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Editorial: A courtship of false dreams
The doctor was a graduate of a prestigious university in Southern India and had worked as a family physician for two years. His wife was also a doctor who specialized in infant care. In Canada, neither of them has been able to work as a doctor.
The closest he has come to a hospital is as an unpaid assistant. His wife has been asked to volunteer in a family practice. Maria spends her nights sweeping floors for a janitorial service in downtown Vancouver. During the day, she works at two houses as a maid.The Filipino-trained nurse is unable to do what she loves and went to school for. Today she is still trying to find the so-called "best place to be in the world" since arriving in Canada four years ago.
The civil engineer from Yugoslavia fled the war torn nation with his family in the hope that he could one day help build bridges and roads in Canada. He spends his time keeping the wolf from the door by working as a minimum-wage security guard in Richmond. It seems that everyone in Canada’s multi-cultural mosaic knows someone in the same predicament as the people above. It is also here that you will hear the loudest groans of disbelief at Ottawa’s recent claim that "new immigrants are struggling economically, but catch up within five years or exceed the incomes of other Canadians."
The author of that quote was Immigration Minister Joe Volpe who recently announced a $700-million program to clear away a long-standing backlog of immigrants waiting to get into the country. This is in addition to $1.3-billion for settlement programs.
Canada also wants to admit 300,000 immigrants a year within five years, an increase of 50,000 to 75,000 a year from the current level.
Skilled immigrants from around the world are being courted by Canada at an unrelenting pace but as soon as they get off the plane, they are not being allowed to do what they have been schooled in. We are bringing in the educated only to make them dependant by discriminatory and demeaning regulations revolving around Canadian certification and credentials.
The programs, if there are any, to expedite new Canadians into jobs that would make them good tax-paying citizens are minimal at the best. Instead of helping the newcomers become a stimulus for the economy, we have a system that stifles them. There is a darker side to this Canadian courtship of the worlds skilled and educated.
Countries like the Philippines and India are suffering from a brain drain as their engineers, doctors and nurses are lured to our shores with false hopes. Canada, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew must increase its population to 40 million people over "the next few years" to support the bulge of baby boomers who will soon retire.
Translated we need 8 million new Canadians in a hurry. If Ottawa sincerely believes that "newcomers in all parts of Canada are key to nation building and to our economic prosperity," lets start giving them the jobs they have been trained for and deserve.
Otherwise we will soon be known as a nation where the best place to have a heart attack is in your home which is being cleaned by a Filipino-trained nurse or in cab which is driven by an Indian doctor.
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