@paul:

I’d like to comment on your question: “would a real Chinese actually write a letter that portrays the Chinese community in such a bad light?”

People should be see as speaking for themselves and not for groups.

Everybody should take a leaf out of the book of my old pal “Shanghai Dave”. I took him out for his first game on a golf course last summer. He wore his tee-shirt with the picture of Chairman Mao on the front. Other golfers might object? “F… that s..t” said Dave,”I wear what I like!”

(This summer, I’m going to see if I can organise a threesome with Dave and ExpatHKboy!)

Like or Dislike: 2  3

Ray only speaks for male east asians. The females are reverse.

Like or Dislike: 3  0

Wasn’t Taiwan originally inhabited by non Chinese? I heard the original tribes there are mainly parking attendants now.
BC has a socially reserved culture and people can easily form their own little groups and have little contact with the outside. Its true for all ethnicities here. I don’t think the lack of integration would have happened anywhere else due to stronger community ties. People here are apathetic. It’s a Canadian trait. They dont protest anything-not because they are so welcoming and tolerant but because they simply cant get organized. The local government cares nothing about building community–it’s about catering to the rich-no matter where they come from.

Like or Dislike: 3  1

@ ExpatHKboy: ” against B.C. White woman”

Gee, I dunno, but “Mumtaz Ladha”? That seems like a name more from your part of the world, maybe a little further south and a little ways west?

I had a look in the “Sun” but there’s no photo there. It seems Ms. Ladha has gone to ground.

Would it be fair to say that these tales of “servant abuse” usually end up pointing to someone with a “South Asian” background? I’m reminded of a story about a tree-planting crew from last year and how awful were their working conditions.

ExpatHKboy, you’ll probably tell me those people learned their bad attitudes to servants from the British during the Raj?

Like or Dislike: 5  1

Immigrants cost $23B a year: Fraser Institute report

Last Updated: May 17, 2011 8:20 AM ET

Immigrants to Canada cost the federal government as much as $23-billion annually and “impose a huge fiscal burden on Canadian taxpayers,” according to a think-tank report released Tuesday that was immediately criticized as telling only part of the story.

The Fraser Institute report (download the PDF here or see it below) says newcomers pay about half as much in income taxes as other Canadians but absorb nearly the same value of government services, costing taxpayers roughly $6,051 per immigrant and amounting to a total annual cost of somewhere between $16.3-billion and $23.6-billion.

“It’s in the interest of Canada to examine what causes this and to fix it,” said Herbert Grubel, co-author of the report Immigration and the Canadian Welfare State. “We need a better selection process … We’re not here, as a country, to do charity for the rest of the world.”

The report acknowledges there are “popular propositions” about the benefits of immigration: Young immigrants pay taxes that support social services for Canada’s aging population; immigrants fill the low-paying jobs that others do not seem to want; Canadians are ennobled by allowing people to share in the country’s economic riches; immigration enriches the cultural life of Canadians, and future generations end up repaying their parents’ debt by earning an average or above-average living in the long run.

Mr. Grubel and economic consultant Patrick Grady argue, however, that these benefits either do not hold up to close scrutiny or that they are simply not worth the economic cost.

The 62-page report used a 2006 Census database to estimate the average incomes and taxes paid by immigrants who arrived in Canada over the period from 1987 to 2004. It found that immigrants paid an average of $10,340 in income tax and other taxes, compared with the $16,501 paid by all Canadians. While newcomers each received $110 less than the rest of Canadians, the “net fiscal transfer per immigrant” still amounted to $6,051 annually. The study examined the incomes of adults exclusively, and assumed the average immigrant pays taxes and receives benefits for 45 years.

“I’m sure the data behind the numbers is sound, but I think it only tells half the story,” said Rudyard Griffiths, co-founder of the Dominion Institute and author of Who We Are: A Citizen’s Manifesto. “The fact is that we’re doing immigration on the cheap … We don’t spend enough money on language services, and we don’t do enough skills accreditation and training.”

He said he is sympathetic to the argument that family reunification is likely burdensome on the tax purse, but said it’s just a “drop in the bucket” given that those visas account for only 11,000 of the 250,000 or so newcomers expected this year.

