Dear Sir,
The first 200 Chinese workers are arriving in Canada, they represent 10 per cent of the expected numbers. Pat Bell, the Minister of everything is telling us that they are needed to work and teach Canadians because we do not have trained miners.
British Columbia has a long history of hard rock mining and have lots of skilled people. Traditionally new miners are trained in the mines not the classrooms. It takes a day or two for new employees to learn to operate mining equipment, but the most important knowledge, how to stay alive is what the experiences miners hands down to younger miners.
In 2011 the number of miners killed in China totaled 2448 that number presumes that the government reported all deaths.
Are these the people that will show Canadian’s how to stay safe?
We are told that temporary foreign workers will only be around for five years, by then Canadians will be trained, are we training rocket scientists or brain surgeons?
Incidentally if Mr. Bells’ government had not destroyed what was the best Apprenticeship and Training programs in North America there would be no reason to import workers.
The foreign worker is not to blame he is like all workers trying to improve life for himself and his family. Guilt falls on the corporations and our governments who make it possible to do what they do. Mr. Harper has to date accommodated foreign corporations by eliminating the fair wage act, allowing lower wages for foreign workers, allowing pollution of water ways.
It is extremely aggravating to people living in or near territories where this work is going on, when you consider that we have the highest number of unemployed in the general population and astronomical numbers on reserve.
We have people that could in a very short time be doing the work and pay taxes and supports their communities, in contrast foreigners who will stay in camp, pay no taxes and send their wages to China.
As the Chinese worker has no union or citizenship protection he will be reluctant to raise any safety or conditions concerns, knowing full well that doing so most likely will see him deported to China and who knows what could happen to him there.
Remember the Chinese Head Tax? It is back! Each of these miners is now paying hiring agencies $12,500 for a Canadian job. That is equivalent to a Canadian miner paying $100,000. for a job. They can also bring their extended family after six months and apply for citizenship for all, this does not look very temporary to me, and what about legitimate immigrants waiting in lines for years?
There is no humanitarian effort to all of this, it is all about supply of cheap labour and the government and their masters driving down wages and conditions for all workers.
Thank you Mr. Harper, Mr. Bell and Ms. Clark for creating all these Jobs promised northerners.
John Jensen
Terrace, BC