Subject: Re: Too Many Giveaways to Immigrants and Refugees
From: [email-masked] (Mark Freedman)
Date: 15 Mar 1995 10:59:23 -0500
Newsgroups: can.politics,ont.general,tor.general,bc.general,ab.general

In article <[email-masked]>,
Pax <[email-masked]> wrote:
>
>In case you haven't heard, there is a skills shortage in Canada.  Maybe 
>we could actually use the abilities of the people that arrive on our 
>shores.  Maybe they are prepared to work and contribute to our economy.
>

   Thank you for the clarification.
 
   In my ignorance, I hadn't realized that Canada needs 250,000
highly skilled people every year, or that none of the people already
in the country qualify for these jobs.
 
   In my ignorance, I thought that it made little sense to pay more
than one million people in Canada not to work, while encouraging
250,000 people (plus many special cases) to immigrate each year.
 
   In my ignorance, I thought that downsizing in both private and
public sectors had created a surplus of experienced workers in many
fields and at many levels of expertise, from cleaners and clerks
to internationally-respected scientists and medical doctors. The
latter two aren't a problem - they just emigrate to a country
where their skills are appreciated.
 
   In my ignorance, I thought there was a shortage of entry-level
jobs for the people already in Canada; people displaced when natural
resources run out, people who lack the skills and experience to
compete for more desirable jobs, people willing to accept any job
to make a few dollars. I grow nostalgic for the time when students
could easily find work pumping gas or flipping burgers to pay for
tuition and supplies (I remember when one didn't need a PhD in
nutrition to flip burgers). I grow nostalgic for the time when welfare
was not more lucrative than a minimum-wage job. But I digress ....
 
   You're absolutely right about the shortage of experienced EDP
workers. It's always been hard to find people with five years of
experience in a technology which left the laboratory six months ago.
We are indeed fortunate that we can attract 250,000 immigrants with
leading-edge technical skills each year. This certainly bodes well for
Canada's future.
 
   btw  I must also acknowledge my continuing inability to understand
the need for foreign criminals in Canada. In my ignorance, I cannot
see the need to keep someone convicted of eight or nine serious crimes
in the country. We are indeed fortunate that Immigration Canada has a deeper
understanding of these matters than many Canadians.

 
 
-- 
   [email-masked]   Mark Freedman (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)