PACIFIC PROTEST: CANADA INMIGRATION

PACIFIC PROTEST: CANADA INMIGRATION

Dear Canadian immigrant,

Distribute this article to companies job boards, recruiters, jobs
websites and friends as a pacific protest against the unfair
situation of inmigrants who cannot find the job they deserve in their
professions. Canada inmigration system is becoming a new threat to
HUMAN RIGHTS, since thousands of people is being cheated with false
expectations just to provide cheap labor to big corporations to grow
the economy in Canada and generate new sources of taxes and income to
the government.


Rules, racism hamstring immigrant workers
_________________________________________


HELEN CONNELL, For the London Free Press
We seem to like our cabbies well-educated in Canada, particularly ones
born outside the country.
During cab rides in this city and others, I've been chauffeured by
doctors, engineers and one really nice guy with a postgraduate degree
in
agriculture.
If I had the same opportunity to chat with waiters, dishwashers and
just
about every other low-paid worker, I'd turn up a disproportionate
number
of foreign-born individuals whose skills and education vastly outstrip
their jobs.

There's nothing new in seeing immigrants toiling away at jobs at which
they're vastly overqualified. But with a labour shortage looming,
Canadians have a new reason for caring that goes beyond compassion.
By 2011, it's predicted that 100 per cent of Canada's net labour-force
growth will come from immigration.

Given those needs, there is something very wrong with how the system
is
working. For example, while Ontario suffers from a severe shortage of
doctors, it has been estimated that about 300 doctors immigrate to
Canada every year.
And it's not just doctors coming here. In the past five years, Canada
has also seen an influx of engineers, engineering technicians,
accountants
and teachers. The Kitchener-based Centre for Research and Education
in Human
Services estimates the unemployment rate for internationally trained
professionals is three times that of other Ontarians.
One of the big hurdles faced by immigrants is getting their
professional
and trade credentials recognized. As a representative from the
Council of
Agencies Serving Southeast Asians told one group: "If they come from
the
U.S., they are doctors. If they come from somewhere else, they are
numbers."
In some cases, it is difficult for employers to translate credentials
earned outside Canada to ensure they are commensurate with Canadian
standards.
In other instances, however, it simply hasn't been in the self-
interest of
professional associations to swell their ranks with immigrants.

Consider how frustrating this is for a newcomer. Canada's immigration
authorities place a heavy emphasis on education and training in
determining who gets into this country. But once here, those same
credentials
suddenly lose their weight. Many have saved for years to come to
Canada, but as
one professional immigrant observed, Canada welcomes their money but
not
their talents.

It has never been easy for immigrants, but today they face new
challenges as we attract newcomers from far more culturally diverse
nations. Where once immigrants came in droves from Great Britain, the
U.S. and Western
Europe, today the people stepping onto Canadian soil are often from
Eastern
Europe, Asia and Africa.

To ensure they succeed as previous generations of immigrants have,
they
require sufficient English-language training programs and cultural
support services. These programs won't work unless people also have
access to
transportation and child care.
Education and the capacity to read and write one of Canada's two
official languages -- especially English -- are critical to how
successful
immigrants are in Canada. We need to do a much better job of
instilling in new
immigrants the importance of English classes, even if that means
forgoing the first paying job that comes their way.

There's another ugly issue that Canadians need to tackle. Racism. It's
here today. It's always been part of this nation, although Canadians
seem
blissfully and to some degree wilfully ignorant of our past.

We like to boast about the Underground Railway that shuttled slaves
safely into Canada, but we forget the fight put up by Edmonton's
municipal
council in 1911 to shut out black Oklahoma farmers on the basis
that "Negroes"
weren't suited to the "climate and requirements of Canada."

We'd have school kids believe the Chinese head tax was a blip in our
otherwise pristine history, without mentioning the persistent efforts
to
keep Sikh labourers from settling in Canada. Among the many efforts to
block their entry was the requirement in the early 1900s that
immigrants from
India have $200 with them while white Europeans needed only $25.

We may not like our history, but it is important to understand it if
we're to ensure those same stereotypes and the fears that drove
policy then
aren't influencing treatment of immigrants today.

Canadians tend to take a smug view of immigration as almost a social
program, with the benefit going to those lucky enough to be accepted
into our club.

We are fast moving into a time when our competitive edge will depend
not
only on our capacity to attract highly skilled immigrants but to help
them make this their home.

We need to tear down barriers that get in the way of immigrants having
the chance to put their skills, talents and education to work here.
------
Helen Connell is executive director of the United Way of London and
Middlesex. Her column appears every other Saturday.

Copyright © The London Free Press 2001,2002,2003

What a scam!


