Foreign workers shouldn’t get jobs Canadians can do: Kenney
6:50 pm, October 31st, 2012

Jason Kenney speaks to the media at Parliament Hill Oct 31, 2012 to speak of the 2013 immigration levels.

Credits: ANDRE FORGET/QMI AGENCY

KRISTY KIRKUP | QMI AGENCY

OTTAWA — Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Wednesday he wants to ensure the temporary foreign work program operates “on the basis of Canadians first” in light of concerns raised about permits granted to Chinese miners at a B.C. coal mine.

“Companies cannot access foreign workers unless or until they have demonstrated to the government that they have advertised the job in Canada, offering it to any qualified Canadians,” Kenney told QMI Agency.

“We never want to give jobs away to foreign workers if qualified Canadians are available and applying for them.”

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada is now investigating why the work permits were granted to about 200 mine workers.

Employees who wish to hire temporary foreign workers must apply for a “labour market opinion” from Service Canada that assesses “the impact the foreign worker would have on Canada’s labour market.”

“Concerns have come to light, subsequent to these labour market opinions being approved, for that particular mine, that Mandarin was listed as a work requirement,” Kenney said. “I understand HRSDC is taking a look at that to see if that was a valid work requirement.”

The federal NDP has called for an “immediate suspension” of the permits and wants a full investigation to see if Canadian workers were given an opportunity to apply for the positions.

NDP immigration critic Jinny Sims also worries about how Canada’s temporary foreign worker system operates under the Conservative government.

“This government has made it so much easier … to bring in temporary foreign workers,” she said. “There’s a huge incentive. You can pay them up to 15% less.

“When you bring in these employees … the power balance shifts. They’re not going to be there to advocate for their rights.”

The Canadian Labour Congress and other unions have also hammered the feds for approving of the work permits, saying Canadian workers need long-term employment.

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  • bobcanada

    Jason Kenny’s phone number in Ottawa is 613-992-2235 , people should complain directly to him , although I admit in this particular case , he is doing a good job .

  • Ghost Wolf

    The use of a non-official language should NEVER be required for a job in Canada, except for perhaps governmental/militarty translator. Requiring non-official languages, or even worse, advertising jobs ONLY in those languages, in special-language newspapers just so employers can say “No Canadian wanted this job, so can I import workers from China/India etc now?” should NEVER be allowed.

    I wonder if those so concerned about “diversity” and “equal opportunity” have anything to say about, say, Sikh-owned companies being all Sikhs. I know they’d whine and cry if a company was full of white, English speaking folks, because the owner is a white, English speaking person.

  • Johnnycunuk

    Jinny Simms is a liar. The federal Conservative Government always advoctes on behalf of temporary foreign workers if they are found in an abusive situation.Those cases have been adequetly expressed in the news and on CBC. In any company, you will find workers that may receive 15% less than another employee doing the same work due mainly to their being a new employee compared to an employee who has worked for the company for 3,5,even 10 years and through this time have received a number of monetary raises and even promotions.Newcomers should not recieve the same renumeration as those who have put in their time.

  • No way

    When are we are Canadians going to say enough is enough? Its bad enough immigrants have watered the country down and we now have what, 6 unofficial languages??? They took jobs at pennies on the dollar destroying industry’s, making jobs unsafe and then after the damage is done, they try to get the wages back up as they now can’t survive. IF we don’t something very soon, it will be too late and Canada will end up worse than the USA and some European countries.

  • Nalliah Thayabharan

    China, Bangladesh, India, Ecuador, etc., did not steal jobs in USA & Canada — US & Canadian jobs were off-shored by Wall Street US Corporations, aided by US Congress and leaders of the “bottom-line profit:” Capitalists of USA since the Wall Street US Corporations REFUSE to pay Americans and Canadians proper wages as the US government and Wall Street IMPOSE on other countries the “drive to the bottom” in wages. Advocacy of unlimited bank bailouts and “quantitative easing” is nothing but an elaborate Ponzi scheme.