Alberta Premier Jim Prentice says labour policy, including temporary foreign workers, will top his agenda when he gets a chance to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Prentice served for years in Harper's cabinet and wants to meet with the prime minister after dealing with provincial issues, including a byelection to get himself a seat in the Alberta legislature.
The federal government introduced new rules in June to limit the number of foreign workers that large-and medium-sized companies are permitted to hire. The changes are aimed at ensuring Canadians are first in line for jobs.
Prentice said the new rules are making it very difficult for some businesses to fill jobs and hopes to work with Harper on a solution.
"With the population pressure we're under, with the job creation pressure that we're under in this province, I've heard loud and clear over the summer from business people that the changes on temporary foreign workers are going to be very, very difficult," Prentice said Monday.
Prentice said Alberta has accounted for almost all of Canada's job growth yet receives only two per cent of the immigration nominees.
"That clearly can't continue," he said.
He said the answer might involve increasing the number of immigration nominees that are available or some sort of program to lure other Canadians to Alberta to fill the vacancies.

Raise wages: Kenney to businesses

Kenney told The Canadian Press Monday that he won't compromise on ensuring that employers don't use the temporary foreign worker program as a cheap source of labour.
He downplayed how the program is affecting Alberta.
"When fully implemented in 2016, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program reforms will bar the admission of about 8,000 low-paid TFWs in Alberta, relative to last year's admissions," Kenney wrote in an email.
Kenney said that's the equivalent of 0.3 per cent of Alberta's labour force, which is growing by 100,000 per year.
He said there are too many people capable of working who are still not in the work force and that Alberta's food services sector has become too dependent on temporary foreign workers.
"In the Alberta food services sector, wages have gone up by only one per cent a year over the past 8 years, versus two per cent for inflation and three per cent for all jobs in Alberta," he said.
Other changes to the program announced by Federal Employment Minister Jason Kenney in June included tougher penalties for companies that violate the new rules and inspections to uncover abuses.

Comment:
"Immigration = Ottawa + Alberta – Ontario


If we ever needed confirmation that Canada Immigration is really “Alberta Immigration” then here it is.

If we ever needed confirmation that Ontario Immigration is in the business of denying reality, then here it is.

Premier Prentice has made Alberta’s immigrant worker “shortfall” his
Number # 1 issue with Ottawa.

Not oil. Not gas. Not pipelines. Not agriculture. Not infrastructure. Not taxes. Not the environment.

Foreign workers.

That’s right.

Foreign workers.

Wow.

As for the GTA and Ontario?

Premier Wynne is not calling Prime Minister Harper to talk about immigration.

Why?

Because Ottawa tells Ontario, and Ontario buys the story, that we do not need foreign workers because the provincial economy is tanking and that foreigners take Ontario jobs. 

But wait… Ontario never asks Ottawa the obvious questions:

  • Has any one in the nation’s capital figured out that the GTA construction and service trades sectors are booming?

  • Has any one figured out that construction and the services have passed manufacturing as a job creator in Ontario?

  • Does Ontario, or Canada, train the required construction, food service or technical tradespersons?

  • If Ottawa has the Labour Market Information (LMI) confirming the availability of Canadian tradespersons in the GTA then why, on June 20 2014 , did the Albertans in Ottawa announce that they may have the required LMI in mid 2015?

  • Does any one actually believe that any government has any data confirming that the unemployed auto workers in Tilsonburg will cement finish , install marble , do auto body work  or make Portuguese pastries  in Toronto


Given the above, why is Ontario threatening the GTA’s economy by accepting Ottawa’s fairy tales about unemployed Canadian tradespersons in the GTA?

Because Queen’s Park never asks questions, let alone make demands.

Rather than simply addressing the above questions, Ontario and Ottawa roll along on the “fools paradise” assumption that 500,000 illegal workers will solve the GTA’s problems while giving government cover in not having to admit that the evil foreigners are already here. 

Queen’s Park thinks that it’s a fair deal …Alberta gets the legals. The GTA gets the illegals. No problem. No head ache. Problem solved.

Alberta gets the taxes and pension contributions. We get the myth of no official foreign workers, lower wages and no pension or medical payouts.  

And the beat goes on.

So why does Ontario have an Immigration office with highly paid immigration policy bureaucrats but no immigration policy on skilled trades workers?

Because creating a policy means that somebody has to get the facts, do the consultation and get he job done.

Ontario has no skilled trades Labour Market Information policy. No employer input. No union input. No asking Ottawa any questions. No asking its federal members of parliament for help.  Nothing.  

Premier Wynne has no idea what’s going on because nobody tells her.

They don’t tell her because they don’t know.

A reality check by the Premier would confirm that:

  • Ottawa does not consult Ontario immigration on anything concerning the trades
  • Ontario does not demand consultation
  • Ontario gets its information on federal trades immigration policy from the Globe and Mail
  • Ontario has no clue as to the GTA’s skilled trades needs
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Alberta premier is now upset that his province is not getting its fair share of foreign workers or immigrants. He is quoted as saying that Alberta gets only 2% of the nation’s immigrant workers.

(I’ll bet a bottle of Alberta vodka that the Premier will have a discussion with Prime Minister Harper confirming Alberta’s fear with Ottawa’s Express Entry program…I’ll bet a case of Steam Whistle beer that the Premier will receive assurances that Ottawa’s express entering of Ontario will bolster Alberta’s numbers).

While Prentice and Harper publically wring their hands, they’ll be privately high fiveing the below numbers which compare the foreign workers approved by Ottawa in 2012 for both the Toronto area and Western Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.)

The GTA’s population is 5.5 million legals plus other approx 500,000 illegals.

Western Canada’s population is 6 million


The west got 98,879 LMO’s … the GTA got 21,540.

The west got 13,270 construction LMOs. All of Ontario (population 12 million) got 1,795 construction LMOs


The west got 36,355 food service and accommodation LMO’s

All of Ontario got 2,820 food service and accommodation LMO’s


Between 2005 and 2012, western economic immigration went up over 150%     

Between 2005 and 2012, Ontario’s economic immigration went down by 40%


Alberta’s PNP program generates over 20% of its economic immigrants

Ontario’s PNP program generates over 2% of its economic immigrants




I don’t blame Alberta for taking care of its immigration issues. Why not play footsie with the Albertan brethren in Ottawa?  

Ontario’s historic delusion is that Ottawa either knows what it doing, cares about what its doing or is to be trusted on visas.

Perhaps the time has come for Ontario to consider the consequences of:

           
1.     GTA trades employers being faced with the double bind of hiring illegal workers concurrent with federal enforcement against illegal workers

The golden GTA goose no longer laying eggs"
Richard Boraks, Sep 24 2014