“The trickier issue is that of the quarter of a million, only about 60,000 are skilled or professional workers,” he said. “Everyone else is dependents.”

Mr. Grubel, himself an immigrant who first migrated to the U.S. from Germany in 1956 “with nothing,” maintains that he is not anti-immigration but rather that he believes immigrants should “pay their way in the welfare state.”

He and Mr. Grady argue that the selection process should be revamped to focus on admitting skilled workers who have job offers with Canadian employers. Recent newcomers should also have to post a bond to cover payments for health-care and social services before their parents and grandparents are admitted as landed immigrants.

Douglas Cannon, a prominent B.C.-based immigration lawyer, said he understands the benefit of the cost calculation, but said it is impossible to attach a price-tag to the benefits of welcoming newcomers.

“Immigration is, in the end, about people and their futures, their dreams, their hopes — how can you put a dollar amount on that?” he said. “It’s about continuing to make Canada a place of opportunity.”

This was not Mr. Grubel’s foray into calculating the cost of Canada’s immigration policies. In 2005, the Fraser Institute released his study that pegged the 2002 cost at $18-billion, but he said this latest report is more “scientifically rigorous and less liable to attack.”

National Post

kcarlson@nationalpost.com

The new Fraser Institute report says Canada should revamp its immigration selection process. Here are some of its recommendations:

- Only those with a legitimate offer from a Canadian employer should be allowed to obtain a temporary work visa. All other grounds for granting immigrant visas should be discontinued, except those applicable to refugee claimants.

- The government should exclude all applicants likely to become a burden on the public health care system.

- The government should set up and supervise a privately run system for the collection of information about the residence and work status of those holding temporary work visas.

- Within one month of arriving in Canada, work-visa holders should be required to register with the enforcement agency and provide contact information.

- Employers of temporary workers must notify authorities when a foreign worker is laid off or has failed to show up for work.

- Work-visa holders who lose their jobs must find new employment within three months or leave Canada, unless their spouse is employed under the family-work visa provision.

- Immigrants may have their parents and grandparents join them as landed immigrants in Canada only after posting a bond to cover payments for health care and other social benefits.

Source: Immigration and the Canadian Welfare State, a Fraser Institute report by Herbert Grubel and Patrick Grady

http://www.fraserinstitute.org/uploadedFiles/fraser-ca/Content/research-news/research/publications/immigration-and-the-canadian-welfare-state-2011.pdf

Like or Dislike: 1  6

@richmondislost
whilst i agree with general theme of your
premis. you would serve the cause more effectively
if you learned the difference between your and you’re.
keep fighting the good fight but perhaps next time run
YOUR ideas past someone who is literate
before YOU’RE made to look a fool.

Like or Dislike: 4  1

@asiaxpat

Good to see you’ve fully embraced your racist and ignorant side. Your bigotry and hatred is so blatant now that it would make a KKK member or Nazi blush.

Like or Dislike: 3  0

If my headtax paying father were still alive he would probably kick your slimey Honger (ie expatHKboy)’s ass. He was a tough Sun Wui guy who took crap from no one. It’s too bad they let in such ungrateful immigrants as ExPat HK boy into the country. When in Rome do as the romans do it’s just that simple.

Like or Dislike: 4  1

Caregivers urge ‘wage theft’ victims to go public

Two Ontario caregivers seeking more than $350,000 they allege they’re owed for lost wages and wrongful dismissals are urging other workers to come forward to help push for changes in the province’s employment standards law.

Lilliane Namukasa, a former Brampton live-in nanny of two small children whose claim filed in Ontario Superior Court came to light on the weekend, was joined by Vivian de Jesus at a news conference at Queen’s Park on Monday.

“Please, for any caregiver in Canada, if you have a problem, don’t be scared,” Namukasa, who left Uganda to work in Canada, said about her alleged firing about a year ago for no cause.

Now 24, she is seeking $162,000 for breach of contract and unpaid wages, and holiday pay and vacation pay, as well as $33,000 in wrongful dismissal compensation. She is now working as a live-in nanny for three children, and says she is being treated well.

However, Warren Lyon, a lawyer for Namukasa’s employer, Beatrice Ssekabira, said via email to various media, including CBC.ca, that Namukasa “was not a candid and forthright, diligent immigrant who made an honest effort to stay in Canada.”

