Canada needs to put the brakes on temporary worker programs
By Lethbridge Herald on August 30, 2023.
Editor:
The Canadian public is being squeezed in a double blind. The governments push the economy and the GDP, all for the constant business demands – one of which is low-cost labour through new immigrants and the misnamed “temporary workers.”
Temporary workers do not help the economy – they send much of their earnings back to foreign homelands. Canada needs those earnings (cash) circulating in our country.
The loss of that cash, and the loss of the income tax from the tax-avoiding rich, increases inflation in Canada. The federal government promotion of 500,000 immigrants per year is a ridiculous idea when we have an urgent need for one million new homes just for existing Canadians.
We do not seem able to provide enough reasonably priced homes for ourselves now and we fall further behind every year. Canadians need a crash program to build low-cost starter homes – two-bedroom, one bath. Developers like to build extravagant four-bedroom two or three-bathroom expensive houses.
The big demand is for affordable smaller starter homes, since business does not want to pay a living wage. Temporary workers do not solve our housing or inflation problems.
Canada needs to put a halt on foreign temporary workers programs which keep wages from climbing to a natural cost of living income.
We also must push the rich tax-cheaters to pay their share. If they threaten to leave, let them go, we do not need more cheaters here.
They use the government services – roads, health care, business subsidies; they need to share the costs, too.
The hypocritical idea that rising interest rates stall inflation serves only the banks. The rising costs of money through interest on loans increases all costs – including the wage-price spiral. It is like stepping on the brakes and the gas pedals at the same time.
Don Ryane
Lethbridge
13-12
Unfortunately, in Canada the following situation prevails:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/temporary-residents/foreign-workers.html
“Temporary workers do not help the economy – they send much of their earnings back to foreign homelands.” say the writer.
Poppycock! They bend over in the fields hoeing our food, feed the beef that we eat…etc.They buy health insurance, drive cars, buy groceries, etc.
Your supposed knowledge of the economy is laughable. You obviously have no idea how inflation works with the comment you made.
Also, who will get the food/groceries from the field to the table? Our younger generation can’t put down their damn phones long enough to work any labor-intensive jobs.
Getting people to blame immigrants for problems caused by the exploitative rich is a tale as old as time. Temporary workers are great for the economy – we don’t spend a cent raising them, educating them, paying for their medical care as children, etc. and instead they just parachute in and start paying taxes. Probably more taxes than the fat cats who are pushing propaganda trying to get you to blame the immigrants, who barely pay any!