I met Mary (her real name not used at her request) three years ago. She had been in Canada for only two weeks. She had arrived as a foreign worker to work for a fast food restaurant. She was really missing her three-year-old son and her seven-year-old daughter, but knew that the decision that her husband and herself had made was the best for the family.
She could work in Canada for two years on her work permit and send money back home for the family. Moreover, their dream was that at the end of the two years, Mary could extend her contract for another two years and during this time she could apply for her permanent residency and bring her family to Canada.
Mary left a position of manager of a restaurant in her home country where she made a wage good enough to make do for her family. Her husband could not find a permanent job so worked whenever and wherever he could. They were hard workers, but could not get ahead. They dreamed of more for their family and Canada held the promise of a better and stable future.
Mary worked hard and was a valued employee. A number of her customers took an interest in Mary because of her disposition and outgoing personality. However, she worried that there were many others ahead of her and she might not get a supervisor’s position to assure her of her permanent residency application. The employer was not granting this to many workers.
In the meantime, she volunteered her time with her church and worked on numerous occasions to prepare meals from her home country for church events. She was respected and was thanked for her contributions. She established friendships and was a help to younger workers to deal with life situations.
Mary decided to change employers to help gain a more positive position to get her Canadian residency. This appeared to be a good decision as the new company offered help to fulfil the requirements.
At this time, the government changed the rules and regulations for foreign workers. They maintained that they were taking jobs away from Canadians. Mary was only able to come to Canada with the company showing that although they advertized for three months, they could not get Canadians for these jobs. The government then approved the work permits.
As it turns out Mary was caught in the time element where her work permit expired before she could get her permanent residency. She had spent three years away from her children and family and now the dream was terminated as the government would not give her an extension. She must return to her home country and wait another four years before she could apply again. Her company was disappointed and wanted to apply again as she was such a valued worker. They were willing to risk the thousands of dollars with no assurance of getting the permit.
Mary made the decision that she would return home as she had been away from her children for to long. The sacrifices that she had made were in vain. The timing of the government’s decisions caught her on the short end of its time limits. The rules changed and this very deserving and honest worker had to return home with a lost dream and three years out of her life.
I will not forget Mary and the person that she is. I know that she would have been a great Canadian citizen and the valued member of our community that we so prize. I do feel that the government was not fair in their treatment of her and the other foreign workers caught in the middle of the need to change the program. Yes, it did have flaws, but the workers who came in good faith with the dream and hope they saw Canada offered did not deserve to be sent home after contributing to the economy of Canada when it was needed.
I do not believe that most Canadians know or understand the impact that the government’s feeble attempts to change the foreign worker policy affected so many workers and their families. We did not learn from our mistakes of how we treated the Chinese workers who built the railroads, used them when needed and then discarded them. I apologize to the workers.
Val Merchant, St. Albert
