Hector Hernandez paints Poinsettia plants at a greenhouse in Chilliwack, BC (Vancouver Sun)
“If the year has 12 months and you live eight months in Canada and four in Mexico, where are you temporary? You are temporary at home in Mexico.”
- Lucy Luna, of the Agriculture Workers’ Alliance, on the plight of temporary foreign workers
“Four hundred and ninety-two people came aboard the MV Sun Sea, but it was treated as a national crisis. In fact, it’s one week’s worth of refugee claimants to this country. One week’s worth.”
- Refugee Lawyer Douglas Cannon, on the failure of mandatory detention and the anti-refugee climate critics feel the Conservative government is encouraging
“Media monitoring of Conservative election campaign events and candidates using departmental resources is a flagrant and shameful abuse of taxpayer dollars. Minister Kenney must immediately end this misuse of public funds and apologize to all Canadians.”
- Winnipeg MP Kevin Lamoureux, on Conservative Government’s ethnic media monitoring
Nirangela came to Canada aboard the MV Sun Sea in 2010 (Edmonton Journal)
“There have been, historically, two groups of employers who use the Temporary Foreign Worker program. There are those who are filling a legitimate labour need, cannot find Canadians to fill the jobs, treat the foreign workers with respect and pay them proper wages. And then there are those who see the program as an easy shortcut to cheap labour, a move that exploits the workers and drives down wages generally for Canadians and temporary foreign workers…there is no reason Canada cannot be aggressive and humane, simultaneously.”
- Tim Harper of the Toronto Star, on Canada’s temporary foreign worker system
“The truth of the situation is that they’re not lining up any more. We used to be able to select from a large pool of applicants, and now we need them to select us. If you’re an engineer in China or Brazil, you have a good life. Why come and freeze in Canada, right?”
- Benjamin Tal, Chief CIBC economist, on Canada’s waning ability to attract foreign students and skilled immigrants
“When we got onto the ship, we were told very clearly we might die, but that was a choice we had to make. That was a better option than staying in Sri Lanka and dying. CBSA officer, they asking everybody, did you come to make the money or come because of refugee problems, your country situation, We came here because of the country situation. We can earn from our country, too, we have nice and beautiful country, so think about it, why we want to come? We don’t do anything wrong here; we’re just working hard and we don’t get any welfare.”
- A Tamil woman discusses her fraught journey to Canada with Katie Derosa of the Times Colonist
