The Letter/Memo to Prime Minister Martin

All my dear friends here,

Below is a draft of the letter intended to be submitted to the Federal Government. I have highlighted only major problem areas affecting our lives directly in order to be specific. I have asked them to arrange a personal meeting with the Prime Minister, Minister of CIC, some officials of CIC,HRDC and HRDSC.

I strongly feel our problems could only be addressed properly if they agree to sit with us to discuss them instead of appointing outside agencies to conduct a theoretical report. We will choose among ourselves few people to represent us in the meeting. We will carry with us all the necessary statistics to back our arguments.

I now request you to go through the letter/memorandum below and point out if I have missed some major points. Please remember, this is only intended to bring them to the negotiation table with us and not for convincing them about something which they already know.

Regards

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From :South Asian Immigrants Living All Over Canada


(1) Honourable Mr. Paul Martin
Prime Minister of Canada

(2) Honourable Mr. Joe Volpe
Minister of Citizenship & Immigration Canada


Respected Sir/s,


We seek to draw your kind attention to this memorandum of ours which is attempted to highlight our plight in the beautiful country of Canada. We are writing to you because we have great faith in the policy of equal opportunity and impartial treatment in every field of life in Canada. We believe that these qualities make Canada the best country to live in the world. And above all we believe in what the Honourable Joe Volpe said in one of his news conferences, “We become Canadians by doing that which Canadians do. We manifest our identity as Canadians by fulfilling our obligations and responsibilities as Canadians.\\\" His statement is underlying once again what we, earlier understood, believed and are presently trying to realize. But all mentioned above seem actually to be partly practiced while being strictly theoretical in some cases. In other words, the opportunities to fulfill our obligations and contribute to the Canadian society appear firmly limited and even closed.

Let us give you an idea as to who specifically we are. We are those immigrants (mainly of south Asian origin) who are professionally qualified and experienced in our respective fields and are struggling to enter the Canadian workforce in our proper job areas. We are the voice of all such immigrants from all over Canada, not any particular province. Among us there are people who, only and only due to pressing family needs, had to compromise with their careers and are working in jobs (usually involving hard physical work) but still dream to rejoin their professions one day. There is also a category of people who have become physically ill due to engagement in factory and other labor oriented jobs. Besides being educated these people are hardworking, sincere, positive minded, ambitious and full of enthusiasm to fulfill their dreams of securing just a reasonably comfortable standard of living for them and their families. We represent that category of disgruntled professionally qualified immigrants who have been deprived of their rights to work according to their talents and skills and contribute to this great country’s development and growth. We represent all those who are still not down and out and are eager to rejoin our field of work, as soon as it is made available.

In the course of our “struggle for existence” living in Canada we have all witnessed and experienced certain conditions which are dominantly present here.

Our observations about the prevailing system/methods affecting our lives directly are briefly as follows;

1. Wide gap between government & private employers

It has been clearly noticed and experienced by us that there is somewhere a mismatch of policies and requirements. Policies of the Federal Government regarding bringing skilled immigrants to Canada judging them on the basis of their qualifications and work experience and requirements of the private employers who do not give any importance to the same credentials. In certain cases, these employers do not mind sponsoring employees from abroad (with no Canadian experience) on contract basis but turn away the locally available equally skilled workforce using the same reason. In this somewhat organized game the loser always is the poor immigrant.

2. Total ambiguity about the term “Canadian Experience”

This term is the most commonly used expression in the job market. Unfortunately there seems to be no clear and single or straightforward meaning of it. Every one uses it the way it suits them to ward off potential employees. In this wordplay again the loser is the immigrant.

3. Absence of equal opportunity for performance

Equal opportunity- How can it be claimed when employers refuse experienced people even entry-level jobs? Is there any policy to hire experienced people in their field even on a probation basis with less salary, thus giving them a fair opportunity to prove to be eligible for the position? Qualified immigrants are rejected based upon a 15-20 minutes telephonic interview while the employers still claim to be providing equal opportunity, unless of course this is also an ambiguous term like “Canadian experience.”

4. Non-effective so called settlement organizations

The innumerable government funded settlement organizations (especially the job search ones) function in a stereotyped manner with all routine activities. They are far behind to meet the needs of the immigrants and perform within rigid parameters with a pigeonhole outlook about the ever increasing problems faced by immigrant families. In short, they are non-effective for needy immigrants and a drain on the resources.

