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Temp Foreign Workers
Philippine Asian News Today:
Imagine being stranded and unemployed tens of thousands of miles from your loved ones on Christmas Eve, yet terrified of being sent home because you must work in Canada to support them.
That was the heart-breaking plight of three Filipino workers, dubbed the “Three Amigos,” who won the hearts of Winnipeg citizens in the cold days before Christmas. Antonia Laroya, Arnisito Gaviola and Ermie Zotomayor paid recruiters $3,000 each and arrived in Canada in 2007, working at a gas station in High Prairie, Alberta.
But when that job ended last February, they obtained new jobs in Thompson, Manitoba, unwittingly violating the terms of the temporary worker visas. They believed their employer, who laid them off, had arranged for a transfer They were wrong – such a transfer is illegal. When Canadian immigration officials somehow learned of their existence, their passports were seized and they were scheduled for deportation.
The Filipino community in Winnipeg rallied to their cause, supporting them with prayer vigils, contacting local politicians and bringing their case before the media.
On Christmas Eve, they won a temporary victory. Eminent lawyer David Matas agreed to take their appeal before and Immigration and Appeal Board adjudicator and the men were granted legal aid. He believes they are entitled to a “restoration of status” that would allow them to remain and work in Canada.
The plight of the Three Amigos is not unique. Last summer, right here in BC, about 30 African workers who came to Canada as tree planters lost their jobs when health and safety inspectors shut down their squalid bush camp.
For almost two years, these workers had lived in isolated and ill-equipped camps, in one case sleeping in unventilated steel shipping containers. When inspectors shut down their employer, they learned they had been cheated of hours of pay. They now are denied Employment Insurance and would be homeless if not for the charity of others. These stories of exploitation are likely to become more common as the number of vulnerable temporary foreign workers rises in Canada. Yet Ottawa and Victoria are reducing support to immigrant-serving agencies just as the demand for help rises.
BC’s immigrant agencies learner just before Christmas that funding for this province from Ottawa will drop $8.5 million, just as Victoria is forcing a reorganization that some fear will lead to elimination of some agencies altogether.
Mayor Gregor Robertson is very concerned about the impact of these policies on the city. He has asked me, as co-chair of this Immigration Working Group, to review the impact of these changes on Vancouver. During the coming months, the city will be contracting with media specialists to compile a report on the impacts for consideration by council and the wider public.
Are you aware of similar cases to those in Manitoba? What changes do you foresee as a result of the new federal policies? And what can we do, as a city, to advocate for fairness and justice for grants, temporary or not?