(goodman) wrote in message om...
PACIFIC PROTEST: CANADA INMIGRATION

Dear Canadian immigrant,

Distribute this article to companies job boards, recruiters, jobs
websites and friends as a pacific protest against the unfair
situation of inmigrants who cannot find the job they deserve in their
professions. Canada inmigration system is becoming a new threat to
HUMAN RIGHTS, since thousands of people is being cheated with false
expectations just to provide cheap labor to big corporations to grow
the economy in Canada and generate new sources of taxes and income to
the government.


Rules, racism hamstring immigrant workers
_________________________________________


HELEN CONNELL, For the London Free Press
We seem to like our cabbies well-educated in Canada, particularly ones
born outside the country.
During cab rides in this city and others, I've been chauffeured by
doctors, engineers and one really nice guy with a postgraduate degree
in
agriculture.
If I had the same opportunity to chat with waiters, dishwashers and
just
about every other low-paid worker, I'd turn up a disproportionate
number
of foreign-born individuals whose skills and education vastly outstrip
their jobs.

There's nothing new in seeing immigrants toiling away at jobs at which
they're vastly overqualified. But with a labour shortage looming,
Canadians have a new reason for caring that goes beyond compassion.
By 2011, it's predicted that 100 per cent of Canada's net labour-force
growth will come from immigration.

Given those needs, there is something very wrong with how the system
is
working. For example, while Ontario suffers from a severe shortage of
doctors, it has been estimated that about 300 doctors immigrate to
Canada every year.
And it's not just doctors coming here. In the past five years, Canada
has also seen an influx of engineers, engineering technicians,
accountants
and teachers. The Kitchener-based Centre for Research and Education
in Human
Services estimates the unemployment rate for internationally trained
professionals is three times that of other Ontarians.
One of the big hurdles faced by immigrants is getting their
professional
and trade credentials recognized. As a representative from the
Council of
Agencies Serving Southeast Asians told one group: "If they come from
the
U.S., they are doctors. If they come from somewhere else, they are
numbers."
In some cases, it is difficult for employers to translate credentials
earned outside Canada to ensure they are commensurate with Canadian
standards.
In other instances, however, it simply hasn't been in the self-
interest of
professional associations to swell their ranks with immigrants.

Consider how frustrating this is for a newcomer. Canada's immigration
authorities place a heavy emphasis on education and training in
determining who gets into this country. But once here, those same
credentials
suddenly lose their weight. Many have saved for years to come to
Canada, but as
one professional immigrant observed, Canada welcomes their money but
not
their talents.

It has never been easy for immigrants, but today they face new
challenges as we attract newcomers from far more culturally diverse
nations. Where once immigrants came in droves from Great Britain, the
U.S. and Western
Europe, today the people stepping onto Canadian soil are often from
Eastern
Europe, Asia and Africa.

To ensure they succeed as previous generations of immigrants have,
they
require sufficient English-language training programs and cultural
support services. These programs won't work unless people also have
access to
transportation and child care.
Education and the capacity to read and write one of Canada's two
official languages -- especially English -- are critical to how
successful
immigrants are in Canada. We need to do a much better job of
instilling in new
immigrants the importance of English classes, even if that means
forgoing the first paying job that comes their way.

There's another ugly issue that Canadians need to tackle. Racism. It's
here today. It's always been part of this nation, although Canadians
seem
blissfully and to some degree wilfully ignorant of our past.

We like to boast about the Underground Railway that shuttled slaves
safely into Canada, but we forget the fight put up by Edmonton's
municipal
council in 1911 to shut out black Oklahoma farmers on the basis
that "Negroes"
weren't suited to the "climate and requirements of Canada."

We'd have school kids believe the Chinese head tax was a blip in our
otherwise pristine history, without mentioning the persistent efforts
to
keep Sikh labourers from settling in Canada. Among the many efforts to
block their entry was the requirement in the early 1900s that
immigrants from
India have $200 with them while white Europeans needed only $25.

We may not like our history, but it is important to understand it if
we're to ensure those same stereotypes and the fears that drove
policy then
aren't influencing treatment of immigrants today.

Canadians tend to take a smug view of immigration as almost a social
program, with the benefit going to those lucky enough to be accepted
into our club.

We are fast moving into a time when our competitive edge will depend
not
only on our capacity to attract highly skilled immigrants but to help
them make this their home.

We need to tear down barriers that get in the way of immigrants having
the chance to put their skills, talents and education to work here.
------
Helen Connell is executive director of the United Way of London and
Middlesex. Her column appears every other Saturday.

Copyright © The London Free Press 2001,2002,2003