"Richard Boraks BA, LLB

Barrister & Solicitor

55 Brown’s Line, Etobicoke Ontario   M8W 3S2

Tel: 416-588-8707 Fax: 416-588-8785

Email: boraks@workercanada.com

December 22, 2014

Cristina Martins

Parliamentary Secretary

Ministry of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade 6th Floor 400 University Avenue Toronto, Ontario M7A 2R9

Dear Cristina:

I am addressing you in your capacity as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Citizenship Immigration and Trade.

As you know, I act for a number of Ontario trades employers and their successfully economically established foreign workers.

Many of my clients are your constituents. Your riding contains the highest number of illegal workers, and their employers, in the country. You understand the issues.

The purpose of this letter is to assist your office by reflecting the unreserved hostility which Ontario’s trades employers are expressing towards your government’s unconscionable mishandling of the trades worker file.

The hostility is understandable.

There is no justification for your office abandoning both its constitutional obligations and your responsibility not to engage in systemic misrepresentation.

Specifically, you and your government are aware that:

1. Our province refuses to use its extensive Constitutional powers pursuant to Section 95.

Unlike every province in Canada, Ontario stands alone in sacrificing the foreign worker needs of its small and mid sized trades employers.

Rather than protect this province’s trades economy, your government has, quite improperly, become a passive agent of the federal government’s immigration policies.

Your constituents deserve better than to be told that Queen’s Park can merely reflect Ottawa’s agenda.

The Constitution and your constituents should not be told that Queen’s Park has to back stop any immigration related nonsense that comes out of Ottawa.

You well know that you lack the authority to support Ottawa’s pie in the sky policies with regard to skilled trades language skills and fairy tale labour market information.

Ontario successfully manages trades site safety in 10 languages.

Meanwhile, you allow successful, tax paying concrete finishers and butchers to be deported from our community because Ottawa feigns concern that workers, already here on work permits and provincial safety certificates, will become safety risks upon becoming immigrants.

Ontario acknowledges a severe shortage of commercial roofers and ethnic pastry chefs.

Meanwhile, you allow successful, tax paying pastry chefs and commercial roofers to be deported from our community because Ottawa has cooked the books on labour shortage statistics.

Were you not concerned when Ottawa said that it may have good labour data in mid 2015 but that it would deport workers today on the basis of its non existent data?

Were you not concerned when Ottawa refused to hand over its Stats Canada EI applicant numbers on a specific skills set basis?

Don’t you get concerned when Ottawa denies Ontario employers the services of foreign workers based on the lie that George Brown College trains master butchers and Portuguese pastry chefs?

Please don’t tell me that you are now working with Ottawa in order to come up with better data. This type of consultation should have taken place before you drove the worker’s underground and turned employers into co-conspirators.

Ontario employers know the facts. Please treat them with respect.

The Constitution was not written for your convenience. Please treat it with respect. 

 

2. Your government’s proposed Immigration Act is a blatant denial of your  responsibilities and as such, constitutes a shameful document  

The proposed Immigration Act would force Ontario to adjust its economic priorities to Ottawa’s agenda.

Again, you have no authority to hand over Ontario’s jurisdiction.  

It appears that your panic in passing bad legislation is a direct reaction to the recent Auditor General’s report into the PNP program.

The Auditor General is concerned with your lack of policy direction, your poor administration and the influence peddling.

The AG did not tell you to justify your ongoing behavior by denying your responsibility to come up with good policy, good administration and no influence peddling.

Rather than simply admit past mistakes and start afresh, you seek to wash your hands of your responsibility.

You are taking cover by passing the buck to Ottawa.

This hardly constitutes good policy, good administration and hopefully, no more influence peddling.

More to the point… passing the buck on the Constitution is both serious and illegal.

I don’t recall the AG suggesting denial and breach of obligation as a remedial course of action.

3. Your response to Ottawa’s Express Entry program is a betrayal

You are well aware that, as of January 1, 2015, a PNP certificate has no more significance in the Express Entry program than an LMIA issued to a donut shop.

Under your watch, a PNP certificate has become useless document for 99% of Ontario’s trades employers and their existing staff.  

