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Foreigners in Canada on temporary work permits are being pushed into Toronto's underground economy by the recession and a controversial federal program that leaves them vulnerable to abuse, a Star investigation has found.

They include people like Tony, a 29-year-old Honduran, who left his Alberta farm job after complaining of long hours and lower-than-promised wages. He rode a bus to Toronto in mid-September with two fellow Hondurans from the same farm. He now works illegally renovating homes, and his friends work illegally cleaning schools.

"I want to be someone, to do something with my life - that's why I'm here," says Tony, who fears being deported.

Also citing employer abuse is a Salvadoran couple fired from their Halifax hotel jobs when the woman got pregnant. They moved here to look for work in September.

In another case, 20 Filipinos arrived in Vancouver last May after each had paid a recruiter $5,000 plus airfare. But the factory where they were to work had burned down a month earlier. No one bothered to tell them, or to notify the government to cancel their work permits. At least two of them are now working illegally in Toronto.

Others find themselves in positions similar to the 120 migrant workers at Rol-Land mushroom farm near Guelph, laid off last December when the recession hit. "Closed" work permits barred them from jobs with other employers. Thirty of them remained in Canada to face precarious prospects in the underground economy.

Unemployed temporary foreign workers add to the pressures on the city's own "guest workers," hit by the recession and an unemployment rate of 10 per cent.

The trend has intensified concern about a federal program that - virtually without debate - has almost doubled the number of workers entering Canada with temporary permits since 2003. They are here to fill labour shortages identified by employers and Ottawa.

Last year, 192,519 foreigners came with work permits of up to two years - almost as many as the permanent residents Canada selected through the immigration system.

According to an official count, on Dec. 1, 2008, there were 251,235 temporary foreign workers in the country.

The program is widely criticized for being poorly monitored and for leaving the workers vulnerable to exploitation. Some experts say it smacks of the failed guest worker programs in Europe, which developed generations of marginalized and resentful residents.

Employers, on the other hand, insist that regardless of the economy's ups and downs, labour shortages are real and longterm.

 

BUT IS THE Temporary Foreign Worker Program the best way to fill the need?

For many who study the program, the recession's impact on foreign workers has made that question more pressing.

When times were good, foreigners could renew work permits with the same employer or get federal approval to switch jobs. When times got bad, and domestic unemployment rose, the government began closing the tap on the program.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) must conduct labour market opinions (LMOs) when employers seek approval to hire workers abroad. LMOs are supposed to determine whether local citizens or permanent residents could do the job. In 2008, HRSDC approved 176,368 positions with LMOs.

But the first three months of this year saw a 25 per cent reduction in the number of jobs approved with LMOs (29,607) from the same period last year (40,020).

LMOs rejected in the first half of this year included ones involving employers who wanted to renew work permits for those already on their payroll - forcing the employers to lay them off instead.

They also included employers prevented from hiring foreign workers already here and out of a job. (Workers can remain in Canada until their work visas expire, but can't legally work for another employer without a new LMO.)

For many jobless foreign workers, returning home isn't much of an option. They left lives of poverty, are often burdened by debt from money paid to recruiters, and have families back home who depend on remittances.

"For the average Canadian worker, the economic downturn is a crisis, but for the temporary foreign worker, it's a catastrophe," says Naveen Mehta, a lawyer with the United Food and Commercial Workers union.

Gauging the impact of foreign workers on the underground economy is difficult. Officials at Citizenship and Immigration Canada insist that the "vast majority" return home before their permits expire. But they can't prove it.

The government doesn't track when - or if - foreign workers leave the country. Nor does anyone track the number of those laid off. But it does advise employers to lay off foreign workers before Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

"We've got a growing illegal workforce," says Yessy Byl, an expert on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program in Alberta, the province that experienced the biggest increase of foreign workers in the past three years. "It's growing by leaps and bounds.

"You've got a hugely growing group of destitute people," adds Byl, who is also a labour lawyer with the Alberta Federation of Labour. "They have to work to survive."

Byl says the worst is yet to come: many of the 365,000 foreign workers who came to Canada in 2007 and 2008 will see their permits expire next year.

In a 2007 report, the RCMP estimated the number of undocumented workers in Canada ranged from 200,000 to 500,000. Toronto is widely seen as having the largest concentration.

St. Christopher House, a downtown social service agency, is bracing for an influx of underground foreign workers and has hired a new coordinator who recently completed doctoral studies on migrant workers.