Lyon, who is with Angel Ronan S.L.R.P., added: “Be assured that my client is a victim of a very hurtful intention that rested in the heart of her employee.”
De Jesus says she cared for an elderly woman and her two adult children with developmental disabilities for 10 years. In the last four years working for them, she alleges, she was living with them and putting in 132 hours a week — almost three times the statutory 48-hour work week — with no overtime pay.

She is now seeking $55,000 in lost wages and $104,000 in other compensation.

“They gave me 20 minutes to pack my bags and get out. If they [other employers] mistreated you, caregivers like us, please come forward and stand up for your own rights,” she said.

None of the allegations has been proved in court, and no statements of defence have been filed.

The name of the other employer in question was not immediately available.

Centre pushes for better laws
Namukasa and de Jesus, who are getting pro bono legal representation, were joined at the news conference by Deena Ladd, co-ordinator of the Toronto-based Workers’ Action Centre, an advocacy group that aims to improve working conditions for people in low-paying jobs.

Ladd said a survey by the centre released two weeks ago suggests violations of basic labour rights “are the norm” for many immigrant workers in “precarious jobs.”

“Workers should have the confidence that when they go to work, they will get paid … that they will be protected and receive overtime, and vacation pay and statutory benefits. We believe when this does not happen, it is wage theft.

“The province is not doing the job of enforcing employment standards … most [caregivers and other such workers] are fearful of their employers’ reprisals, and losing their jobs and the chances of getting permanent residency,” she added.

The non-profit centre says the two women’s cases are but a fraction of those involving Ontario’s most vulnerable workers.

It wants the province to take steps to improve workers’ plight that include:

Raising the cap on money that can be recovered under the Employment Standards Act to $25,000 from $10,000.
Increasing the six-month limit on monetary complaints to 3.5 years for live-in caregivers, because they must accumulate the equivalent of two years of full-time employment hours before they can apply for permanent residency.
Put programs in place that educate caregivers and other “vulnerable” workers so they know their workplace rights.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/05/30/caregiver-lawsuits.html

Like or Dislike: 1  2

@ExpatHKBoy

I read the Star piece that you link to, and once again it seems like this in another case of one immigrant victimising another.

As I understand it, it is unusual for “white” people to employ domestic servants unless the “white” folks are pretty high up on the social and economic scale.

I’d never want to have someone working in my home, listening to our private conversations, washing my dirty clothes, etc, etc., but my wife would have no trouble employing an “ayi”.

If you read the comments in the Star on this article you would see that there is a lot of abuse from the other side too – people are sponsored on this program and then bugger off within days or weeks of their arrival.

Like or Dislike: 4  0

The poor treatment and lack of respect of basic human rights for migrant workers, such as caregivers is a global problem. I’m not sure why ExpatHKboy posted this article on this thread, but if it is to simply spread knowledge of such horrible cases I’m glad he posted it. Only with increased awareness and action will cases like this all over the world be brought to an end.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2011/05/07/2003502604

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2003/02/17/0000194873

Like or Dislike: 2  0

You know why they hate me?

I expose who they really are in my strident commentary muckraking on their most treasured, perceived but unsubstantiated supremacy over others–to drag them into sitting through a dreary lecture about ethics and moral corner-cutting. The work is so tired and they hate to face the truth.

Like or Dislike: 2  3

Title: Canada welcomes immigrants

Author: (Steven Meurrens) lawyer, Wang Jie (trainee lawyer)

Recently, Canadian immigration lawyers expressed concern the government will not welcome immigrants. This will make the work of the Canadian Immigration officials surprised, because in 2010, came to Canada for permanent residents and the number of international students hit a new high, the number of foreign workers is close to record.

Many people on the recent changes to the naturalization exam, renewal Permanent Resident Card required 730 days when the living obligations, as well as federal skilled worker category and the requirements of the Canadian experience of language examinations in these three areas, very concerned.

In analyzing these changes, to be considered an important and more profound problem is to ensure that immigrants to Canada who successfully integrate into the Canadian economy. Fraser Institute, a recent study showed that a survey of 2006 Canadian immigration income significantly lower than native-born residents. Department of Immigration the introduction of these policies is to reduce this unacceptable gap.