You have failed to advise your constituents that as of January 1, 2015, a PNP certificate will be a useless document for over 99% of skilled construction workers, ethnic food service staff and mechanics presently in Canada as temporary workers but aspiring to become immigrants.

In return for nothing from Ottawa, you have bartered away Ontario’s ability to serve the immediate skilled worker needs of Ontario employers.

Instead, you have turned legal, tax paying members of the community into even more illegal, exploited folks fearing arrest at the Dufferin Mall.  

It took years for Ontarians to understand and trust the PNP program.

For no explicable reason, you have given it all away. 

4. Your recent policy change granting PNP certificates to undergrads may have crossed the line into behavior constituting fraudulent activity

Rather than deal with immigration policy in a serious manner, your office is engaging in bazaar style PNP fire sales.

The Auditor General told you to stay away from this sort of thing. What are you thinking?

You are bartering away marginally useful /useless PNP certificates on behalf of schools as they peddle their need to make student visa’s more attractive. Schools need the money. Consultants need the fees. 

You are encouraging gullible students to pay schools and consultants big fees all of which will be lost when Ottawa clamps down on this phony cash cow.   

You came up with a third world scheme that would grant PNP certificates to 20 year old students whose only claim to fame is that they have spent daddy’s money for two years.

You do not require the students to have a college diploma. You do not require any work experience. You do not require any history of paying taxes .You do not require an LMIA.You do not require any proof that they are able to establish themselves in Canada.

Not even cash strapped African jurisdictions sell out permanent residency at such bargain basement prices.

Do you actually think that Ottawa will go along with this nonsense?

Given Ottawa’s decimation of hundreds of thousands of FSW applicants and over 50,000 investor applicants, do you actually believe that Ottawa will bat an eye as it refuses the applications of the students that  have been misled by your government into believing that a PNP certificate is a ticket to becoming a landed immigrant?

I fear that your PNP response to the education industry is indicative of your reacting to hit and run pressure, not focused policy or even respect for the AG.

Again, what are you thinking?

Conclusion

Given that Express Entry is days away, there is no likelihood that you will step away from the abyss.

Instead, we will all suffer directly and significantly as the province joins Ottawa in forcing trades workers and employers to pay the heavy price of the Express Entry 2015 election train.

Despite all the above, please be assured that there are people prepared to work with you in establishing the post Express Entry world.

If it is your government’s choice to continue denying its responsibilities while trades workers and their employers suffer the consequences, then so be it.

Yours truly,

Richard Boraks

cc: Rocco Galati "

December, 22 2014

Comment:

"Rocco Galati: Round 2

Focusing the issue

Attached is a copy of the second Federal Court claim filed by Rocco Galati on behalf of our clients.

Rocco, as usual, gets right to the point.

It’s unfortunate that rather than deal with the issues at hand, Ottawa will duck, dodge and stall. They will bring Motion upon Motion.

We’re ready for the long haul. We expect to be at the Supreme Court on more than one occasion.

Rocco is representing the largest group of skilled trades workers and employers ever to attend in Federal Court.

We look forward to combining, and then transforming, these and follow up claims into a class action covering the several hundred thousand foreign workers in Ontario. The logic here is that governments have had over thirty years to deal with the mess. Since government is incapable of getting its act together on skills training or skills immigration, it will be up to courts to set the rules.

In preparing the court applications, I have been struck with the fact that the foreign worker applicants are overwhelmingly employed by small and medium sized enterprises.

It is becoming clear that the GTA’s large trade’s employers share Ottawa’s position that it’s good to have illegal, highly qualified European workers and legal , less qualified South Asian employees.

What is it with big government sucking up to big businesses’ agenda? Or is it the other way around?

I can understand why big employers would want to marginalize and then rip off their workers and crush the smaller, quality competition. I can even understand why big business looks forward to swamping the trades sector with poorly qualified, but cheap, exploitable and non union, South Asian workers. It worked in the trucking sector. Why not the trades?

What I don’t understand is why Her Majesty has to break trust with smaller employers who need quality workers to do quality work.

Why isn’t there room for both the big gonifs and the smaller, quality guys?  "

Richard Boraks, December 11, 2014

Comment: THE WHEEL IS TURNING

Ottawa has only one obsession on any issue: “What will the base think?” 

