The greatest economic problem facing our country today is the decline of the middle class. Corporate greed and government mismanagement continues to eat away at well-paying middle class jobs. With this decline in middle class employment we have seen companies that cater to the middle class, like Sears, Staples, and others continue to close stores and lay off employees, while companies like Walmart, which cater to the poor report record profits.
The push by our right leaning governments, both provincially and federally to weaken unions by taking away their rights, and drastically increase the ease with which companies can import foreign workers is staggering.
Under Stephen Harper, the amount of foreign workers has ballooned from 101,000 to 340,000 today. BC and Alberta are the biggest abusers, with BC having more than 70,000 foreign workers. We do not have a shortage of unskilled labour in BC or Alberta. This is a fabrication. What we have are too many greedy business owners not willing to pay a fair wage, and growing unemployment in BC, now at 6.1%.
Now there's a deal between Christy Clark and China to import Chinese workers for LNG construction jobs. Natural Gas Minister Rich Coleman said "some jobs will not be filled by British Columbians, either because they require highly specialized experience in the LNG industry or because we do not have enough workers in the province to meet the level of demand."
Does this sound familiar?
It seems Canada is in a race to the bottom. Lower wages, fewer jobs, and a declining middle class. Perhaps we should rename Canada to Mexico north.
Todd Hatley
Prince George