"We are trying to get out in advance of that train coming down the track because we believe this issue is going to be big," says executive director Maureen Fair.

Francisco Rico-Martinez, co-director of Toronto's FCJ Refugee Centre, says every month he sees two or three temporary foreign workers looking for help. One week in September, he met Tony, the Alberta farm worker, and the Salvadoran couple from Halifax.

But settlement agencies are in a bind. The federal government doesn't fund services for guest workers. If agencies help, they're diverting scarce funds from refugees and landed immigrants.

 

HISTORICALLY, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program was a relatively small federal initiative that brought in mostly high-skilled workers for specialized jobs. The live-in caregiver and seasonal agricultural worker programs were the only exceptions.

All that changed in 2002 when Ottawa allowed employers to bring in a wide range of low-skilled foreign workers to toil in the hospitality, food services, construction and manufacturing sectors.

Increases have been especially steep since 2006, under the Conservative government's watch.

"It's a priority of Stephen Harper's government to have immigration tailored more to the needs of Canadian employers," says Jeffrey Reitz, an immigration expert at the Munk Centre for International Studies.

The economy was hot, and employers - from Tim Hortons franchises to developers of Alberta's oilsands - scrambled to find workers. They turned to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

"They were doling out work permits like lollipops," says Toronto immigration lawyer Sergio Karas.

The most persistent criticism of the program is that it has addicted employers to cheap, disposable labour. In August, the federal government told a parliamentary committee that "overuse" of the program is the cause of many of its problems.

But it defended the program as necessary, noting that seasonal or cyclical jobs - vegetable picking or work on the oilsands - don't require permanent employees. The Harper government also described the regular immigration system as woefully inflexible and unable to meet labour market demands.

That system, which considers only workers with highly developed skills for permanent residency, is groaning under a backlog of some 900,000 applications. Decisions can take six years.

In 2007, at the peak of a revved-up economy, Canada let in 41,251 skilled workers as permanent residents - 17,660 fewer than in 2001. Meanwhile, 165,000 guest workers were brought in - the majority of them low-skilled.

"The temporary foreign worker program has become the faster and preferred way to get immigrants to Canada to meet long-term labour shortages," the bipartisan report of Parliament's Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration noted in May.

Some argue that the service industry is bringing in foreign workers to flip burgers, pour coffee and clean hotels simply to avoid offering the higher wages needed to attract domestic labour. What seems clear is that many are doing jobs few Canadians want - for example, dismembering pigs on "disassembly lines" in meat plants.

Yet, while high-skilled temporary workers can apply to become permanent residents under federal or provincial programs, most low-skilled workers can't (live-in caregivers are the big exception).

"The attitude is, `We don't want none of them riff-raff here,'" Byl charges.

Governments are rejecting the kinds of people who largely built the country after immigrating in successive waves through the last century, says Toronto immigration lawyer Elizabeth Long.

"Good enough to work, good enough to stay," is a slogan widely used by advocates of giving low-skilled workers a route to permanent status.

The Harper government is doing the opposite. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney last month proposed changes that would cap at four years the amount of time foreigners could work in Canada on temporary permits. They then would be barred from receiving another permit for six years.

The proposals have been widely panned. The parliamentary committee had recommended a path to permanent residency for all guest workers, at least those already here. It also called for "open" permits that would allow workers to switch jobs in the same sector.

Observers say foreign workers are much less likely to leave Canada if they're allowed to stay four years, as Ottawa is proposing. As one slogan, based on the experience of Europe and the U.S., says: "There is nothing more permanent than temporary foreign workers."

Germany stopped recruiting guest workers in 1973. But many stayed and brought over their families. By the mid-1980s, the program was largely responsible for having increased the number of permanent immigrants in Germany by almost 4 million. Left without settlement services for years, many live marginalized lives.

Jenna Hennebry, a sociologist at Wilfrid Laurier University, has researched temporary foreign workers for years. She believes a majority who lose their jobs stay in Canada beyond the time allowed by their work visas.

Some get advice from consultants to apply for refugee status. That clogs up the system but buys them time to stay and work in Canada. Others become undocumented.

Last spring, the Canadian Border Services Agency launched raids at several farms in southern Ontario, detaining about 100 people who had overstayed or violated the conditions of their work permits.

After one raid, about 40 workers from Thailand with expired work permits were sent to a detention centre in Rexdale. Immigration lawyer Long, who represented one of them, said most were deported without getting a chance to speak to a lawyer or file an assessment - guaranteed by the Charter of Rights - of the risk they faced if sent back.

