Dear editor,
CBC has reported the Royal Bank of Canada is laying off 45 of its IT (information technology) workers.
They are being replaced by workers from India, who are in Canada on temporary foreign worker visas. The Canadian workers are expected to train the foreign workers to do their jobs prior to their lay offs.
This is part of a contract the Royal Bank has signed with a foreign company, iGATE. The jobs will be moved to India in 2015.
This past week, job statistics were released advising Canadians the economy had lost 50,000 jobs.
How can the federal Conservatives allow corporations to fire Canadians, bring in foreign "temporary workers," and then have the jobs exported to India in two years? Is this the federal Conservatives' idea of job creation?
The Royal Bank of Canada has been making record profits in Canada for decades, has been able to take advantage of the corporate friendly tax system in this country, and now they are bringing in foreign workers so they can lay off Canadians.
I have a few questions for our Conservative MP, John Duncan.
How much did the Royal Bank donate to the Conservative government in the past election? How did the company, which brought in the foreign workers, get the "temporary foreign worker" visas?
Mr. Kenney, the immigration minister, didn't appear to have any answers. That isn't good enough.
The economy in this country is not getting better, yet we have an incredibly profitable corporation, moving jobs to India. Can Canadians look forward to more "temporary workers" coming into Canada while employers lay off Canadians?
Moving Canadian jobs off shore isn't new.
Telus has been doing it for years. Their call centres are located in Asia.
If Canadian corporations are moving jobs offshore, perhaps it is time these corporations be required to pay additional taxes.
They make their profits in Canada but send the jobs overseas. Hardly something which is doing the citizens of this country any good.
We have only to look at the increase in job losses.
With the loss of 50,000 jobs last month, the federal Conservatives need to have a good look at foreign workers coming into Canada. Their much-publicized "job training" program isn't going to do any good if corporations send the jobs overseas.
The program has flaws. It requires provincial governments to provide one-third of the funds and the corporations another third.
If the Royal Bank is any example of "co-operation," we can look forward to higher unemployment in Canada, regardless of how skilled Canadian workers are.
E.A. Foster,
Comox