On the introduction of standardized language tests, it is worth noting that experience in federal skilled worker category, and Canada do not need to find a job, they are based on the immigrant the possibility of finding a job immediately established categories.

Clearly, the English or French ability is a person able to meet this requirement a key factor, a language test to provide a standard way to test. But if you have already found work, but there are concerns on the language test, then for you there may be other better ways of immigration.

730 days living on the mandatory obligation to note is that it aims to promote new immigrants integrate into the Canadian economy. To give an extreme example, it avoids people obtain permanent resident status after the return home, until his retirement did not come back. Five years living in Canada two years of duty, including Canadian companies abroad, accompanied by Canadian citizens working or traveling abroad, not too harsh. Moreover, and contrary to public perception, the Department of Immigration and Immigration Tribunal for reconsideration on humanitarian and compassionate factors often make exemptions.

With regard to the citizenship test the changes, I said I think these changes are very boring, but not consistent increase or decrease based on their cultural diversity. I do not understand why the position is correct Jiucheng problem. And permanent resident status than you can ever bring nationality and voting residence in Canada the benefits. I do not understand about Canadian history, geography and physical problems have anything to do with these benefits. We tolerate people who were born in Canada can not find their country on the map, then why does not matter what these immigrants do on the test?

Let us return to the topic of Canada’s immigrants come to welcome. Over the past few years, Lianbangzhengfu introduced for international students off-campus work permit work visa after graduation projects and programs. The number of immigrants to obtain provincial nomination, it is a great growth in the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program is no language requirement. Government of Canada to take measures against those who often thousands of Canadian dollars the cost of fraud and shoddy immigration consultants. It canceled the regular visa requirements for Taiwanese passport holders. It also reduced some of the application processing times.

So I do not agree with the views of some colleagues. Although the Immigration Department’s projects and systems is very much far from perfect (how could a government to achieve perfect?), The Government of Canada or, as always, welcome immigrants.

—————————————————–

This is classic white people’s lies and b.s. talk.

He wants to talk about Canada welcomes immigrants. So what exactly did he say?

1. “in 2010, came to Canada for permanent residents and the number of international students hit a new high, the number of foreign workers is close to record.”–> Canada wants all these immigrants’ money.

2. “on the recent changes to the naturalization exam, renewal Permanent Resident Card required 730 days when the living obligations, as well as federal skilled worker category and the requirements of the Canadian experience of language examinations in these three areas … to be considered an important and more profound problem is to ensure that immigrants to Canada who successfully integrate into the Canadian economy.”–>Explain to me where to find jobs, when locals are officially unemployed at close to 8%. You can speak perfect English with a Harvard degree, but that white american immigrant still can’t find a job in Canada because there is no vacancy.

3. “730 days living on the mandatory obligation to note is that it aims to promote new immigrants integrate into the Canadian economy …To give an extreme example, it avoids people obtain permanent resident status after the return home, until his retirement did not come back. Five years living in Canada two years of duty, including Canadian companies abroad, accompanied by Canadian citizens working or traveling abroad, not too harsh. “–>You want people to live here, spend money, pay taxes, right? What does Canada offer? Any free money?

4. “With regard to the citizenship test the changes, I said I think these changes are very boring … blah blah blah”–>How does this relate to whether Canada welcomes immigrants or not? To divert attention?

5. “Let us return to the topic of Canada’s immigrants come to welcome. Over the past few years, Canada federal government introduced for international students off-campus work permit work visa after graduation projects and programs. The number of immigrants to obtain provincial nomination, it is a great growth in the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program is no language requirement.”–>I heard you the first time. You are accepting MANY immigrants/customers to live here so they can spend money, pay taxes to your government.

6. “So I do not agree with the views of some colleagues. Although the Immigration Department’s projects and systems is very much far from perfect (how could a government to achieve perfect?), The Government of Canada or, as always, welcome immigrants.”–> The only thing you ever said is Canada is accepting many “immigrant customers” to come here to live so they can spend money and pay taxes to your government. You welcome their money but you hate who they are, their race, their culture and their place of origin.

