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Monday Mar. 23, 2009 BACK NEXT
IMMIGRATION, ENOUGH RHETORIC
According to the 60-page study prepared by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, most of the new immigrants aged 25 to 54, are highly-educated, but it is harder for them to find a job than Canadians with the same post-secondary education. The report says immigrants who have university degrees have an unemployment rate of about 12.1 per cent, compared to the 5.6 per cent among non-immigrant Canadians. We didn't need another study to learn what we knew already. This issue was already addressed some time ago by the NDP Leader Jack Layton and the former Liberal leader Stéphane Dion. What they didn't tell us, and I didn't find an answer in last week's report either, is why we have so many educated immigrants in Canada when we use them to drive taxis in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal. And the reason is very simple: the problem is in the point system adopted by the federal government 12 years ago. It favours immigrants who have university degrees and speak the two official languages. The problem is not new and governments know that. In an interview in February 2007, then Liberal minister of immigration of Ontario, Mike Colle, said that "we need carpenters, not engineers." In fact, our universities are giving Canada enough professionals and many are having problems finding jobs. What happens when governments accelerate the procedures to integrate the new immigrants into our system? They are going to take the jobs now held by Canadian-educated individuals and we move the problem from a group to another. I agree that once we are in Canada we have the right to be treated equally, but the question remains: why do we let in university-educated people when we know we don't need them? Why don't we allow the immigration of less educated immigrants who need jobs when we actually need them? It's because the point system is wrong. I've already addressed this issue, but it looks like many people want to solve the consequences of the problems, not the cause. There are six elements that contribute to the final decision to allow a new immigrant into Canada. There is a maximum of 25 points for education, followed by 24 points for the ability to speak one of the official languages and only 21 for work experience. Other factors are age, adaptability and the arranged employment with 10 points each. Of course there are many variations and exceptions but the reality is clear. Considering that the total points of the system is 100, if you don't have education and don't speak one of the official languages, Canada is off limits. That means that if you are a skilled carpenter or a bricklayer or from any other trade, you will never be accepted in Canada. According to numbers provided some time ago by the Ontario Provincial Ministry of Immigration, Canada is flooded by the arrival of many educated individuals like engineers, accountants, lab technicians, IT experts, and teachers. But that's not what we need. Canada needs doctors, not engineers. Unfortunately, only 200 doctors a year are coming to Canada, and in this case the process to integrate them into our system is a long and expensive one. Why don't we change this point system? I have asked this question to many politicians who refuse to go on the record with their answers, but their explanations are very simple: this point system, based on language and education, was introduced to please some Liberal politicians from Quebec. Of course, many will deny this. It's time to change the current point system. We shouldn't be just allowing only people with a high education into Canada, but also carpenters and other trades. We'll need them when the recession is over. No one should oppose it and no one should still want to have French-speaking engineers driving taxis in Montreal while we can't have more Hispanic carpenters in Toronto. |