'Kelly McParland: Irish compete for Canadian jobs; others prefer UI'
'Kelly McParland: Irish compete for Canadian jobs; others prefer UI'
Let’s take two stories, compare them, and figure out what it says about Canadian attitudes.
First story:
Irish job-seekers snap up yearly quota of Canadian ‘working holiday’ visas in just two days
In one of the starkest examples yet of Canada’s allure for Irish job-seekers, last week the Canadian embassy in Dublin saw its yearly quota of 6,350 “working holiday” visas snapped up in only two and a half days. “It’s staggering; we all knew that the demand was going to be very high this year, but I don’t think anybody anticipated this,” said Cathy Murphy, executive director of the Toronto-based Irish Canadian Immigration Centre. She called the surge in demand a sign of the “desperation of young people to get out.” Last year, by contrast, it took Canada’s Irish embassy five months to hand out only 5,350 visas. The visas are offered as part of International Experience Canada (IEC), a program that was originally designed to appeal to under-35 backpackers looking to make their “working holiday dream a reality!”
Second story:
P.E.I. single mom who staged protest after losing benefits in EI crackdown has payments reinstated
A Prince Edward Island woman who went on a month-long protest after being cut off from Employment Insurance because she wasn’t willing to commute to another part of the province has had her EI benefits reinstated. Marlene Giersdorf, a single mother with an eight-year-old son, was advised Monday that her claim had been revised after her protest received national attention. “I was elated to open the letter today,” she told P.E.I.’s Guardian newspaper Monday, after receiving the letter from Ottawa that said Service Canada had withdrawn its appeal of her benefits. “It’s been the most difficult thing I’ve ever been through and I never want to do it again.”
It’s probably not completely fair to equate the two situations: Marlene Geirsdorf is a single mom with childcare responsibilities in a small town with limited opportunities. She said she couldn’t work in Charlottetown, a 40-minute drive away, because she didn’t have a car. Still, she was offered a car and other support, and turned it down. And maybe this quote from a local CUPE honcho says something about the P.E.I. state of mind: “Employment insurance is paid by the worker and the employer, not the taxpayer,’’ insists Lori MacKay, president of CUPE on P.E.I. … This woman was fully entitled….this is a province where we can’t grow potatoes year round or land fish twelve months a year. That’s why there is such a thing as EI.”
On the other hand are thousands of people in Ireland willing to get on a plane and fly to Canada in hopes of landing a job, even for just six months. They evidently have families too: “We’re leaving two grannies behind … but we don’t see any future for us and our children,” said one woman in wavering voice.
There do seem to be jobs available, if you’re willing to go after them. It seems to depend on your degree of motivation, sense of responsibility, and feelings of entitlement, and which of those predominates.
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I just can't with thiis government regime anymore. I also just cannot with the cronies and other assorted sympathizers of the bunchs of neo cons we have running this country right now, like the nitwit who wrote this 'article'.
For those who are not Canadians and/or who are wondering what I'm talking about, I gave a variety of links to certain stories relating to Stephen Harper's government's actions here. Other examples which I did not include then are: (1) proposed cut of health care coverage for refugees, (2) their actions in the Omar Khadr case, (3) not hesitated to lavishly spend taxpayer monies for their personal comfort (see here and here), and (4) yet more mis-spending in relation to costly defense contracts. (NB: Some links in French.)
All this to say that yeah, I just can't with these people anymore. PS: It is worth reading the comments to this: I posted it to ontd_political, here.
Let’s take two stories, compare them, and figure out what it says about Canadian attitudes.
First story:
Irish job-seekers snap up yearly quota of Canadian ‘working holiday’ visas in just two days
In one of the starkest examples yet of Canada’s allure for Irish job-seekers, last week the Canadian embassy in Dublin saw its yearly quota of 6,350 “working holiday” visas snapped up in only two and a half days. “It’s staggering; we all knew that the demand was going to be very high this year, but I don’t think anybody anticipated this,” said Cathy Murphy, executive director of the Toronto-based Irish Canadian Immigration Centre. She called the surge in demand a sign of the “desperation of young people to get out.” Last year, by contrast, it took Canada’s Irish embassy five months to hand out only 5,350 visas. The visas are offered as part of International Experience Canada (IEC), a program that was originally designed to appeal to under-35 backpackers looking to make their “working holiday dream a reality!”
Second story:
P.E.I. single mom who staged protest after losing benefits in EI crackdown has payments reinstated
A Prince Edward Island woman who went on a month-long protest after being cut off from Employment Insurance because she wasn’t willing to commute to another part of the province has had her EI benefits reinstated. Marlene Giersdorf, a single mother with an eight-year-old son, was advised Monday that her claim had been revised after her protest received national attention. “I was elated to open the letter today,” she told P.E.I.’s Guardian newspaper Monday, after receiving the letter from Ottawa that said Service Canada had withdrawn its appeal of her benefits. “It’s been the most difficult thing I’ve ever been through and I never want to do it again.”
It’s probably not completely fair to equate the two situations: Marlene Geirsdorf is a single mom with childcare responsibilities in a small town with limited opportunities. She said she couldn’t work in Charlottetown, a 40-minute drive away, because she didn’t have a car. Still, she was offered a car and other support, and turned it down. And maybe this quote from a local CUPE honcho says something about the P.E.I. state of mind: “Employment insurance is paid by the worker and the employer, not the taxpayer,’’ insists Lori MacKay, president of CUPE on P.E.I. … This woman was fully entitled….this is a province where we can’t grow potatoes year round or land fish twelve months a year. That’s why there is such a thing as EI.”
On the other hand are thousands of people in Ireland willing to get on a plane and fly to Canada in hopes of landing a job, even for just six months. They evidently have families too: “We’re leaving two grannies behind … but we don’t see any future for us and our children,” said one woman in wavering voice.
There do seem to be jobs available, if you’re willing to go after them. It seems to depend on your degree of motivation, sense of responsibility, and feelings of entitlement, and which of those predominates.
--------------------------------
SOURCE.
--------------------------------
I just can't with thiis government regime anymore. I also just cannot with the cronies and other assorted sympathizers of the bunchs of neo cons we have running this country right now, like the nitwit who wrote this 'article'.
For those who are not Canadians and/or who are wondering what I'm talking about, I gave a variety of links to certain stories relating to Stephen Harper's government's actions here. Other examples which I did not include then are: (1) proposed cut of health care coverage for refugees, (2) their actions in the Omar Khadr case, (3) not hesitated to lavishly spend taxpayer monies for their personal comfort (see here and here), and (4) yet more mis-spending in relation to costly defense contracts. (NB: Some links in French.)
All this to say that yeah, I just can't with these people anymore. PS: It is worth reading the comments to this: I posted it to ontd_political, here.