5. Work profiling on ethnic basis

The work performed by immigrants here seems to be completely designed and preserved for them based upon their ethnic background. Why is the south Asian community leading in the cab driving and security guard occupations? Is it because they are the best drivers and the best doorkeepers here? It is a widely known fact that highly qualified south Asian people with lots of experience are involved in the occupations mentioned above for eons simply due to family responsibilities and not because they love to do these non-related jobs.

6. Absence of any special banking or financial support for establishing business by new immigrants

The credit policy of the banking system is also far from favorable. Any such immigrant who has been rejected by the job market has no chance to get for himself a financial support to start even a small business to earn a decent living. Again the banks here ask for significant promoter’s contribution, relative Canadian entrepreneurship experience, personal guarantors and collateral securities to support the proposal. It is only in cases where the immigrant seeks to start a franchise business that he manages to obtain some credit; otherwise this option is as good as closed. The banks do not seem to put their trust upon the educated immigrants like the employers here.

The above are few of the major issues which need immediate definite answers to the point of being redressed. This is highly essential in view of the ever increasing number of immigrants arriving in Canada. It is really high time that the Federal Government takes constructive and direct approach to address this immensely sensitive situation concerning us, the ever increasing number of discontented but professionally qualified and experienced immigrants who are struggling here to make a decent living with our confidence, dignity, moral values and ethics intact.

The former Minister of Citizenship & Immigration, Ms Judy Sgro once remarked, “We need to ensure that newcomers have every chance to succeed, whether they come to Canada as skilled immigrants, to join their family members, for business reasons, or as refugees fleeing persecution. There is a wealth of talent and experience in Canada that is under-employed. We can’t work in isolation. Each jurisdiction recognizes the need to broaden its partnerships and engage communities, employers, and occupational regulatory bodies to develop flexible approaches to address the many immigration challenges so that newcomers feel welcome and become productive members of the communities in which they settle.” But it is a widely known fact that all the above assurances and proposals have not been implemented or fulfilled in real practice. Otherwise there would not have been a sizeable number of depressed frustrated immigrants here. It appears that words have never been transformed into positive action. Once Honourable Joe Volpe said to news reporters,\\\" Well, if we didn't give you the opportunity to see what the government of Canada is doing, then you'd say its doing nothing,\\\" reporters. Now here comes an opportunity from us.

Our Joint Appeal: We earnestly request you to initially arrange for a personal meeting with us at your earliest convenience so that there can be a positive and serious discussion about all the above mentioned issues. We have discussed among ourselves these issues and have vital statistics to support our views. In this matter now we would like to provide our suggestions directly to the Federal Government to settle them at least to such an acceptable level where the difference could be easily visible in our lives. We would request the physical presence of Honourable Prime Minister, Honourable Minister of Citizenship & Immigration and some top officials of CIC, HRDC and HRDSC in the meeting with us. This would be the first genuine step towards starting the process of removing the obstacles preventing us to utilize our skills and participate wholeheartedly in order to make Canada a solid economy and an immigrant friendly society. We sincerely hope that this unshakeable faith in the unbiased or fair Canadian system remains deeply grounded.

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Puru

sahi hai, bidu !

thanks & rgds.

Rajan.

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Let's make India a better place !

Sounds good.

Just putting in my name here.
Anybody else who would like to be associated or just support it in anyway do enter your name here.

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I once made a mistake, but I was wrong about it.

Count me IN too

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"Progress comes from deviation".

On a side note if anybody finds my comments or posts offensive or irritating please ignore it and if that still bothers you; please write to me and I will demonstrate.

good start...let us know how do you plan to move forward with this....I'll be glad to join you....we can all contact our local MPs...with this letter...

fellow members, pl post more suggestions....

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Let's help each other to grow & prosper in Canada

Apun thinking kyun nahin going to local ethnic newspapers and tolding them to champion cause. More peoples reading South Asian Observer, CanIndia and Voice than coming here. If they reading maybe they contacting you, Puru. Many times I am reading articles by one Alex Alappat, and then email of his given in case peoples want to contact him.
I am reading many articles by Dr. Roop Misir, Alex Alappat and others in yeh papers talking about problems of immies,including editorials of these newspapers tolding same.
Maybe they more approachable than mainstream. Then after maybe moving onto mainstream after more peoples responding to your clarion and giving u support.
Chal, idea hai, maybe ekdum masticate on it yaan throw out of window also

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hinglish zindabad

Thanks to all the friends mentioned above for joining this fight. I hope more will join after reading the Memorandum. So friends, keep signing in.

Regards to all

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Puru