Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - June 2008
The Alberta government is looking into allegations that Chinese workers are being underpaid for their work in the oilsands, according to a recent story that ran in the Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal.
The government learned of the possible exploitation only recently after two temporary Chinese workers died while working at Canadian Natural Resources in April of last year.
Upon contacting their families to notify them of the deaths, government workers received complaints about the low wages being paid, as low as $600 per month in a field that is reputed to be very lucrative.
“We cannot enforce payments or deduction agreements that are outside our jurisdiction,” said Hector Goudreau, Alberta’s Minister of employment and immigration.
However, Goudreau did emphasize the government’s hard-line stance against any policy that breaches principles of fairness, saying that Alberta “certainly [does not] want to be seen as a province that takes advantage of people while they are here.”
The critical job shortage in the province has led to a massive influx of temporary workers from all over the world. Yet many critics are calling for stronger monitoring of the temporary worker program in order to avoid exploitation.
The Workers’ Compensation Board, a group that advocates workers’ rights, has launched a campaign geared toward raising temporary workers’ awareness of their rights in Canada.
For its part, the government of Alberta is revamping its provincial nominee program- a program designed to fast-track the immigration process for workers who come to Canada on temporary permits and would like to stay.
Source: Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=f3eafc29-8fb8-40e1-83b3-944dff1be218&k=77251
