by Ian Urquhart (iurquha@thestar.ca)
Every year about 20,000 foreign-trained professionals immigrate to this province. Back home, they were doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, nurses, teachers, and so on. But, more often than not, here they end up driving cabs or serving fast food — and becoming more bitter by the day. In extreme cases, they kill themselves. Two suicides in the Chinese Canadian community over the past two years have been linked to underemployment. The Liberal government at Queen's Park is taking aim at this problem with Bill 124 — legislation that would create a "fairness commissioner." The commissioner would oversee the 34 regulatory bodies governing the professions in Ontario and make sure their accreditation practices do not discriminate against the foreign-trained. The bill, which is now going through committee, has met with a decidedly mixed reaction. In the immigrant community, the legislation has been welcomed, although some groups have argued that it does not go far enough. Some of the regulatory bodies — notably those for accountants and engineers — have also supported the legislation because they believe their practices would withstand scrutiny by the fairness commissioner. However, other regulatory bodies, mostly those for the health-care professions but also for the teachers, have expressed grave concerns that the legislation would erode their independence and undermine their mandate to protect the public.
The health-care bodies have also suggested the fairness commissioner would be redundant because they are already subject to oversight by the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board. Politically, reaction to the bill has also been divided. The Liberals, of course, are trumpeting it as a vehicle to ensure that foreign-trained professionals get "a fair shot at working in their chosen field here in Ontario." The New Democrats say Bill 124 doesn't go far enough. Specifically, they want an appeals body created for the non-health-care regulatory bodies, as recommended in an advisory report on the issue. But it is the Conservatives whose response to Bill 124 has been most interesting. In second reading debate, while they were careful to say they supported the "intent" of the bill, the Conservatives attacked the proposed fairness commissioner as "a new layer of bureaucracy." They also approvingly quoted from a column in the National Post by George Jonas (ironically, himself an immigrant) deriding the fairness commissioner as a "fairness fairy" whose chief concern will be "political correctness." At committee hearings, when one spokesperson for immigrants testified strongly in support of Bill 124, Frank Klees, the lead Conservative critic on the committee chastised him: "You sound like an apologist for the government."
How does this reaction square with Conservative Leader John Tory, who this week held a press conference to promote his own ideas for helping skilled immigrants? "We have permitted far too many people who we invited to come to Canada to become marginalized, to fall between the cracks," said Tory. "We must not let that become some sort of permanent fact of life because it is not acceptable and it isn't consistent in any way with the pride we take in embracing diversity." Asked at the press conference whether regulatory bodies were part of the problem, Tory agreed that they have "not demonstrated the sense of urgency they should." Asked whether his party will support Bill 124 on third reading, Tory replied: "I expect we probably will," subject to how proposed Conservative amendments are dealt with by the government. We shall see. Back to Bill 124: Will it solve the problem of underemployed immigrants? Probably just on the margins, for the real source of the problem is not foot-dragging by regulatory bodies at this end of the immigration process. Rather, it is at the other end, where immigrants are first screened for entry into Canada. This fact was acknowledged in the Legislature last month by Mike Colle, the minister who introduced Bill 124. He noted that there are some 15,000 foreign-trained engineers coming here every year and competing for jobs with 5,000 engineering graduates from Ontario schools. "There's no connection with the reality of the job market," said Colle. But, of course, screening of immigrants is a federal responsibility. It is the subject of discussions between the two levels of government, but it will take time to fix. Meanwhile, Bill 124 may be the best the province has to offer foreign-trained professionals. It is not enough, of course, but it is an important first step.
Every year about 20,000 foreign-trained professionals immigrate to this province. Back home, they were doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants, nurses, teachers, and so on. But, more often than not, here they end up driving cabs or serving fast food — and becoming more bitter by the day. In extreme cases, they kill themselves. Two suicides in the Chinese Canadian community over the past two years have been linked to underemployment. The Liberal government at Queen's Park is taking aim at this problem with Bill 124 — legislation that would create a "fairness commissioner." The commissioner would oversee the 34 regulatory bodies governing the professions in Ontario and make sure their accreditation practices do not discriminate against the foreign-trained. The bill, which is now going through committee, has met with a decidedly mixed reaction. In the immigrant community, the legislation has been welcomed, although some groups have argued that it does not go far enough. Some of the regulatory bodies — notably those for accountants and engineers — have also supported the legislation because they believe their practices would withstand scrutiny by the fairness commissioner. However, other regulatory bodies, mostly those for the health-care professions but also for the teachers, have expressed grave concerns that the legislation would erode their independence and undermine their mandate to protect the public.
The health-care bodies have also suggested the fairness commissioner would be redundant because they are already subject to oversight by the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board. Politically, reaction to the bill has also been divided. The Liberals, of course, are trumpeting it as a vehicle to ensure that foreign-trained professionals get "a fair shot at working in their chosen field here in Ontario." The New Democrats say Bill 124 doesn't go far enough. Specifically, they want an appeals body created for the non-health-care regulatory bodies, as recommended in an advisory report on the issue. But it is the Conservatives whose response to Bill 124 has been most interesting. In second reading debate, while they were careful to say they supported the "intent" of the bill, the Conservatives attacked the proposed fairness commissioner as "a new layer of bureaucracy." They also approvingly quoted from a column in the National Post by George Jonas (ironically, himself an immigrant) deriding the fairness commissioner as a "fairness fairy" whose chief concern will be "political correctness." At committee hearings, when one spokesperson for immigrants testified strongly in support of Bill 124, Frank Klees, the lead Conservative critic on the committee chastised him: "You sound like an apologist for the government."
How does this reaction square with Conservative Leader John Tory, who this week held a press conference to promote his own ideas for helping skilled immigrants? "We have permitted far too many people who we invited to come to Canada to become marginalized, to fall between the cracks," said Tory. "We must not let that become some sort of permanent fact of life because it is not acceptable and it isn't consistent in any way with the pride we take in embracing diversity." Asked at the press conference whether regulatory bodies were part of the problem, Tory agreed that they have "not demonstrated the sense of urgency they should." Asked whether his party will support Bill 124 on third reading, Tory replied: "I expect we probably will," subject to how proposed Conservative amendments are dealt with by the government. We shall see. Back to Bill 124: Will it solve the problem of underemployed immigrants? Probably just on the margins, for the real source of the problem is not foot-dragging by regulatory bodies at this end of the immigration process. Rather, it is at the other end, where immigrants are first screened for entry into Canada. This fact was acknowledged in the Legislature last month by Mike Colle, the minister who introduced Bill 124. He noted that there are some 15,000 foreign-trained engineers coming here every year and competing for jobs with 5,000 engineering graduates from Ontario schools. "There's no connection with the reality of the job market," said Colle. But, of course, screening of immigrants is a federal responsibility. It is the subject of discussions between the two levels of government, but it will take time to fix. Meanwhile, Bill 124 may be the best the province has to offer foreign-trained professionals. It is not enough, of course, but it is an important first step.
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