The real problem with the TFW program nobody likes to talk about

At a private "ethnic roundtable" (no whites allowed) Stephen Harper mentioned perhaps the most angering aspect of the "TFW program" which rarely if ever gets mentioned to the rest of us.

During the 45-minute conversation, he also claimed the federal government has recently reined in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, despite massive growth in the program over the last decade.

“Before this government took office, and since, those programs have grown very dramatically,”

Harper said. “We saw numerous examples of abuse of this program, outright abuse, companies importing workers for the sole purpose of paying less than the prevailing wage.”

Up until recently, the program legally allowed employers to pay 15% less than the prevailing wage to make up for recruitment fees. The discount has since been cancelled.

Harper said Canada needs fewer temporary foreign workers and more permanent foreign workers.

“What I say is if you really need temporary workers permanently then that means we need permanent workers who become Canadian,” Harper said, lightly thumping the table. “They have a right to stay here and they have a right to bargain with their employer.”

It's the "right to bargain with your employer" that's important here. Without that right, no law the government makes really matters at all. I have through connections in the industry reliable sources which informed me some time ago that some places were hiring TFWs for as little as $4 per hour in jobs that normally paid $16/hr plus. Unfortunately due to their situation I never was able to get clearance to publish the details. Why? You might ask. Because they had no bargaining rights.

No bargaining rights, when you are in the country at the behest of your employer means you have no rights. None. At any moment your employer can decide to send you back home. My source told me the TFWs in question were renting a single 1 bedroom apartment, with ten of them footing the rent.

Now, last year the TFW program expanded significantly as the "labour shortage" myth became the mainstream. You remember that right? How every paper, politician, business and "expert" was screaming labour shortage? Yea...

Forget labour shortages – could Canada be headed for a worker glut?
Oil and gas companies failed to predict job losses heading into 2013: Survey

Haha, "job losses". Nearly 300 contractors replaced with temporary foreign workers. But hey, it's not like people haven't been trying to warn you.

Did you fall for the labour shortage hoax? Aww muffin, it's ok. A lot of people did. At least you can admit it, you were lied to on a massive scale for political and private gain. Hurts, right? But it's good, you're setting your mind free, admitting you were lied to is the first step to realizing you're always being lied to, about everything.

But don't despair, because the creators of the problem are going to fix it, as I wrote last year, by restricting freedoms of Canadians and implementing what amount to warrantless searches. You know, so they can find the businesses abusing the TFW program that a labour shortage hoax was created around to expedite the entrance of new workers to work a Tim Horton's near you.

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Richard Fantin is a self-taught software developer who has mostly throughout his career focused on financial applications and high frequency trading. He currently works for CenturyLink

Nazayh Zanidean is a Project Coordinator for a mid-sized construction contractor in Calgary, Alberta. He enjoys writing as a hobby on topics that include foreign policy, international human rights, security and systemic media bias.