Queen’s Park has an overriding concern on most issues: “What will the unions think?”  

 Guess what?

When it comes to foreign workers, both the “base” and the “unions” are now on the same page.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is singing the same song as the Labourer’s International Union.

Have look at the CFIB’s report on foreign workers. It’s at: http://www.cfib-fcei.ca/cfib-documents/rr3341.pdf

So where do we go from here?

The answer is outlined in the December 5, 2014 edition of the Corriere Canadese.

In a word, it’s up to Queen’s Park to represent the provincial interest on foreign trades workers.

Last week, Rocco Galati issued our initial Federal Court action against Ottawa.

Next week, we file the second claim. There will be more coming this winter.

The clock is now ticking on Queen’s Park.

The constitution is clear:

Ontario has the responsibility to represent this province’s local business, trades workers and immigration concerns. There is nothing in the constitution about Minister Chen having to wait for Minister Kenney to dictate terms on anything having to do with business, the trades or immigration.

It should be no brainer. Why would any government choose to ignore the constitution, small business and big trade unions?

If politicians can’t get their act together, then they should simply get out of the way.

No where is it written that politicians should be running this nation’s job sites."

Richard Boraks, Dec 6,2014

04.12.2014

ECONOMIA

 

20:12 03.12.2014

Ontário vai criar 2,5 milhões de empregos em dez anos e precisa de imigrantes

© Mark Blinch / Reuters

O ministro da Cidadania, Imigração e Comércio Internacional do Ontário disse, em entrevista à Lusa, que em dez anos a província canadiana vai criar 2,5 milhões de novos empregos e precisa de imigrantes. 

"Temos a oportunidade de trabalho. Estatisticamente, em dez anos o Ontário, devido a dois fatores - o envelhecimento da população e a expansão da economia - vai abrir 2,5 milhões de novos trabalhos e precisamos de muita gente para trabalhar, pois a taxa de natalidade é baixa", afirmou Michael Chan.

Em entrevista à agência Lusa, acompanhado pela sua assessora parlamentar, a deputada provincial luso-canadiana Cristina Martins (eleita por Davenport), reconheceu a importância da chegada "de novos imigrantes", até porque há o perigo de a rede da força de trabalho "ser negativa". 

O governante também teceu elogios à "forte comunidade" portuguesa, e exemplificou o facto de o ministro das Finanças do Ontário Charles Sousa ser lusodescendente, numa "terra maravilhosa", onde todos devem dar-se "harmoniosamente bem uns com os outros". 

Em 2013, o Ontário acolheu de 100 mil imigrantes, devendo o número aumentar em 2015.

Michael Chan também se manifestou preocupado com a operacionalidade do novo sistema de imigração "Entrada Expresso", que vai entrar em vigor a 01 de janeiro de 2015.

"Estamos muito preocupados com alguns atrasos que existem atualmente, e não sabemos quando vão ficar resolvidos. Um problema coincide na linha do empregador com o potencial candidato e o outro problema tem a vem diretamente com o portal e com as ferramentas que dão as informações. Existem estes problemas, mas eles (Governo federal) vão lançar o portal em janeiro (2015)", explicou o liberal. 

No entanto, apesar destes problemas verificados, o sistema, que tem sido utilizado com um sucesso na Austrália, "é bom, mas em cada país é diferente", disse o ministro, afirmando que está otimista, mas que é preciso esperar para ver. 

Cristina Martins salientou, no entanto, que a entrada em funcionamento do programa "não vai resolver" todas as necessidades que o Ontário e outras províncias têm em termos de mão-de-obra.

"Estamos a falar de um sistema que pretende alcançar imigrantes bastante qualificados, não é se calhar a força laboral da comunidade que conhecemos, não é necessariamente o tipo de sistema que vai auxiliar aqueles trabalhadores que vêm para o Ontário", afirmou a deputada lusodescendente. 

O assessora parlamentar de Michael Chan também recordou que este sistema "Entrada Expresso" é uma "boa solução" para uma mão- de-obra "mais qualificada", mas existem outros programas que os imigrantes "podem utilizar", que podem ser úteis aos trabalhadores da construção civil provenientes de Portugal.

