Stephen Harper pledges more 

funds to help new Canadians 

find work in their field

Conservative leader heads to vote-rich Markham, Ont.

By Susan Lunn, CBC News Posted: Aug 27, 2015 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: Aug 27, 2015 3:51 PM ET

Stephen Harper to help get foreign credentials recognized 2:07

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper brought his campaign to the Greater Toronto Area this morning with an announcement aimed at helping new Canadians get their foreign credentials recognized so they can find work in their chosen professions.

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Harper announced new money for the Foreign Credential Recognition Loan program during a visit to a Markham, Ont., manufacturing plant.

"When doctors are driving taxis and engineers are waiting tables, Canada can do better and Canada must do better," Harper said.

The federal government introduced the loan program in 2011 as a pilot project. It was made permanent just this year, when the budget put aside $35 million for it over five years.

Harper promised Thursday to offer 20,000 more loans to immigrants wanting to get their credentials recognized, adding $8 million a year over the next five years to more than double the program.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper and Conservative candidate Jason Kenney serve food at Gursikh Sabha Canada temple during a campaign stop at in Scarboroough, Ont., on Wednesday. Harper moved on to another key Ontario riding on Thursday, announcing new money for the Foreign Credential Recognition Loan program in Markham. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

He also promised to work with the provinces and territories to cut the time it takes for that recognition, from one year to 60 days for high-demand jobs.

• Follow CBC's full election coverage

According to Statistics Canada, 36 per cent of immigrants encounter financial barriers to getting their foreign credentials recognized. Fees can range from $100 to $25,000 and can include money for retraining to a Canadian standard, fees to write exams or licensing costs.

Harper argued that many new Canadians lack a credit history to get a loan from a regular bank, which is why the loan program was started as a pilot project in 2011.

Professionals affected range from physicians to those who work in the Red Seal trades, which include dozens of professions that have a set of nationally recognized standards, such as electricians, engineers and plumbers.

In the afternoon, Harper will hold a rally in Hamilton before returning to Ottawa.

The source:http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-2015-harper-foreign-credentials-1.3205168

COMMENT

"Immigration and Finding Jobs

In 2011, Kenney gave Harper a majority government by going from faith group to faith group telling them exactly what they wanted to hear.

In 2015, Kenney is making the same rounds singing the same song.  Only this time, nobody believes him.

If you want the support of honorable people, you’d better behave honorably.

I’ve been to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. I respect the Sikh code of honour.

I’ve seen the bountiful farms of the Punjab. It takes a powerful work ethic to grow so much so well.

As do all Torontonians, I have no doubt as to the common sense of my Punjabi neighbors.  

In the face of all this, Harper and Kenney go to a Temple in Toronto and insult the faithful with an empty, recycled promise to help immigrants find jobs. They mix faith and immigration with an empty promise of jobs …reminds me of the old Bay Street adage about throwing shit against the wall to see how much sticks.

 Just how stupid do they think we are? 

After destroying tens of thousands of Toronto families through incomprehensible immigration policies, these two guys now play the victims for fools"

Richard Boraks, August 27 2015

Stephen Harper – Jim Flaherty = Jason Kenney

As a rule, I have not linked Stephen Harper with Canada’s failed policies, whether immigration or training. My logic is that the trades worker related problems are the still born children of Jason Kenney who was delegated to manage the policies.

From what I know of Mr. Harper, he is the kind of guy who likes to micro manage the tactics of politics but is fundamentally uninterested in the consequences of public policy. Kenney was delegated the task of turning immigration and skills trying into an economic bulwark.

 

Stephen Harper trusted Jason Kenney to replace Jim Flaherty as his bottom line guy.

Today, Mr. Harper made himself a fair target. He referred to Kenney’s failed immigration and skills training policies as two of the four pillars of his economic plan. The other two are international trade agreements and infrastructure.  

Scary. Fifty percent of Canada’s response to the global economic situation are Kenney’s failed immigration and skills training policies.

Jason Kenney will bring down Stephen Harper.  

Jim Flaherty would probably repeat himself and tell Kenney to “fuck off”. 

Unfortunately, Ottawa’s  assorted political twitterers and career focused boot lickers in all the major political parties have no clue that one half  of Harper’s economic response to the global problems are Kenney’s historic failures.

Richard Boraks, August 24 2015

Comment:

"Thanks to the Corriere Canadese and Joe Volpe

Today’s Express Entry analysis in the Corriere Canadese sets the standard for the immigration public policy debate in Canada.

Joe Volpe continues, whether Minister or publisher, to frame immigration policy in the clearest of policy option terms.

