The impact of bringing Chinese workers to staff a mine in BC, and the amount of raw logs being sent back to China while mills here remain closed, clearly resonated with many readers across the province, and the result has been a flood of emails from readers old and new. I have to thank Sarbjit again, for sending me the links because clearly he is a man with a deep love for our province, and the people of northern BC.
In that vein, I found a video link from Global News on the facebook page This Province is Ours, ( BC) created by Ingrid Voigt. ( Ingrid also happens to be the leader of the Refederation Party, but this is a non-partisan public page)
The first in a series by Global to examine the issues facing 18 – 35 year olds in BC, this feature by Tanya Beja is a stunning example of why we need to reach down inside us and decide what we believe in.
Do we want our children to have to leave because the lower mainland has become a haven for the wealthy and rich? Do we want our children denied the same basic goals our parents achieved, such as owning a home ( with a yard!), having a vacation once a year, being able to make ends meet at the very least? You can’t pay a large mortgage, or a high rent and eat at the same time. It just doesn’t work.
I am young enough to personally feel the direct impact of this high cost of living, and old enough to have two older children who are heading into this same uncertainty right now. My eldest son is 18, just graduated highschool in June and his hard work ethic turned a summer job into a fulltime job in construction, where he works sometimes 10 and 12 hour days to save for school in a year. I see his tired, dirty face after a hard week, lines and darkness under his eyes. He likes it though, says that it is rewarding to see something tangible at the end of the day for the results of your labour. Good, honest hands-on work reminiscent of his family roots deeply embedded in the construction and foresty industry of this province. but sometimes, I sit alone at night when everyone is in bed and wonder what their lives will be like in 10 years, and what I can do to make a better reality for them so they too, don’t have to leave just to be able to make ends meet, something that is hard to do for all of us these days. While I don’t have all the answers, I do know one thing. For a government that cries Families First every chance it gets, it sure doesn’t seem that way when you watch this news feature. Young families are last in this province and have been for a long time. That doesn’t bode well for this provinces future.
Westcoast Views with Laila Yuile 
Some interesting comments and points in this story. One thing though … it is not new that people have had to move to find work … this has happened at times in various places for several generations now. What this is a comment to however is how poorly our province is performing economically.
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It’s just Globalism. Within the framework of Globalism each region donates what it has. We have resources. We donate them to Slave-Land. Slave-Land has cheap labour. The slaves build things then send them back to us. We buy them with our money, most of which goes to off-shore corporations. These corpeorations then give large campaign contributions (Used to be called bribes) to politicians who are willing to sell out their citizens. It’s just Globalism.
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Absolutely Alan, in fact at all times there is a fairly steady “departures and arrivals”. What is new as the story states, is that for the first time the number of people leaving BC is higher than the people moving to our province. In Prince George, my hometown, people have been leaving for some time to get work, many to Alberta where their wage is higher and cost of living is lower.
This story really spoke to me. Many of these people leaving are clearly not poor, but really really tired of never being able to get ahead, never being able to stop and breathe for a moment. And as Ms. Beja points out, what happens to our economy when so many young people are forced to leave to achieve the life they desire?
Interestingly enough, and related… I just recently saw a pile of plywood on a building site here in Surrey, stamped ” made in China”. I kid you not. The worker on site said they use a lot of chinese produced wood products on all sites. Courtesy of our own bloody logs.
There’s something really wrong about that.
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It may, in fact, be globalism. I don’t understand why we have to send our unprocessed resouces (logs, coal and ore) offshore for low prices, when we can very well set up to process them here and ship off the finished product at a more lucrative price. Maybe it’s time for executives of Chinese companies to quit skimming so much off the top and use that extra money to purchase higher priced finished material. Then again, maybe Canadian executives should also quit skimming so much.
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I hope the building site wasn’t the new “E” Division RCMP headquarters…..
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Viva La Revolution!
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So true Laila.
The Chinese are taking a crash course in English, so they can work in our BC mines. Perhaps for lower wages? The U.S. seems to get Canadian contracts, and bring their own workers along with them too. Grant G. of The Straight Goods, has a fantastic post and video on China. Sounds like it’s not all roses in that country. Factories are leaving China, for cheaper wages in other country’s of poverty.
