Comment:
"1. Over the years, immigration lobbies were focused on getting government to accept the community’s interest with a specific issue. For example, the 1975 “Returnado” campaign was about 3,000 white Africans. The 1980 Azorean campaign was about the humanitarian consequences of 3,000 families from an earthquake zone. The 1990 campaign was about 7,000 Toronto construction workers. The 2006 campaign was about bringing back the deported families.
The 2014 campaign is more difficult. It is not about the problems of
specific group of immigrants. It is about the terrible behavior of two
governments.
The federal government is now like an old colonial master engaging in
ethnic cleansing. It wants to remove tens of thousands of Portuguese, Italian,
Polish and other European workers in order to make room for Irish and English Commonwealth
citizens.
The Ontario government is like Pontius Pilot. It wants to wash its hands
of Ottawa punishing tens of thousands of Ontario businesses relying on
Portuguese, Italian , Polish and other non English workers .No other province would tolerate
such a direct attack on its economy and citizens.
As a lawyer, I am very concerned that government has abandoned the rule
of law in favour of an ethnic priority list.
There is nothing in the law which allows Stephen Harper to establish an “ethnic
priority” list.
Kathleen Wynne and Charles Sousa refuse to use their legal authority to
challenge Harper’s “ethnic priority” list.
I became involved in this campaign simply because I do not want my community
and my family to be subjected to government tolerating the “ethnic’ prejudices
that I experienced as a boy in Toronto.
- As a lawyer, I would rather spend my time advising
clients about the rules.
From time to time, clients require that their collective positions be
put before government. Lawyers are trained to accept that clients may require
an advocate.
I was fortunate to go to Osgoode Hall Law School. Our professors
encouraged us to advocate with respect of the law and authority. To this day I
am a loyal subject of my both my Queen and my God. We were also instructed that
loyalty means that we must submit to the law, not to the personal biases of
leadership.
Questioning abuse of power is a
challenge to be met, not a risk to be avoided.
Fortunately, Canada is a unique country. We can peacefully challenge
authority without fear of consequence.
- The purpose of the March 23, 2014 meeting was
to educate and lobby. There was also an effort to clearly lay out the
options for workers and bosses.
The options faced by all legal
workers and visitors are:
- Hide and work illegally
- Get into the system and apply for extensions,
LMO’s work permits and landed immigrant status
- Sit back and wait and see what happens
The options
faced by companies are:
- Lose control of your job site if workers are
kicked off for immigration reasons
- Stay in the system and lobby
The education
concentrated on the following:
·
The new , December 2013
rules on LMO’s
·
The new difficulties in getting LMOs
·
The new language
difficulties in getting work permits and landed status
·
The need to reapply if
necessary... never give up
The lobbying
concentrated on telling the Portuguese community:
·
That the community was not
alone in this lobby. Joe Volpe was at the meeting and confirmed Italian support.
The Polish Truckers association was there also confirming its support
·
That the community has
grown in size, wealth and power. In the past, the community relied on the Church,
unions and community groups to do its lobbying.
·
In 2014, the community must rely on its
politicians to get the message out
·
If Charles Sousa, Ana
Bailao , Joe Estaquio and Cristina Martins do not push then why should anyone
listen to the community ?
·
Workers and bosses should
email and phone Charles Sousa, Ana Bailao , Joe Estaquio and Cristina Martins
·
The message to the politicians is simple:
WHY DO
IRISH AND ENGLISH AND ALBERTA GET PRIORITY
WHY DO PORTUGESE, ITALIANS AND OTHER EUROPEANS HAVE TO BE DEPORTED FROM ONTARIO IN ORDER TO
MAKE ROOM FOR IRISH , ENGLISH AND ALBERTA
- The lobbying will continue as long as
required. There will be another general meeting when there is something to
report to the community.
We will keep the community advised on our blog, workercanadaimmigrtaio.blogspot.ca
In the meantime, we would appreciate members of the community expressing
their concerns to their representatives.
- Three things more difficult with immigration:
a)
Government is fanatical
about not approving approve job contracts (LMOs) for work permits in Ontario …
even for workers who are already working legally
·
Government is now charging
money for advertising jobs and charging $275 for LMOP applications
·
Government is doing
everything to stop companies in Toronto
from getting LMO’s for the trades
b)
The Federal Government will not follow the new Trades law
for new immigrants and even consider looking at any construction , food service
or mechanical landed immigrant application unless the worker passes the
language exam
c)
The government is starting
to demand more English language skills for work permits, not just landed
immigrant applications. It is possible that there will soon be a language exam
required for work permits."
Richard Boraks, March 31,2014
No comments:
Post a Comment