Long said her client had borrowed $17,000 from "loan sharks" in Thailand to pay recruiters. Yet he was paid far less money than promised to work an overnight shift six days a week catching free-range chickens. He, too, was eventually deported.

Union officials and immigration experts say the size of Toronto's undocumented workforce keeps official employer demands for temporary foreign workers in the city - other than nannies - relatively low.

"Why would an employer go through the hassle of a temporary foreign work visa when he can draw from that pool of undocumented workers?" says Diego Mendez, spokesperson for the Greater Toronto local of the Service Employees International Union.

Toronto immigration lawyer Amina Sherazee believes the growing pool of undocumented workers suits Ottawa just fine.

"It's almost a deliberate attempt ... on the part of the government to keep a competitive workforce here who can be exploited cheaply to meet the needs of the market," she says.

Rico-Martinez notes that undocumented workers make up half of his centre's caseload. "We try to talk to the government about this issue, but they're in total denial."

Toronto Star, Sun Nov 01 2009
Byline: Sandro Contenta

CALGARY - Corporate giants in Calgary have yet to see an uptick in employee absenteeism as flu season, and H1N1 in particular, arrives, but continue to monitor the situation closely and are ready with contingency plans.

That's not to say they've been untouched by H1N1, with Shaw Communications Inc. reporting one employee seriously sick with the influenza virus and on a respirator in Calgary.

"That's probably demographically about normal for a company our size to have some representation," Shaw president Peter Bissonnette said Wednesday.

With more than 10,000 employees across the country, Calgary-based Shaw has a pandemic plan in place for shift coverage and employees available to cover off should staff fall ill.

Sick employees are encouraged to stay home up to seven days, he said, noting they've had employees who've reported H1N1 symptoms and stayed home and recovered.

Shaw's sick leave benefits provide time off with pay.

"The days of being a hero and coming to work sick are not prescribed anymore," said Bissonnette, who got his H1N1 shot on Tuesday and is encouraging all Shaw employees to follow suit.

Not all employers in Alberta independently provide paid or unpaid sick leave, however, leaving thousands of workers, especially those in low-wage, service sector jobs, with little protection if they follow doctors advice and stay home if experiencing H1N1 symptoms, said the Alberta Federation of Labour.

Federation president Gil McGowan said the Alberta Employment Standard code doesn't say anything at all about sick leave, unlike employment standards codes in six other Canadian jurisdictions that give workers the protections they need.

"As a result, many workers don't have the confidence that they need to do the right thing and take themselves out of circulation if they are experiencing H1N1 symptoms," said McGowan, himself calling from home as he started feeling unwell during the day.

If the Alberta government is serious about slowing the spread of the H1N1 flu virus, it should amend the provincial code to include protections for such workers, he said.

Employment and Immigration Minister Hector Goudreau said he's willing to talk to the federation about its concerns, but he doesn't plan to alter the labour code.

"The majority of the contracts out there include sick-leave provisions," he said.

For workers who don't have such contracts, Goudreau encouraged them and their employers to talk about H1N1 plans.

Agrium Inc. hasn't as of yet seen a noticeable increase in absenteeism among its 400 employees at its Calgary head office, said company spokesman Richard Downey.

Agrium employees are strongly encouraged to stay home when sick and managers are encouraging employees to get flu shots, he said.
"We have spent a considerable amount of effort to ensure employees can work from home for the corporate head office, and contingency plans are in place at our wholesale facilities," he wrote in an e-mail.
Agrium, North America's third-largest fertilizer maker, has a paid sick leave policy for employees at its Calgary corporate office and sick leave policy for its entire operation, but the specifics of those vary depending on the location of the operations.

Agrium has 10,000 employees in total, including its retail operations in the United States.

It's all quiet so far on the energy front, too. EnCana Corp. hasn't experienced any unusual bouts of absenteeism due to flu, said spokeswoman Carol Howes.

Likewise, Talisman Energy hasn't experienced an epidemic of flu cases but is taking the H1N1 threat seriously, said spokeswoman Phoebe Buckland.

"We have a program and it's based around education and prevention," she said.
Imperial Oil spokesman Pius Rolheiser said the company hasn't noticed any unusual absences or indications of flu among employees.
Nonetheless, the company continues to monitor the situation and promote awareness among staff, he said.

WestJet Airlines Ltd. hasn't experienced a spike in employee absenteeism, either.

