can’t be filled by a Canadian citizen. A work permit must be granted that sets out the time period for which the foreign employee is eligible to work here.

In B.C., foreign workers are covered by the Employment Standards Act, which includes such things as overtime pay, minimum wage and holidays. It’s illegal to charge fees to hire a foreign worker, though it’s said the rules aren’t always followed.

According to news reports, the hiring of temporary foreign workers is expanding from big cities into small towns. In response, the federal government has tightened the rules and increased penalties to employers who abuse them. Citizenship and Immigration Canada says there are significant skills shortages in many parts of the country, and the problem probably isn’t going to get any better very soon.

While using temporary foreign workers in place of Canadian citizens hasn’t been identified as an issue in Kamloops, the skills shortage certainly has — a recent Venture Kamloops economic report noted that finding skilled workers is going to become harder if some of the major projects that are in the offing come on stream.

That doesn’t answer the question of why some employers feel a need to use the temporary foreign workers program to fill less skilled jobs. Nevertheless, the issue is with employers trying to save a buck, and with the enforcement of the regulations, not with the people who come into the country to do honest work and then return home.

United Steelworkers leader Richard Boyce put it very well during a speech last weekend. He said the country needs people to come here to fill permanent jobs and to become citizens. Give them the opportunity to take their place in the permanent work force and enjoy all the benefits and protections that come with that rather than being used to save some employers money in the short term.