O Ontário continua a ser o principal destino dos imigrantes no Canadá, o que representa cerca de 30 por centro do crescimento da força de trabalho. 

O Governo Federal coordena todos os processos de imigração e tem vindo a reduzir a percentagem de imigrantes económicos no Ontario para 46 por cento, enquanto as outras províncias, em média, recebem 65 por cento (2013). 

Michael Chan nasceu na China, aos sete anos de idade mudou-se para o antigo território português de Macau, onde residiu durante quatro anos. Após passagens por Hong Kong, partiu para o Canadá em 1969. Foi eleito deputado provincial em 2007 pelo círculo eleitoral de Markham-Unionville, tendo sido reeleito em 2011 e 2014. 

Chan teve diversas pastas ministeriais nos sucessivos governos liberais do Ontário; Receita (2007), Turismo e Cultura (2010/2011), Cidadania e Imigração (2007/2010 e 2012/2013), ministro com a pasta dos Jogos PanAmericanos de Toronto 2015 (2012/2014), Turismo, Cultura e Desporto (2011/2014), e desde 24 de junho do corrente ano é o ministro da Cidadania, Imigração e Comércio Internacional. 

Antes de ingressar na política, Michael Chan era mediador de seguros numa empresa de que era proprietário. 

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

Lusa

Link "http://sicnoticias.sapo.pt/economia/2014-12-03-Ontario-vai-criar-25-milhoes-de-empregos-em-dez-anos-e-precisa-de-imigrantes"

Comment:

1-"My free translation of the relevant parts of the attached article: 

December 3, 2014

LUSO NEWS AGENCY INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL CHAN AND CRISTINA MARTINS

“ONTARIO WILL CREATE 2.5 MILLION JOBS OVER TEN YEARS AND NEEDS IMMIGRANTS “

“We have the opportunity of work. Statistically, in ten years Ontario due two factors – aging of the population and  the expansion of the economy – will create 2.5 million new jobs and we need lots people to work, because the birth-rate is low” said Michael Chan

Speaking to Lusa News Agency, accompanied by his parliament assistant, Portuguese-Canadian Cristina Martins (Davenport), the Minister recognized the importance of new immigrants arriving, as there is a danger that otherwise the impact on the work force will be “be negative”.

The Minister also praised the “strong Portuguese community exemplified by the Minister of Finance of Ontario Charles de Sousa being of Portuguese descendent, in a marvelous land   where everyone is in harmony with others”.

In 2013, Ontario received 100 thousand immigrants, a number that should increase in 2015.

Michal Chan also expressed concern with the operations of the new “Express Entry” immigration system, which will come into force on January 1, 2015.

“We are very worried with some delays that currently exist, and we don’t know when this will be resolved. One problem is joining the employer and the potential candidate and other problem is directly with the portal and the tools that give the information. These problems are real but the Federal government will launch the portal in January 2015.” explained the Liberal.

However, despite these problems, the system, which has been used with success in Australia, “is good, but each country is different”, said the Minister, saying he is optimistic, but that is necessary to wait to see.

Cristina Martins emphasized, however, that the entry into the program “will not solve” all the necessities that Ontario and other provinces have in terms of labor.

“ The new system  aims to reach highly qualified  immigrants  , but perhaps not the Portuguese labor force that wants to come to Ontario ” said  the Portuguese descendent legislator .

The parliamentary assistant for Michael Chan, also reminded that the  “Express Entry” system is a “good solution” for a “more qualified” labor force , but there are other programs that immigrants “can use”, that can be useful to construction workers from Portugal."

2-"The Good news and the Bad news

Attached is an interesting article from a leading Portuguese news organization.

The Good News

I commend the Provincial Minister of Immigration for recognizing that the new Express Entry program will not met Ontario’s skilled worker needs.

I also commend Cristina Martins for recognizing that Ottawa’s new economic immigrant program will leave Ontario short on the trades side.

• In summary, Ontario is concerned  that the new Express entry program will not meet the needs of Ontario or the Portuguese community 

The problem here is not with the Minister or Ms. Martins. They have been honest.

The Bad News

The problem is that the readers in Portugal do not understand what the Minister and Ms. Martins said.