Airline spokesman Richard Bartrem said WestJet has more front-line people than it needs at any one time, and so can draw on its employee base to cover off should a percentage of staffers be off sick.

Office staff, meanwhile, have the capability to work from home.

"We're asking our employees to exercise common sense, that if you believe you have the symptoms and to be contagious to stay at home, and in turn we're able to do that because they are still able to work from home," Bartrem said.

Calgary Herald, Thurs Oct 29 2009
Byline: Gina Teel

The Alberta Federation of Labour is pushing for change in the wake of the H1N1 pandemic.

Concerns are being raised about why front-line workers like police and EMS have not been given the H1N1 vaccine yet.

Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan tells 660News the government should make it easier for its employees to get the vaccination.
He says, "These are people who are on the front lines, providing services that we can't do without. We feel very strongly that they should be allowed be allowed to move up to the front of the line to receive their shot, so there isn't a disruption in necessary services."

McGowan also believes the province needs to change the Employment Standards Code so legislation is in place guaranteeing workers won't be fired if they stay home because they're experiencing flu symptoms.

660News, Thurs Oct 29 2009

The Alberta Federation of Labour called on the provincial government Wednesday to amend the labour code to protect workers who take days off with the H1N1 virus.

"We don't think people who follow the advice of medical professionals should be penalized at their work," AFL president Gil McGowan said.

Alberta's labour code currently doesn't mention sick days and McGowan said it leaves many employees vulnerable if they take Alberta Health Services' advice to stay home when they or their children are feeling ill.

Employment Minister Hector Goudreau said he is happy to meet with the AFL and others to hear their concerns, but he said most workers have already have sick days built into their contracts.

Those that don't should talk to their employers about the possibility of taking time off if they get the flu.

"People should not wait until they're ill to talk to each other," Goudreau said.

Edmonton Journal, Thurs Oct 29 2009
Byline: Archie McLean

Human rights commission develops information sheets for all parties involved in managing medical work absences

The Alberta Human Rights Commission is getting the word out to help clarify the rights and responsibilities of all parties involved in the exchange of medical information related to work absences.

The commission has launched three new plain language information sheets that complement the commission's interpretive bulletin Obtaining and responding to medical information in the workplace.

The bulletin and information sheets were developed in response to numerous inquiries the commission receives about issues related to medical absences and an employee's medical ability to work.

Each information sheet is aimed at one of three target audiences who play a role in gathering and providing reasonable medical information about an employee's disability: employers, employees or doctors.

The bulletin includes sample forms that can help the parties involved in managing medical absences and ensuring the appropriate information is exchanged between them. The sample forms include a Sample Medical Absence Form and a Sample Medical Ability to Work Form, which were developed in consultation with the Alberta Federation of Labour, Alberta Medical Association, Alberta Workers' Health Centre and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta.

The commission said it anticipates the information sheets will help employers, employees and doctors achieve good communication and effective workplace accommodation for employees.

Canadian Employment Law Today, Thurs Oct 29 2009

AFL calls for changes to Employment Standards Code that would make it easier for people to stay home from work when they're experiencing swine flu symptoms

If the Alberta government is serious about slowing the spread of the H1N1 flu virus, it should amend the provincial Employment Standards Code to include protections for workers who follow the advice of public health authorities and stay home from work when they're experiencing flu-like symptoms.

Without such protections, thousands of workers - especially those in low-wage, service sector jobs - will continue coming to work when they're sick, thereby jeopardizing their own health and undermining efforts to bring the H1N1 pandemic under control.

That was the message delivered today by Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan to an audience of 500 registered nurses gathered in Edmonton to attend the United Nurses of Alberta's annual general meeting.

"The employment standards codes in six other Canadian jurisdictions give workers the protections they need," says McGowan.

"All of those codes say that workers cannot be disciplined, demoted or dismissed for taking time off work because of short-term illness. The Alberta code, on the other hand, doesn't say anything at all about sick leave. As a result, workers whose employers don't independently provide paid or unpaid sick leave - and we think that's a majority or workers in Alberta - face the prospect of being punished for doing the right thing."

Statistics on the number of employees with access to paid or unpaid sick leave are spotty. But studies from Statistics Canada and other sources suggest that only about 57 per cent of working Canadians have employers whose policies allow them to take time off when they're sick. Access to these benefits is much higher in unionized workplaces (77 per cent) compared to non-union workplaces (45 per cent).