Harper did give a speech on, Global Governance for Canada. He also gave a speech in New York, at the Council of Foreign Relations. Sept 25/2007. Harper fully endorsed both, the NAU and Global Governance. Or new World Order if you will. (NWO) It sounds like, the globe will be divided into zones, and the Global Governance will be the gigantic corporations. Harper even said, Global Governance, has been worked on since 1945. Someone else had a Global Governance plot. Only he called it, the Thousand Year Reich. I remember posting all of this long ago and was thought as, not too tightly wrapped. Now foreign country’s are taking over our Canadian jobs, and especially BC peoples jobs.
Many citizens of the world are sensing disaster, out of fear and anger they are rioting and fighting back. In Canada our governing officials stomp all over the citizens, steal from us, lie, deceit, stealing and corruption, an everyday event. For years we have caught governing officials in lies, deceit and out and out corruption. Do they stop their lies and corruption? Not on your Nelly.
We woke up far too late.
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I hope you all listened to blathering Bills interviews with Abbott and Christy lite over the last two days. Disgrceful he definitely should retire.
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Excllent topic and good post Laila. Being a lifetime resident of BC with deep ancestral roots here, I can honestly say this is not the BC I had envisioned growing up and its definately not the BC my forefathers envisioned either. The love for quick economic growth with foreign megacorporate inclusion and collusion is sucking the very marrow out of the backbone of our province. Less care is given towards residents and any of their concerns. It has been my observation that those with any sense of integrity and patriotism towards our province and its peoples end up just dropping everthing and leaving in frustration eventually, citing many concerns. Some are as follows : The growing amount of gangs and anarchist groups. The growing amount of people who hold a criminal state of mind. The growing problems in our education system, where children only serve as economic and political pawns. The haphazard state of our medical system, where the patient has become nothing more than a side of beef with a number tag. The obvious and blatant political manipulations of key issues, leaning them away from stern and correct measures towards a “who cares” attitude.. The list continues to include obvious problems in our policing systems, bringing them into question regarding anarchist and gang involvements including racist movements to include the possible involvement in an ongoing war behind the scenes with our First Nations. This province isnt that big that we cant find a few killers responsible for hundreds of First Nations women going missing and turning up murdered every year. I end now to kepp my comment small, just thought to leave some more food for thought. Keep up the great work.
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I’m still trying to figure out whose families they are babbling about, because all the ones I know are working harder and harder and falling further and further behind. One of my own boys has left for Ontario looking for a better way. I can’t believe that we have fallen so far behind since my young adult years. And most of it is a direct result of the crappy LIeberal policies over the past ten years.
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I believe that the possibility of underground mining in northeast bc has been reviewed previously and there is a dangerously high amount of methane pockets. If the mine adits (mine entrances) point west, the explosions will create a cannon like effect and blow all the workers right back to China. This has been the practice and level of safety in China for years. So if we want to lower our safety standards dramatically and kill some Asians in this province, then this would be the way to go about it legally and make some money at the same time, because the ministry of mines in BC will allow it. http://www.chinamining.org/News/2010-04-02/1270190845d35206.html
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Lets say that you own a buisness? In 18 months you show up at the office 24 times? How long do you figure you would be in buisness? Or you are a worker and show up for work 24 times in one and a half years. How long would you be working there? You finally get your ass in gear and decied to get to it and get some things done??? Wait, first thing on agenda is buying some i-pads for you and the rest of your buddies. $500. plus each, $138,000.00 plus a dollar or two more.
This is our government I’m talking about folks. How many meals would this money buy for our 10.4 % of BC children living below the poverty leavel? Hold on now! We hav a party in opposition, Will they jump up and down and yell their heads off about this? NO! They got some of the i-pads as well. Just like the raises and pensions they got they will not utter a word! Their biggest concern in these ecconomic bad times is, Excuse me but this is how I see it, Their concern is how much of thew preimiers tits are showing! I too am a proud member of the Refederation Party of BC and I say it as I see it.
Wayne Russell
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You people need to relax, have a look at this…….
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Trouble is a lot of the building materials we get from China have toxicity problems, just like the toys and the food.
The Freeways they are building also have lots of workers from out of the country and so did the Canada Line. So how are these things helping put BC families first???? First in line at the Food bank, homless shelters, welfare line, and thrift stores is about where it is at for many BC families. Faced with those options not surprising many BC young people and families are taking the first train, bus oops those alternative transportation options are not that readily available in BC, so people are taking the first opportunity to hop in their car, fill it with over taxed gas and get out.