Honest people of principle mean what they say and say what they mean. This is why Joe Volpe’s guidance cannot be ignored.

Then there are those who long ago abandoned principle in favour of self-serving agendas. This is why Jason Kenney and Chris Alexander must be ignored. "

Richard Boraks, August 10 2015 

Changes to temporary foreign worker program generate labour shortage

ERIC ATKINS

The Globe and Mail

Published Thursday, Aug. 06, 2015 5:57PM EDT

Last updated Thursday, Aug. 06, 2015 11:27PM EDT

Two of the biggest challenges Saskatchewan grain farmer Kenton Possberg faces are weather and workers. He can’t control the rain, and he increasingly has trouble finding people willing to spend long days driving a tractor on his 14,000-acre farm east of Saskatoon.

Half of the 12 full-time employees on his farm are from overseas – New Zealand, Austria and South Africa. He pays for their flights and phones and subsidizes their rent in the nearby town of Humboldt. He pays wages of $18 to $25 an hour as well as a season-ending bonus, all because he can’t find enough Canadians.

But he fears that changes to the federal temporary foreign worker (TFW) program will mean that he loses some long-time farmhands who know his land better than he does, and have years of experience operating the high-tech farm machinery used to seed and harvest canola, barley and other crops.

“I need to emphasize that we hire Canadians first,” Mr. Possberg said. “But the biggest reason we cannot hire Canadians is the seasonal nature of the work.”

Even as the national unemployment rate hovers around 7 per cent, farmers, meat packers and other agri-food businesses say they cannot find enough Canadians to hire. The work is often unpleasant (butchering livestock) or seasonal (planting and harvesting). So they rely on a handful of federal programs that allow them to bring in temporary foreign workers, seasonal agricultural workers and students and young farmers.

“Very few Canadians are willing to take on this kind of work when the duration is so short. Two months in the spring and two months in the fall. And it’s long hours. Often you are miles away from home,” said Blair Rutter, executive director of Saskatoon-based Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association. “You’re just not able to attract people that have families.”

After published reports showed that the fast-food industry was using temporary foreign workers to replace Canadians, the federal government last year limited employers’ access to the system.

“The temporary foreign worker program is intended to be a last and limited resort when employers are facing short-term skills and labour shortages, and only when qualified Canadians are not available. In June, 2014, the government overhauled the program to ensure that it continues to meet this objective,” a government spokesperson said in an e-mail.

In the case of Mr. Possberg and other grain farmers, this means that they must let go any temporary foreign employee who accumulates four years on the job. And as a grain farmer, the seasonal agriculture worker program relied upon by fruit and vegetable growers is off limits. “Our goal is to get an agriculture-only program,” he said by phone.

Mr. Possberg competes for labour with the potash mines that dot his part of Saskatchewan, as well as the oil patch. Both industries offer steadier hours and often better pay. He said he has not seen any increase in applications from oil-patch workers laid off amid the slump in energy prices.

In addition to his six foreign workers, Mr. Possberg employs four retired farmers. They once made up the bulk of his staff, but as farm machinery became more computerized, he increasingly turned to the foreign combine operators, who typically work the Canadian growing season before flying home to the Southern Hemisphere to seed and harvest there.

“Our equipment is so sophisticated now. It’s like getting into the cockpit of an airplane. I have a hard time with some of the stuff. [For] these 70- and 75-year-old guys that we’ve always relied on, it’s overwhelming.”

Some of his workers know the land better than he does, Mr. Possberg said. They know how to get a million-dollar, multitonne rig through the wet spots in the field without getting stuck, and they know where the power lines are dangerously low on the roads that link the fields.

“There are safety considerations. You can’t hire someone and the next day expect them to know that piece of equipment,” he said. “Some people you never can train. It depends on the person. Some people pick up on it right away. Other people, it takes a long time. Knowing how to operate a piece of equipment and then knowing the land – that is a big issue.”

As soon as his crop is harvested in the fall, Mr. Possberg begins placing local ads for the next year’s planting season. He will get a few local calls from retired teachers or bankers asking if they can have weekends off (they can’t) or if they can go home at 5 (nope). “We might have a week where we do nothing, but then the next three weeks, we go 14 and 16 hours a day seven days a week until the weather stops us.”

The Source:http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/revisions-to-temporary-foreign-worker-program-develop-a-labour-shortage/article25867788/

Comment:

Pissing off farmers

Just how stupid is Ottawa?

Do we need any more proof that Chris Alexander and Jason Kenney have zero clue about what they are doing? 