"Given the fact that the available figures are national and that Alberta has a lower rate of union coverage than other provinces, we're pretty confident that the percentage of workers in Alberta with formal access to sick leave through their employers in only at or below fifty per cent," said McGowan. "For everyone else, the only protections they could have would be found in the provincial Employment Standards Code - but those protections just aren't there."

McGowan says that problems exist even in workplaces that do have formal sick leave policies because many employers actively discourage workers from taking sick days even if they're entitled to them.

McGowan has asked for an emergency meeting with Employment Minister Hector Goudreau. At the meeting, he will present him with draft amendments to the Code that could be introduced and adopted by the Legislature quickly.

"The good news is that the Legislature has just resumed sitting," says McGowan. "If there's the political will among the government and opposition parties, they could have new emergency legislation passed by this time next week. They could also use debate on new legislation as a platform to send a clear message to employers about the need to make it easier, not harder, for sick workers to follow the advice of public health authorities."

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For more information call: Gil McGowan, AFL President @ (780) 218-9888

The Alberta Federation of Labour wants an emergency meeting with Employment Minister Hector Goudreau to push for changes in legislation to protect workers who follow medical advice and stay home when they have the flu.

AFL President Gil McGowan says a majority of workers in Alberta face the prospect of being punished for doing the right thing. McGowan says six provinces have labour standards codes that say workers can not be disciplined, demoted or dismissed for taking time off because of short term illness.

Even when companies have sick leave policies, he says too many workers are pressured into showing up when they're sick.

He's also hoping the AFL request can get some debate time in the legislature that will send a clear message to employers to make it easier, not harder, for sick workers to follow the advice of public health authorities.

iNews880.com, Wed Oct 28 2009

EDMONTON - Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert said today hospital emergency wards and medical clinics are experiencing an increase in patients and inquires connected to H1N1 concerns.

The influx is causing some strain, which the province and health board are looking to address.

"Over the couple of days I hope that we will be in a position to implement some strategy that will help alleviate that," Liepert said at the legislature.

As the province's H1N1 immunization campaign entered its third day, dozens of smaller communities in Alberta still don't have access to the vaccine.

Tory MLA Genia Leskiw, who represents a northern Alberta riding, noted residents in Cold Lake and Bonnyville are wondering when they'll get the vaccine.

Liepert said Alberta Health Services, the province's medical board, is working on securing locations for an additional 10 vaccination clinics. A new one opened today in Calgary at the Olympic Oval to serve people who have trouble standing in lineups, including pregnant women, young children and seniors.

The health minister said mobile clinics could also be dispatched to "hot spots" around the province. However, the province's plan for many smaller centres located far from Calgary or Edmonton is to distribute the vaccine through family doctors and nearly 400 pharmacists certified to give the shot.

Liepert said he hopes doctors and pharmacists will begin receiving vaccine supplies next week.

"This is a massive undertaking and there are probably going to be situations where certain areas may not get it as quickly as other areas, but we have to recognize that there are a number of factors involved, including ensuring that they have adequate, trained people to administer the vaccine," Liepert said.

One of the factors is supply. The province expects to get its next batch of vaccines on Thursday.

"There's been a high demand and the manufacturing facility can only manufacture so much and so there is a balance here of supply and demand," the health minister said.

"Our goal should be that by early next week the vaccine should be available throughout the province within reasonable proximity."

The onset of the second wave of H1N1 flu has prompted the Alberta Federation of Labour to call for changes to the province's Employment Standards Code, arguing better protection is needed for workers who follow medical advice and stay home when they're experiencing flu-like symptoms.

The union noted that thousands of workers, particularly those in low-wage, service sector jobs, are vulnerable because they may not have contracts detailing sick-leave rules.

"The employment standards codes in six other Canadian jurisdictions give workers the protections they need," Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said in a statement.

"All of those codes say that workers cannot be disciplined, demoted or dismissed for taking time off work because of short-term illness. The Alberta code, on the other hand, doesn't say anything at all about sick leave."

Employment and Immigration Minister Hector Goudreau said today he's willing to talk to the Alberta Federation of Labour about its concerns, but he doesn't plan to alter the labour code.

"The majority of the contracts out there include sick-leave provisions," he said.

For workers who don't have such contracts, Goudreau encouraged them and their employers to talk about H1N1 plans.

"People should not wait until they're ill to talk to each other," he said.

He also cautioned workers with flu-like symptoms against going to work.

"People need to take care of themselves and they need to make sure they are not affecting their co-workers," he said. "Things could get much worse under those particular scenarios."