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There’s other reasons to want to leave too… The pollution is gross. When the mountain views are a grey haze, and we can’t fund proper public transit, but we can expand our highways through farm land, something is wrong. It’s no wonder that cancer rates are so high. Not that our politicians give a crap about that, or have a spine to do anything about it.
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Laila, is this true, is there something to reference it from?
” What is new as the story states, is that for the first time the number of people leaving BC is higher than the people moving to our province. ”
Because everyone always tells me oh no, you don’t want an NDP government, NDP is evil, everyone left the province when they were in charge…. But none can provide me with honest statistics…
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I suppose I should watch the video 😉 Sorry.
Though they say for the first time in a decade.
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News 1130 is reporting that the (so-called) business council is stating there will be a labour shortage by the end of the decade.
They are now putting their import foreign labour justification PR in place.
Tell me, does the recent release of job numbers include foreign workers landing jobs here?
Is a Canadian business exempt from contributing employer source deductions?
Does a Canadian business receive tax credits for hiring foreign workers?
There has to be a golden egg Canadian employers are getting otherwise they wouldn’t participate.
Mean while Canadians needing work can’t secure a job, but they sure are getting taxed up the assed.
Lube anyone?
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I am a 59 year old, born in BC, recently disabled man. Married, raised three kids and now we have three grandchildren. I, too, see this as a problem. I could write story after story about the transitions that BC has experienced over those 59 years but there is not enough room here for such reminisecences. I have some observations however, why did Canada just spend $1Billion on the G8 and G20 Summits if the results are turmoil in the Global Financial Industry? Why were those Summits in secret? What were the goals and why can we, those who paid for it, not know?
Now, with respect to all of these “Trade Deals” with other nations. Just check the numbers, for example: Canada has 36 million people…China has 1.1 Billion people. Set them side by side in your head and you will soon see there is no possible way we can compete on a level playing field. Our standard of living, which my forefathers went to war and died to protect, is diminished by the fact these trade deals allow for Chinese workers to be paid $2.00 per day with no appreciable benefits while we demand a fair return on our time invested in labour. The same holds true for India, the Phillipines, Korea, etc. etc. We have been sold down the river by Politicians who could see no further then the next election. Treason charges should be filed against them all, ( well, except for Bill Vander Zalm).
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I am a 66 year old retiree living midway between Prince George and Quesnel.
I am flabbergasted, gobsmacked, at the news that local people will not be hired for these mining/construction jobs. Instead, the companies will be bring in their own workers – hello, is anyone at home in Victoria??? Are they all out to lunch on our dime ? Doesn’t anyone in the BC Liberal government have an ounce of common sense ? Isn’t there any pride in being British Columbian for these pathetic elected officials ? Do they all talk out of the respective a*seholes – they certainly don’t make any sense with their actions and comments. Time to turf them out !
I think it is about time that the people of British Columbia started to take back the province from the traiterous, trecherous BC Liberal government – that recently has been caught out fiddling the provincial books by hiding money and debt.
There is absolutely nothing that the Campbell-Clark Three Ring Circus won’t do to stay in power – that is evident by the corrupt accounting procedures used by the BC Liberal government, that the Auditor General John Doyle has outright condemned.
Sorry folks, I really do think it is time for civil unrest and political action. They cannot put us all in jail and chances are, any cases won’t get to court as the BC Liberal government has “screwed ” those up royaly.
Thank you
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I am just outright shocked the pro liberal global BC would allow this. They never ever say anything bad about the Libs…
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Mike B- you are right. We are being forced by bought and paid for politicians to play on a unlevelled playing field.
What they are doing is treason.
Workforfun-they are out to lunch on our dime, and they have sold the people’s house.
The revolution has started.
October 15,2011 at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Mainstream people will be dragged kicking and screaming by the youth of today who are mad enough to get active and demand answers and repeals.
Come out folks and show your peaceful force. We will not accept the rape and pillaging of our home.
Sitting elected politicians: stay the hell away. For the blame is in your lap.
You sold us out.
Now we are going to take it all back and send you all packing.
No more.
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I thank all of you for sharing. Your comments are deeply indicative of the growing disgust in what is being represented by Occupy Wall street.
We will lose our province, our resources, our inherent right to grow old where we were born or where we have chosen to invest our futures.
What will you do to stop that?
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I plan on joining forces with the true peoples of what is now called British Columbia. The days of CONfederation with Her Majesty will then cease and we will be at ease. Immigrants to these lands will then have the opportunity to reform their own government to work together with the original residents.
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