An iron law of global politics is that government should never go out of its way to piss off farmers.

An iron law of conservative politics in Canada is that Ottawa should not invent  ways to piss off Saskatchewan or its farmers.

Alvin Hamilton used to tell me that unhappy farmers make for unhappy cities.

Encouraging Ontario trades employers to make money by exploiting 300,000 illegal foreign trades workers in Toronto is one thing.

But pissing off law abiding farmers in Saskatchewan is crazy.

And to think that Kenney was raised in Saskatchewan and then served as a paid Liberal organizer in Saskatchewan before reinventing himself as a paid Alberta conservative.

John Diefenbaker and Alvin Hamilton would skin him alive.

And rightfully so.  "

Richard Boraks, August 7 2015

Comment:

"EXPRESS ENTRY

Thanks again to The Corriere Canadese for keeping an eye on Express Entry. 

Unfortunately, the situation is worse than the Corriere has detailed.

There is a perception that an “invitation” from the Express Entry office means that Ottawa has accepted that the applicant is ready for final processing.

Not true.

An “invitation “simply allows the candidate to ask an employer or a PNP office to go through the hoops of obtaining an LMIA or PNP certificate… this is where the real problems start.

Only a fraction of 2015’s “Invited” Express Entry pool of 12,071 will obtain LMIA’s or PNP certificates.

Thus, only a fraction of the 12,071 invited applicants will ever have their applications considered for landing.

I feel sorry for the many applicants who went through the emotional roller coaster of receiving one of Ottawa’s phony invitations in the knowledge that they could never obtain an LMIA or PNP certificate.

It takes real chutzpah for Ottawa to invite someone to a party in the knowledge that they will be denied admission. 

I remember when government used to act in good faith. They made mistakes. Maybe their policies were wrong headed. But you rarely questioned their integrity.

Those days are over. Public policy and public service are out.

Cynical scams such as Express Entry are in."

Richard Boraks, August 7 2015 

Funcionários portugueses no Canadá podem agora reaver contribuições

Um advogado canadiano disse hoje à agência Lusa que os trabalhadores portugueses do ramo da construção civil podem agora reaver o dinheiro das contribuições efetuadas para os sindicatos do setor. 

"Estamos a pedir aos portugueses que deixaram o Canadá desde 1986, deportados, ou voluntariamente, e que trabalharam para companhias sindicalizadas e descontaram para o plano de pensão, que entrem em contacto connosco, pois podem reaver esse dinheiro", afirmou Richard Boraks. 

Segundo o advogado especializado em imigração, existem cerca de 25 mil portugueses nesta situação, sendo metade oriundos dos Açores. 

Richard Boraks informou ainda que muitos dos trabalhadores pensam que não podem reaver o dinheiro "porque foram deportados", mas "não há nenhum problema nisso", mesmo que "não tenham tido cartão de segurança social" podem ser reembolsados com o dinheiro que descontaram durante o período de trabalho no Canadá. 

Há cinco anos, o governo alterou no Ontário uma lei relativa à idade do plano de pensão dos trabalhadores, que já não têm de aguardar até aos 55 ou 65 anos de idade. 

"Agora os trabalhadores podem-se candidatar para reaverem o seu dinheiro de volta. A idade não faz nenhuma diferença, se têm 25, 35 ou 45, podem-se candidatar. Neste momento já recebemos dinheiro de pelo menos um trabalhador", disse.

O advogado acrescentou que este processo pode forçar o Governo Federal a optar por emitir mais vistos de trabalho em alternativa ao reembolso dos fundos de pensões. Porque aí os sindicatos e o Governo Federal serão pressionados a emitir vistos de trabalho", continuou o advogado. 

Richard Boraks espera desta forma pressionar o Governo federal a autorizar mais vistos de trabalho para emigrantes portugueses "dando aos sindicatos e a Otava" a hipótese de reembolsarem os trabalhadores monetariamente e com a respetiva autorização para trabalharem no Canadá.

"Dissemos aos sindicatos e ao Governo (Federal), 'se quiserem correr com os trabalhadores do Canadá, reembolsem-nos'. Quando o Governo e os sindicatos se aperceberem quais as escolhas a ter, ou seja, dar-lhes o dinheiro ou os vistos, espero que lhes deem os vistos, e entretanto o dinheiro", frisou. 

Segundo um documento disponibilizado pelo advogado, cada trabalhador da construção receberá o reembolso dependendo de vários fatores, das horas laborais numa empresa sindicalizada, quanto dinheiro foi pago ou deveria ter sido pago na conta da pensão do trabalhador e qual o fundo de pensão que gere o dinheiro.