Calgary Herald, Wed Oct 28 2009
Byline: Renata D'Aliesio

Alberta needs legal protection for workers who don't have sick leave benefits but are being urged to stay home if they're not feeling well, particularly in flu season.

Health professionals and employers are asking staff to refrain from showing up at work if they feel sick to prevent the H1N1 virus from spreading, but many people can't afford to.

Shaina Kathrens, who works for an hourly wage at a retail store in a Calgary mall, said if she doesn't work, she doesn't get paid.

"I was thinking about calling in sick today and I'm like, no I can't, if I miss my budget by like a little bit, I'll be messed. It's really bad."

'We lose our pay, and everybody needs to be able to pay their rent and their bills. So they go to work anyway even if they're not supposed to.'
- Erin Hines, retail managerThe store Kathrens works for has issued a memo saying that employees who are sick shouldn't come in. But store manager Erin Hines said the company policy will be hard to follow.

"We lose our pay, and everybody needs to be able to pay their rent and their bills," Hines said. "So they go to work anyway, even if they're not supposed to."

Gil McGowan, head of the Alberta Federation of Labour, said more than half the workers in Canada don't receive any kind of sick leave benefits. He predicts this will force many ill employees to show up at work during the H1N1 and seasonal flu season.

"That could have very serious implications both for the workers, for the employers and for the broader society," McGowan said.

Alberta Employment and Immigration Minister Hector Goudreau said Wednesday that he's willing to meet with McGowan to discuss potential changes to provincial legislation.

"We'll chit-chat about that," Goudreau told CBC News. "You know there's no doubt that employees are concerned about their job.

"There are some individuals that have no provision. What I'm telling people is to not wait till something happens, just go and talk to each other. Make sure that they've got a plan and know how their employers are going to treat them if everybody gets sick, especially on a longer-term basis."

Goudreau said his department has not received overwhelming complaints about the issue.

Avoiding future sick days
Some employers are being flexible in allowing staff time to wait at vaccination clinics for hours - so they can avoid getting sick in the first place.

"If they call us and say we've been here for hours and hours, then we'll look at our schedule, and say you know, 'stay in line, do it right,'" said Joseph Wiewer, chef and co-owner of Wildwood Grill in Calgary. "So we have to be flexible with that."

Others have chosen to take unpaid time to ensure they stay healthy.

"I've taken the whole day off work and my kids have taken the whole day off school just to come and get this done," Frank Ballerini said as he waited for his H1N1 shot on Tuesday in Calgary. "Regardless, I don't paid get for this day so there's a cost to us."

CBC News, Wed Oct 28 2009

Pressure will be on delegates at Alberta's Progressive Conservative Party convention in Red Deer on Nov. 7 to halt the province's funding cuts to health care, education and other social services.

A Stop the Cuts rally at noon, outside the Capri Hotel where the convention will take place, is expected to attract a few hundred people, including members of Alberta Council On Aging, Public Interest Alberta, Friends of Medicare, Alberta Federation of Labour, other unions and the public.

David Eggen, Friends of Medicare executive director, said delegates can use their votes to convince Alberta's governing PC party to reconsider the cuts.

"We're calling on each of the delegates at the convention at the Capri to exercise good judgment and help us put a pause on these cuts and think more rationally about the long-term future of the province," Eggen said at a press conference on Monday to announce the rally.

"It's an investment in the security and quality of life for all Albertans."

Ken Collier, Friends of Medicare board chair, said the province doesn't seem to recognize that the purpose of government is to support the economy through its hills and valleys.

"Making cuts in the middle of a recession is exactly the wrong time to do it," Collier said.

Instead, government would rather privatize seniors care, which will double or even triple the cost to seniors, he said.

"If they would no longer engage in resource giveaways that they've been doing for decades, I think we would see ample funding to be able to carry on public services as we have been able to enjoy."

Retired teacher Norm McDougall said the province's $80-million cut to education is the wrong way to go if it wants a better educated society that can reduce the cost of health care, crime, and homelessness.

"(Education) produces taxpaying members of society and the educational ability to adjust to economic situation as it changes so they can go with the flow," McDougall said.

"Education pays off. It's a long-term investment."

Stop the Cuts Rally participants will meet at 11:30 a.m. at the Kinsmen Community Hall, at 4726 34th St., before the rally at the Capri Hotel.

For more information, call Public Interest Alberta at 780-420-0471 or Friends of Medicare at 780-423-4581.

Red Deer Advocate, Tues Oct 27 2009
Byline: Susan Zielinski