Although I have found myself in agreement with several of Neil Godbout's recent editorials, I was disappointed to see that the one on April 12, which attributed recent criticism of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to racism - was woefully uninformed.
Mr. Godbout seems to be under the misapprehension that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is a feel-good philanthropic opportunity through which companies help people from other countries fulfill their dreams of immigrating to Canada.
However, what the program really does is allow employers to pay non-Canadian workers 15 per cent less than they would have to pay Canadian workers. The program lets employers save money by making it legal to pay foreign workers lower wages and then send them back to their home countries. Note the word temporary in the program name; it's there for a reason.
This program does not ensure eventual Canadian citizenship. And it certainly does not ensure equitable treatment and equal pay for foreign workers. Instead, it provides employers with a legal loophole by which they can avoid paying Canadian workers a legally mandated minimum wage.
If anything is racist, it is the deliberate creation of a vulnerable, easily-exploited economic underclass of temporary foreign workers. There is already a large body of research on the situation of temporary guest workers in European countries, research that identifies such programs as economically and socially disruptive for both the host country and the guest workers. There is also a growing body of research about human rights abuses committed by Canadian employers using the Temporary Foreign Workers Program.
Mr. Godbout is correct that immigrants have always been an important part of Canada's development. However, it is dangerous and wrong to confuse the current Temporary Foreign Worker Program with an initiative that would ease immigration and provide equal treatment for all workers in Canada.
Melinda Worfolk
Prince George