Many readers simply read the headline about 2.5 million jobs

These readers will be shocked when, on January 1 2015, they apply under the Express Entry program.

They will be shocked because they will see that they have to pass the IELTS language Exam, that they need guaranteed job in Canada, that they need some post secondary education etc, etc, etc.

99.9 % of the Portuguese applicants will fail.

Out of frustration, many of the readers will simply get on an airplane and head for Toronto.

They will be even more severely shocked when they are stopped and , probably arrested, at the Toronto airport  when they tell the airport officials that they have  come to start working in one of the promised 2.5 million jobs.  

The Conclusion

Rule #1 in Canada:

Unless you are from Ireland, England, France or the Commonwealth, never, never, never trust anything, like Express Entry, that comes out of Ottawa.

I repeat: Never"

Richard Boraks, Dec 3, 2014

Comment

"EXPRESS ENTRY: A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING

I’m not a very smart guy. I got through high school by memorizing Coles Notes.

One day Miss Schroeder, my grade 12 French teacher, flushed me out and warned:                          “Boraks, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing”.  

Yesterday, December 1, 2014, will live in the annals of Canadian immigration history as the day that Ottawa took a little knowledge and created Express Entry, something very dangerous for the Ontario trades.

I don’t mean to offend the intellectual capacity of our nation’s leadership. They’re well educated. They’ve observed the Australian model. They’ve committed a lot of effort to the new process. But then, they have a history of starting up “command –control” programs that fail.

So why will Express Entry fail the Ontario trades?

• Because Toronto is not Canada and Canada is not Toronto

• Because today’s Parliament and Cabinet is thin on people who have met a payroll. No one from Ontario on the government front bench has run a small business. They have no clue.

Ottawa running the trades is like the communist party running farms. 

It’s funny when apparent conservatives claim that they want to give employers a role in the worker selection process and then Ottawa dictates both the supply and demand of the foreign worker rules. At the end of the day, Express Entry is the worst form of command and control socialism, pure and simple.

• Because pride precedes the fall.

Pride has taken over from rigorous policy discussion. What does it say when a highly educated, otherwise sophisticated Minister such as Chris Alexander seriously claims that his is the best government in Canadian history? When you’re the best in history, then why question?    

The consequences of failure

Everybody knows that the Toronto trades have survived by ignoring the geniuses in Ottawa.

Now Ottawa has turned the tables and will dictate to the Toronto trades.

The next few years will be a fiasco in Toronto.

Ottawa will be approving tradespersons who speak English /French and have certificates. These folks will not find jobs. The trades jobs will continue to get done with employer selected illegal workers who speak “trades English”.  In frustration, Ottawa will start leaning heavily on unions and employers who hire illegal workers. Initially, the smaller subcontractors will be wiped out. Then, the first small downturn in construction will see the big contactors, unable to recruit competent staff, leave the province. While this scenario plays itself out, the existing trade union culture will collapse under the weight of South Asians not joining the union, but instead, doing what they did to the trucking sector.

Ottawa has ensured that another generation will endure gridlock and crumbling infrastructure. The cultural fabric of the community will weaken.     

What’s the solution?

Dealing with Ottawa is like discussing menus with cannibals… it’s rather counter productive.

We’ll see if Queen’s Park is up to the task of representing Ontario’s interests.

In the meantime, thank God for the Courts. "

Richard Boraks Dec 2, 2014 

Comment:

"Buckle up. Stay tuned.

We will see increasing public interest in the issue of foreign trades workers in Ontario.

Until now, Ontario pulled a Pontius Pilate. Queen’s Park washed its hands of the constitutional responsibility to manage its own internal immigration affairs.

This week, after 147 years, the immigration Pandora’s Box has opened. Pandora’s first victim is Pontius Pilate. On the chopping block are provincial politicians.

No longer can Ontario restrict itself to “consulting” with Ottawa. Queen’s Park will now be on the hook for immigration policies in this province.

With its new Immigration Act, the province has entered the immigration wars. Queens’ Park, not Parliament Hill, will quickly become ground zero in establishing Ontario’s immigration policies.

The politicians will down play the significance of this week’s announcement. They will pretend that they can remain in lock step with Ottawa’s leadership.

