pretty crappy
Immigrant experience very negative
To the editor:
We are a family of four—with two kids. My husband came from Germany in April 2007 with a valid work permit for a Kelowna drywall company which hires skilled workers at job fairs in German cities. He has very good qualifications—in fact he is a master plasterer and drywaller.
After three months in Kelowna he flew back to Gremany to pick up the family.
We brought everything to start a new life in Kelowna. We were all excited and did not have any worries, as everything seemed to work out well with the company my husband was working for.
Happy to be together again—the situation suddenly changed dramatically. The employer changed the work contract—in his favour, of course.
My husband did not agree to the changes made, and as a result got a “just cause” termination without any warning whatsoever, which means he was fired from one day to the other. This was in September 2007. All the family and stuff here and suddenly—no work, no money. He has not done anything wrong, except for not accepting and supporting modern slavery. That is exactly what his former company was and is doing. In March they will go again to job fairs abroad to first hire and then fool more workers.
We already used up all our savings to bring ourselves and our container to Kelowna—we lost easily over $20,000 in our Canada “experience.”
The worst to come: Looking for help everywhere—Immigration Office, Service Canada, Social Services, Kelowna Community Resources, Employment Standards Branch, Economic Development Commission (EDC) etc.—nobody felt responsible, nobody wanted to support us and nobody was even interested in checking on this company, which is acting without any scruples, exploiting foreign workers and firing them if they do not keep their mouth shut, thus ruining whole families.
Authorities told us that we do not have any status here and will not get any support. As a work permit holder we are not eligible for EI benefits—although we are forced to contribute to EI in advance—it is simply deducted from your paycheque. We fought against this.
In our opinion, it cannot be that Canadian companies go to Europe, lure skilled workers to Kelowna, make false promises and contracts in order to exploit their foreign workers as soon as they are here. It cannot be that the EDC is supporting all this! What kind of country is this? What kind of city is Kelowna where greedy companies and bosses are supported? And where—as soon as the foreign workers are here—nobody feels responsible anymore if something goes wrong.
Well, first we did not want to give up and my husband found a new sponsor company for the new LMO and work permit. But, we were then told it would take up to 14 weeks to get the new permit. After seeking help from Kelowna’s MP in December, his secretary told us that it would now take up to 26 weeks to get the new permit and there would be no way to speed up this procedure.
Why can’t you Canadian officials in B.C. only change the name of the company on the old and still valid work permit? Who can survive without being allowed to work for over half a year?
Thank you Canada, we are at our end and we are going back. Only with the help and support of a few good new friends and my little earnings we were able to manage the situation until now. But we have had enough.
By the way, this is not our only “problem.” Our son was going to OKM high school. From the beginning, he has been treated as a foreigner. His fellow students have been very unfriendly, arrogant and they have made many jokes because of his German accent. Every second day he was asked if he was a Nazi. And, he was not the only “stranger” being treated like this.
Foreigners welcome? Canada is a beautiful country. Kelowna is a nice place to live, but not a good place. We will let the world know.
Doris Zimmermann,
Kelowna
http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_.../15711597.html
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