Alguns sindicatos devolvem 100 % das contribuições anuais mais juros, que podem ser significativos, enquanto outros sindicatos descontam e pagam 47% sem juros. Antes de os trabalhadores portugueses obterem o dinheiro, o Governo canadiano deduz 25%. 

Richard Boraks também esclareceu que "este projeto não tem nada a ver com as reformas dos governos português e canadiano". 

"Apenas 25 mil trabalhadores trabalharam para empresas sindicalizadas. Há muitos mais que trabalharam para empresas não sindicalizadas, a esses não os podemos ajudar", concluiu. 

Calcula-se que existam no Canadá cerca de 550 mil portugueses e lusodescendentes, estando a grande maioria localizada no Ontário. 

The Source:http://www.noticiasaominuto.com/pais/431879/funcionarios-portugueses-no-canada-podem-agora-reaver-contribuicoes

ECONOMIA

Canadá: portugueses no ramo da construção podem reaver contribuições

Segundo o advogado especializado em imigração, existem cerca de 25 mil portugueses que podem agora reaver o dinheiro das contribuições efetuadas para os sindicatos do setor

Por: Redação / DC    |   hoje às 11:57

Um advogado canadiano disse esta quarta-feira à agência Lusa que os trabalhadores portugueses do ramo da construção civil podem agora reaver o dinheiro das contribuições efetuadas para os sindicatos do setor. 

"Estamos a pedir aos portugueses que deixaram o Canadá desde 1986, deportados, ou voluntariamente, e que trabalharam para companhias sindicalizadas e descontaram para o plano de pensão, que entrem em contacto connosco, pois podem reaver esse dinheiro", afirmou Richard Boraks. 

Segundo o advogado especializado em imigração, existem cerca de 25 mil portugueses nesta situação, sendo metade oriundos dos Açores.

Richard Boraks informou ainda que muitos dos trabalhadores pensam que não podem reaver o dinheiro "porque foram deportados", mas "não há nenhum problema nisso", mesmo que "não tenham tido cartão de segurança social" podem ser reembolsados com o dinheiro que descontaram durante o período de trabalho no Canadá.

Há cinco anos, o governo alterou no Ontário uma lei relativa à idade do plano de pensão dos trabalhadores, que já não têm de aguardar até aos 55 ou 65 anos de idade.

"Agora os trabalhadores podem-se candidatar para reaverem o seu dinheiro de volta. A idade não faz nenhuma diferença, se têm 25, 35 ou 45, podem-se candidatar. Neste momento já recebemos dinheiro de pelo menos um trabalhador”, disse.

O advogado acrescentou que este processo pode forçar o Governo Federal a optar por emitir mais vistos de trabalho em alternativa ao reembolso dos fundos de pensões. Porque aí os sindicatos e o Governo Federal serão pressionados a emitir vistos de trabalho", continuou o advogado.

Richard Boraks espera desta forma pressionar o Governo federal a autorizar mais vistos de trabalho para emigrantes portugueses "dando aos sindicatos e a Otava" a hipótese de reembolsarem os trabalhadores monetariamente e com a respetiva autorização para trabalharem no Canadá.

"Dissemos aos sindicatos e ao Governo (Federal), ‘se quiserem correr com os trabalhadores do Canadá, reembolsem-nos’. Quando o Governo e os sindicatos se aperceberem quais as escolhas a ter, ou seja, dar-lhes o dinheiro ou os vistos, espero que lhes deem os vistos, e entretanto o dinheiro", frisou. 

 Segundo um documento disponibilizado pelo advogado, cada trabalhador da construção receberá o reembolso dependendo de vários fatores, das horas laborais numa empresa sindicalizada, quanto dinheiro foi pago ou deveria ter sido pago na conta da pensão do trabalhador e qual o fundo de pensão que gere o dinheiro.

Alguns sindicatos devolvem 100 % das contribuições anuais mais juros, que podem ser significativos, enquanto outros sindicatos descontam e pagam 47% sem juros. Antes de os trabalhadores portugueses obterem o dinheiro, o Governo canadiano deduz 25%.

Richard Boraks também esclareceu que "este projeto não tem nada a ver com as reformas dos governos português e canadiano".

"Apenas 25 mil trabalhadores trabalharam para empresas sindicalizadas. Há muitos mais que trabalharam para empresas não sindicalizadas, a esses não os podemos ajudar", concluiu. 

Calcula-se que existam no Canadá cerca de 550 mil portugueses e lusodescendentes, estando a grande maioria localizada no Ontário. 