Despite their whistling by the electoral graveyard, the immigration wars will hit provincial politics like a tornado alley.

Rest assured. Right from day 1, Ontario politicians will be held responsible for their immigration decisions, or more to the point, lack of decisions.

Ontario’s dithering will assure a new front for the province’s immigration industry.  The lawyers, consultants, lobbyists, employers, workers, families, unions, educators, investors, entrepreneurs, municipalities, ethnic groups and media will be knocking on Queen’s Park’s doors demanding action. The province will panic. Ottawa will not return phone calls.

Litigation in Ontario’s Superior Court will follow. 

Having created the mess, it’s Ottawa’s turn to start washing its hands of immigration policy in Ontario.

Good riddance.

Buckle up. Stay tuned."

Richard Boraks, Nov 28, 2014

Comment:

"GOING TO COURT

Going to court is never an easy decision.

It’s been a long time since I’ve advised clients to look for fair play in the courts, not government. 

Judicial relief is a blunt instrument.

The consequences of seeking judicial relief are multiple. The stress. The cost. The allegations.The closed doors. The uncertainty. The possibility of defeat.  

Going to court is based on a core decision that one can no longer trust a government’s commitment to do the right thing. 

The river has been crossed."

Richard Boraks, Nov 27, 2014.

News Release

Ontario Introduces Legislation to Maximize Benefits of Immigration

Newcomers’ Global Connections Boost Ontario’s Economy

November 26, 2014 8:45 A.M.

Ministry of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade

Ontario is reintroducing its first-ever Immigration Act that would, if passed, assist the province in working with Ottawa to maximize the economic benefits of immigration.

Immigrants help grow a stronger economy by leveraging their networks and forging new global connections that will keep Ontario competitive in international markets.

Building on the government's Immigration Strategy, the proposed Ontario Immigration Act would:

• Facilitate Ontario's work with the federal government on the recruitment, selection and admission of skilled immigrants.
• Strengthen the province's ongoing efforts to reduce fraud by protecting the integrity of our immigrant selection program and improve accountability.
• Increase transparency and information-sharing with our immigration partners.

The province will also redesign the Provincial Nominee Program to respond to expected increases in the federal government's allocation of economic immigrants.

Maximizing Ontario's immigration programs is part of the government's economic plan for Ontario. The four-part plan is building Ontario up by investing in people's talents and skills, building new public infrastructure like roads and transit, creating a dynamic, supportive environment where business thrives and building a secure savings plan so everyone can afford to retire.

Quick Facts

• Ontario remains the number one destination for newcomers to Canada, receiving more immigrants than the combined total of all the provinces and territories west of here.
• Newcomers make up 30 per cent of Ontario's labour force.
• Over the next 25 years, immigration will account for all of the increases in Ontario’s working-age population and is expected to be a major source of future labour force growth.
• Federal decisions over the decade have reduced the proportion of economic immigrants coming to Ontario to 46 per cent, while other provinces on average receive 65 per cent (2013). In 2011, 97 per cent of Ontario’s provincial nominees remained in the province.

Quotes

“This proposed legislation is about making Ontario’s economy stronger through immigration. Immigrants bring with them connections to international economies, which is why the Premier reassigned International Trade to the immigration ministry. It’s important that we recognize not only the value of a diverse workforce but also the advantages of having an Ontario economy that is globally connected.”

Michael Chan

Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade

“The diversity of our people is one of Ontario’s strengths. Capitalizing on this advantage is vital to our economy’s future growth. Immigrants connect people, ideas and understanding. Ontario is showing its commitment to ensuring that the economic opportunities that immigrants expect are delivered.”

Matthew Mendelsohn

Director, Mowat Centre

Comment:

"ONTARIO... A STEP FORWARD

The good news is that Ontario, after 147 years, has taken the first baby step in fulfilling its constitutional responsibility concerning immigration.

The bad news is that our economy will not survive another generation if Queen’s Park fails to build on its existing foreign worker strengths

My concern is that Ontario’s new Immigration Act will not be matched with a concurrent political commitment to action.

I realize that things take time. Nevertheless, first principles are important.

Hopefully, there will be no backsliding under the cover of new legislation. "

Richard Boraks Nov 27,2014.