Like or Dislike: 1  1

Monitoring of First Nations beefed up in ‘06: documents

By CBC News, cbc.ca, Updated: June 13, 2011 3:51 PM

The federal government stepped up surveillance of First Nations across Canada shortly after the 2006 election to better monitor political action such as protests over land claims, according to internal Indian Affairs and RCMP documents obtained by a Mohawk policy analyst.

The goal of the beefed up monitoring, after Stephen Harper first became prime minister, was to identify First Nations leaders, participants and supporters of occupations and protests, and closely monitor their moves, according to Russell Diabo, who obtained the documents under an Access to Information request.

The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) was given the lead role to monitor First Nations, according to the documents, copies of which were given to CBC News.

To do this, INAC established a “hot spot reporting system” — weekly reports highlighting First Nations that engaged in “direct action” to protect their lands and communities, said Diabo, who is based in Orillia, Ont.

In one document, titled “Aboriginal Hot Spots and Public Safety,” and dated March 30, 2007, it was noted that the vast majority of “hot spots” were related to lands and resources, and led by “splinter groups” in protests including the Douglas Creek Estates occupation in Caledonia, Ont., and the Grassy Narrows blockade of the Trans-Canada Highway by environmentalists.

“Incidents led by splinter groups are arguably harder to manage as they exist outside negotiation processes to resolve recognized grievances with duly elected leaders,” the document says. “We seek to avoid giving standing to such splinter groups so as not to debase the legally recognized government.”

Federal monitoring not just First Nations: spokeswoman

Contacted on Monday to react to the documents, Michelle Yao, director of communications in the office of John Duncan, minister of aboriginal affairs and northern development, said public safety is a priority of the government, and First Nations groups aren’t being targeted.

“The government co-ordinates efforts across departments to ensure public safety in Canada,” a statement emailed to CBC News from Duncan’s office says. “We respect the right to protest and remain committed to ensuring that the rights and safety of all citizens are respected in accordance with the laws of Canada.

“INAC does monitor all emergencies such as floods, fires and civil unrest on an ongoing basis. This facilitates a quick support and response, as needed, to any emergency.”

Among the First Nations groups mentioned in the documents as among those under surveillance were:

- Tsartlip First Nation.

- The Algonquins of Barriere Lake.

- Six Nations.

- Grassy Narrows.

- The Likhts’amsiyu Clan of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation.

- Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.

Diabo is publisher of the First Nations Strategic Bulletin, which first reported about the documents. Bulletin content features the writings of the First Nations Strategic Policy Council, a network of policy and legal analysts.

“Rather than listening to the needs of First Nations communities, Harper is making plans to use force to stifle the dissent that inevitably arises from chronic poverty and dispossession in native communities,” Diabo said Monday. “First Nations education and housing is chronically underfunded, but policing and surveillance of legitimate Indigenous movements is always a priority.”

Communities consulted

Shiri Pasternak, a spokeswoman for the bulletin, said the documents were obtained in April 2010, but were released only after consultation with communities.

“The documents affect a lot of communities across the country, so we first talked to communities named in the documents to inform them that they were being surveilled by the government,” Pasternak told CBC News on Monday morning.

Gord Elliot of Tsartlip First Nation, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, added: “Obviously trust and good faith are expected when working with INAC, the RCMP and other agencies of the government.

“We are outraged to discover these same ministries are spying on us. We were identified as a ‘hot spot’ because we had a roadblock demonstration to voice our concerns about the treaty process and non-acknowledgment of Section 35 Constitutional Rights and Title.

“We felt we had no choice [than to demonstrate] because the Canadian government won’t acknowledge our constitutionally protected Aboriginal Rights and Title.”

Like or Dislike: 1  0

>>>

By The Canadian Press, cbc.ca, Updated: June 14, 2011 9:06 AM

Almost 1/3 of rich Canadians born abroad: BMO
>>>

Give immigrants back their money, you Canadian scums!

Like or Dislike: 1  2

@Ronglimeng,

Read this http://money.ca.msn.com/community/message-boards/thread.aspx?board=00000065-04cb-0000-0000-000000000000&thread=ef980af8-cb77-4754-86fb-cc370663dc4e&_nwpt=1

What is your view on HST?

@Bored dude,
CIC will return your C$800,000 investment, without interest, about five years and two months after payment–>That is you are giving us back our SECURITY DEPOSIT. We want our money back.