The source:http://www.tvi24.iol.pt/economia/construcao-civil/canada-portugueses-no-ramo-da-construcao-podem-reaver-contribuicoes

Advogado canadiano reclama dinheiro de fundo de pensão de sindicatos para trabalhadores portugueses

Lusa/AO Online / Regional / Hoje, 11:20

Um advogado canadiano disse hoje à agência Lusa que os trabalhadores portugueses do ramo da construção civil podem agora reaver o dinheiro das contribuições efetuadas para os sindicatos do setor. 
 

"Estamos a pedir aos portugueses que deixaram o Canadá desde 1986, deportados, ou voluntariamente, e que trabalharam para companhias sindicalizadas e descontaram para o plano de pensão, que entrem em contacto connosco, pois podem reaver esse dinheiro", afirmou Richard Boraks. 

Segundo o advogado especializado em imigração, existem cerca de 25 mil portugueses nesta situação, sendo metade oriundos dos Açores. 

Richard Boraks informou ainda que muitos dos trabalhadores pensam que não podem reaver o dinheiro "porque foram deportados", mas "não há nenhum problema nisso", mesmo que "não tenham tido cartão de segurança social" podem ser reembolsados com o dinheiro que descontaram durante o período de trabalho no Canadá. 

Há cinco anos, o governo alterou no Ontário uma lei relativa à idade do plano de pensão dos trabalhadores, que já não têm de aguardar até aos 55 ou 65 anos de idade. 

"Agora os trabalhadores podem-se candidatar para reaverem o seu dinheiro de volta. A idade não faz nenhuma diferença, se têm 25, 35 ou 45, podem-se candidatar. Neste momento já recebemos dinheiro de pelo menos um trabalhador”, disse.

O advogado acrescentou que este processo pode forçar o Governo Federal a optar por emitir mais vistos de trabalho em alternativa ao reembolso dos fundos de pensões. Porque aí os sindicatos e o Governo Federal serão pressionados a emitir vistos de trabalho", continuou o advogado. 

Richard Boraks espera desta forma pressionar o Governo federal a autorizar mais vistos de trabalho para emigrantes portugueses "dando aos sindicatos e a Otava" a hipótese de reembolsarem os trabalhadores monetariamente e com a respetiva autorização para trabalharem no Canadá.

"Dissemos aos sindicatos e ao Governo (Federal), ‘se quiserem correr com os trabalhadores do Canadá, reembolsem-nos’. Quando o Governo e os sindicatos se aperceberem quais as escolhas a ter, ou seja, dar-lhes o dinheiro ou os vistos, espero que lhes deem os vistos, e entretanto o dinheiro", frisou. 

Segundo um documento disponibilizado pelo advogado, cada trabalhador da construção receberá o reembolso dependendo de vários fatores, das horas laborais numa empresa sindicalizada, quanto dinheiro foi pago ou deveria ter sido pago na conta da pensão do trabalhador e qual o fundo de pensão que gere o dinheiro.

Alguns sindicatos devolvem 100 % das contribuições anuais mais juros, que podem ser significativos, enquanto outros sindicatos descontam e pagam 47% sem juros. Antes de os trabalhadores portugueses obterem o dinheiro, o Governo canadiano deduz 25%. 

Richard Boraks também esclareceu que "este projeto não tem nada a ver com as reformas dos governos português e canadiano". 

"Apenas 25 mil trabalhadores trabalharam para empresas sindicalizadas. Há muitos mais que trabalharam para empresas não sindicalizadas, a esses não os podemos ajudar", concluiu. 

Calcula-se que existam no Canadá cerca de 550 mil portugueses e lusodescendentes, estando a grande maioria localizada no Ontário. 

The Source:http://www.acorianooriental.pt/noticia/advogado-canadiano-reclama-dinheiro-de-fundo-de-pensao-de-sindicatos-para-trabalhadores-portugueses

Comment:

"Changing the channel

The attached article from the LUSA news agency helps change the channel on the Canadian immigration debate for trades’ workers.

For over thirty years, governments have encouraged the entry of illegal trades workers and discouraged the entry of legal trades workers. Ontario now has over 300,000 illegal workers. In 2014, government could find only 90 trades workers worthy of becoming legal.

After thirty years it’s time to accept that government will not protect the common interest in legal trades immigration. Government’s trades worker policies are controlled by the interests making a lot of money from illegal workers.

As long as the European trades workers are destined to be deported, they may as well as get their money back.

What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander."

Richard Boraks, August 5 2015