Like or Dislike: 0  2

@ExpatHKboy:

“Read this… What is your view on HST?”

Sorry, couldn’t open the link without signing on to MSN, which I don’t want to do.

I know that in BC, implementing HST was and still is a big issue, but here in Ontario, there wasn’t much noise, except at the start.

I hate to sound like many Americans and bitch about taxes all the time. I’d rather focus on how the taxes are spent, rather than much much is collected.

Like or Dislike: 2  0

What money? How about we start with this?

Vancouver schools draw more Chinese students

Release date: 05 Jul 2011
“All of the Lower Mainland school districts are experiencing increased interest from parents and students in China who desire a Canadian high school education for their children,” according to Barb Onstad, the VSB’s manager of international education. “It used to be that the Canadian embassy issued very few study permits to students from China, but that has changed over the past three to four years.”

The district expects 1,020 full-time equivalent international kindergarten to Grade 12 students for the 2011/12 school year—about half are new students, the other half are continuing students—compared to between 700 and 900 in previous years. The actual number of students is higher than 1,020, but some students arrive mid-year or only stay for part of a year.

Full-time students are charged $12,000, generating more than $12 million annually for the VSB.

Roughly 600 of this year’s international students are from Mainland China—by far the largest country of origin, 130 come from Korea, which topped the list five or six years ago, 40 come from Germany, 40 from Hong Kong, 35 from Taiwan, 35 from Japan, 30 from Vietnam, 10 from Brazil, and a mix of fewer than 10 from 23 other countries.

Ninety per cent are secondary students with 15 being the most common arrival age.

“It’s been a big shift in our demographics because the Koreans tended to be younger when they came here and most of them came with a parent,” Onstad said.

Students from Mainland China are typically between 15 and 17 and live with relatives or in homestay arrangements.

All 18 Vancouver high schools enroll international students, but 60 per cent attend West Side schools and 40 per cent go to East Side schools.

The Fraser Institute’s controversial school rankings affect some families’ choices, Onstad said. “[Our focus is] more of convincing students that we have great programs in our schools in the East, as well as West Side…Even students who have never been to Vancouver will ask for preferred schools or perhaps withdraw if they don’t get placed into some schools that they think are better in Vancouver. So our work, or our goal is to increase the number of international students enrolled at the East Side schools where programs are not as well known.”

Vancouver has a high profile overseas, so marketing and advertising is not difficult, Onstad said. The VSB’s international program is self-funding—its budget for this school year was $60,000.

“All B.C. and Canadian school districts market overseas, usually with assistance from Canadian embassies in key countries such as China, Korea, Germany, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam and Brazil,” she said. “We translate application materials into seven languages and we attend study abroad fairs organized by embassies, often together with Canadian post-secondary institutions.”

The district has faced declining enrolment for several years, so the addition of international students increases available spaces, according to Onstad.

“The board staffs schools with extra teachers, who are funded directly from the international student tuitions. Currently, international programs funds support for 56 teacher positions in the district,” she said.

Source: Vancouver Courier

Like or Dislike: 2  1

UltraCanadian, while ExpatHKboy’s comments are inflamatory at times and even idiotic, he is not a 50 center.

As a Canadian you should defend true freedom of expression, that means you must allow people with different opinions than yours to say what they want.

Sometimes what ExpatHKboy says are actually true, and maybe you are hurt by the truth that is why you feel negatively about him.

But please do not smear people in order to try to shut them up or make them cow away from expressing themselves.

As a proud Canadian, eventhough I do not always agree with ExpatHKboy’s opinions, I will fight to the death for his right to express them. (quasi-quoting Voltaire).

Like or Dislike: 3  3

Judge Dredd, I think you are confused too. I may be stuck in my academic world, but at least I dont think I am in a courtroom. Are you a lawyer? Are you a real judge? Do you know a real judge needs to post their real name and CV?

Stop using legal terms that only apply in a court room, after all this is a web forum not a court of law.

You see Mr. Dredd, I can play your game too.

Like or Dislike: 3  1

While I am waiting for WhiteCoward’s reply, where is Chinktalk, Ronglimeng or anyone else for that matter?

Like or Dislike: 1  0

Civil servants share $6B ’severance’ without losing jobs

While federal budget cuts are sending some public servants to the unemployment line, most of those keeping their jobs will be laughing all the way to the bank with a pay raise and special lump-sum cheques of up to $150,000.

The Harper government is in the process of handing out a jaw-dropping $6 billion in special “severance” cheques to hundreds of thousands of federal workers who aren’t losing their jobs or even changing desks.

Government officials say the average payout to date has been roughly $20,000, but the highest-paid government executives and military brass could be getting cheques up to $150,000.

Thousands of Canadian soldiers not even entitled to severance will be getting cheques anyway.

In total, the government expects to have cut cheques worth about $2 billion by the end of this year.

The payouts are part of the Harper government’s move to scrap a long-standing public service perk that gives federal workers severance pay even when they quit or retire.

The government has agreed to compensate public servants for all of the severance they have accumulated to date at the rate of one week’s wages for each year of employment.

Savings offset by pay raises
While the total payout to federal workers is expected to top $6 billion, the Treasury Board estimates that scrapping severance for those who quit or retire will save taxpayers about $500 million a year.

Treasury Board President Tony Clement, the federal minister responsible for public service compensation, defends the severance changes and payouts as short-term pain for longer-term gains.

“The savings for Canadian taxpayers are significant,” he says in a written statement to CBC News. “The government is no longer liable for future accumulation of voluntary severance payouts that would continue to climb.

“This benefit does not exist in the private sector and there is a reason. It is costly and to perpetuate it would be unfair.”

But those savings could be significantly offset by public service pay raises.

CBC News has learned that in exchange for getting rid of the severance provision, the Harper government is giving public servants a special 0.75 per cent increase in wages, a move that will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

Dan Kelly, head of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, says the government is right to be killing the severance perk, but asks, at what price?

“To spend billions of dollars in severance package for people that are not losing their jobs, people that have the best form of job security in the country, that have gold-plated pensions to leave to, just seems nuts.

“This should be taken away from civil servants.… But to trade it off for higher wage increments, I think will not pass the smell test for average Canadians.”

The union that represents the largest number of federal public servants said the severance for retirement and resignation predates collective bargaining and defended the compensation it negotiated to end the practice.

“The present government decided to end the accumulation of severance and negotiated a compensation package with some federal government workers,” said Robyn Benson, national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

“At the same time, PSAC negotiated stronger provisions for severance upon layoff so the thousands of federal workers this government is recklessly cutting have a better chance of continuing to pay their mortgages and contributing to the economy.”

Toronto financial consultant Barry Ferguson represents a large number of public service clients getting the severance windfall.

“The payouts that we’ve seen that we’re talking about are somewhere in the $40,000 to $80,000 range. So, you know, these are not life-altering amounts of money, but they can certainly be life-enhancing amounts of money.”

Ferguson says most of his public service clients are being conservative with their unexpected windfall.

“In many cases, people have credit card debt, or small loans, or mortgage balances that they simply want to pay down, so we’re really seeing kind of a broad spectrum.”

Workers’ choice: Get paid now, or later
The government is offering public servants the option of immediately cashing out their severance, or waiting until they actually leave their jobs.

So far, most public servants are opting to take the money now, and Treasury Board officials say that will reap big additional savings for the government.

Since severance payments are based on an employee’s final pay rate, workers who opt to cash out now will cost the government a lot less than they would years down the road after many pay raises and promotions.

Meanwhile, Canada’s 92,000 members of the regular military and reserve forces are getting a special break from the severance buyout bonanza.

In the past, Canadian soldiers with less than 10 years service were not entitled to any severance pay, and even those in the Forces longer received compensation at a much lower rate than the general public service gets.

No matter: All members of the regular and reserve Forces will soon be eligible for compensation for accumulated severance based on the same formula as the rest of the government — one week’s pay for every year of service.

The public service windfall should not be confused with an additional $900 million in special severance being given to 19,000 federal workers who are actually losing their jobs to government cost-cutting.

Those workers are getting both the special severance connected to government downsizing, and the regular severance now being bought out by the government.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/07/05/pol-weston-public-service-severance.html

Fantastic management of this country here, uh!

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You are mocking an entire culture with your limited experience and generalization, it’s racist as fuck.

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